A day in the life..: So much to say!!

Ok.. So this one's for you Linds'! My #1 fan!! Ha Ha! How does one "catch up" when so much has happened since I last posted? I'll just break it down with a lot of pictures! I think the last time I posted (besides my coldplay lyrics) was after our car accident!
WOW... so much can happen in so little time, yet I am still the same old me... I sometimes feel stuck. I have this incredible urge to pack everything into a U haul and just go. Start over somewhere, but I can't do it to my kids. I have to remember how it was when I was a kid. I don't think I would have liked it if my mom took us across the country to live 10 minutes away from the beach. Ok, so I probably would like it, but I didn't have a father who gave two shits, my kids do... I couldn't do that to them or him. So, I just have to tell myself that I am going to continue working hard until we can live comfortably, and then whatever happens will happen. So that's that!!
Anyways...Since the car wreck and my visit from Troy, the kids and I actually got to go on our biggest vacation together. I have been talking about taking my kids to Florida for YEARS, but this year I just said I HAVE to make it happen!! I bought our plane tickets in January, and then had 5 months to save for the rest. WE HAD A BLAST!! Marty and Mary, (and I can't forget Ian and Alex) are the greatest at hosting guests!! Especially 4 of us who flew into Orlando, (which was a farther drive for Marty, but cheaper for me)...they were fantastic with showing us the sights and feeding us, and running us to Alvin's Island (Souvenir shop) like 5 different times.... We really had a great time!! My kids are still talking about it!! I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story!!!


Just like his mom, he was packed DAYS in advance!!


This was my kids first time going on an airplane!

We were up at 4 am to be out the door by 5 and to the airport by 6. I had gone through the airport security scenario with my kids so when we went through they handled it like pro's!!

Boarding in Denver

I love this picture!! Can you tell he was nervous?

2nd leg of the trip and he was a pro!

I had to laugh at Bradan the most... he was sitting next to strangers for the flight from SLC to Denver and I don't think he moved the entire hour. But when we boarded our 2nd flight he was up for the window seat and LOVED it. When we landed in Orlando he walked up to the pilot who was standing near the exit and gave him a high 5. Anyone who knows Bradan, knows that that is way out of character for him, I don't know if he was just thankful to be safe on the ground or if he thought flying was the coolest thing ever, I made me laugh for days!

Soon after arriving to St. Augustine we decided to go for a walk!! My kids had never seen the ocean, and waiting a day to see it just wasn't possible. We went with the intentions of looking, but that also turned out not to be possible!! They all came home soaked!

Day 2- Mary took us to the chocolate store, which, much to our dismay was closed, but we enjoyed the drive. When Marty got home from work he took us to downtown St. Augustine to show the kids some of the sights. I was a little worried about how my kids would handle sight seeing, but they actually enjoyed seeing "the oldest city in America"

Flagler College

Looking at the Fish


Bridge of Lions

After all that.. we met up with Mary and Ian and Alex and went on a tour of Ripley's Believe it or not Museum! This defiantly was a favorite! What kid wouldn't LOVE this museum!! So much too see!

Saydie at the entrance of the log cabin outside.


Dylan's enjoying a rain storm!

CHEATERS!!

I threw in a few pictures of us hanging out at the house... just to show how welcome they made us feel!!

BEACH DAY!!!

Getting ready to go!!

Bradan cruising along the shore! We had to remind him while he was out swimming that he needed to occasionally look up and find our spot, he soon learned the under current can take you south, and quick!!

Still don't know what Bradan was doing here!!

Beach day consisted of everything from, barbeque, being buried in the sand, trying to build sand castles.. snorkeling, digging for shells, catching hundreds of little fish, and just having a blast!! Saydie and Alex did come home a little red, (ok, so Saydie's back was a lot red), but we did have fun!

Dilly!

Getting her tan on!

Bradan loved this little board!

Mary did such a great job teaching Saydie how to catch the fish!! She could have sat there for days! Each time her little net came up with a new dozen fish she was just as excited as the first time she caught one!

Kids playing in the neighborhood..

The Beach wore Saydie OUT!! (and Luke)

DAY 4 (Mother's Day)

We started out the day by going to outback for a mother's day lunch. We then went to the lighthouse!! Ian and Alex didn't want to go... (I guess if you have been a few times, and you also go to school right next to it, it's not that exciting), but we loved it!

It was a race to keep up with Bradan

At the TOP!!

We then tried to go to Marineland, but as Marty says, 2:30 doesn't always mean 2:30. Bradan was a little disappointed that we would have to wait to see the dolphins, but we let him choose where to go next and he decided that we would go see "the fort".

He didn't want to wait another day...

Outside of Marineland

So then it was, Castillo de San Marcos....

We then went down St. George street and got some Ice Cream, and some Souvenirs and saw more sights!

Day 5... The day we had been waiting for!!

We woke up at 5 and loaded up and headed to Orlando to go to Magic Kingdom!

It took us 2 hours to get to the theme park, and another hour to get from parking to the tram, to the train, to the gates. But watching my kids faces as we walked through the gates and into Magic Kingdom, where the castle sits right in front of you, was priceless.

Saydie's first glimpse of the park

"Big thunder mountain"

SOOO... The day will filled with fantastic adventures!! Everything was NEW to my kids!! In May, in Orlando, the temperature that day was 92 degrees I believe, but with the humidity...it was beyond any heat that we had ever dealt with. Utah has hot summers, but for some reason, I find it almost difficult to breathe in humid heat. ANYWAYS, throughout the day, the kids began to get very hot and the lines were long and we (at least Bradan and I got a little cranky), so we took the train and the tram back to the car and went to our cabin for some food and a little rest. After we ate and went on the boat back into the park, the crowds had died down and so had the heat! We had a blast!! One day defiantly was not long enough, but I think we made the best of it. Because we were staying overnight on Disney property we got to stay in the park after hours, and we tried to stay as long as we could handle!! Here are a few of my favorite pictures...

The toy story ride

Saydie loved driving the cars!!

Marty's yellow shirt!

The cabin

ba ha ha!!


BEAUTIFUL!!


Boat ride back to cabin...Exhausted!!

Leaving Orlando...

We had to be out of our cabin by 11:00, and we had planned on swimming there, but because we were so exhausted from the night before, we slept in and only had time to pack and leave. Good thing Marty had a back up plan. BUT before we could leave Orlando, we HAD to fulfill Bradan's dream and stop at the lego store! He had been waiting for this day for months.

The girls even liked it!

Alex picking his next project!

It was everything he dreampt it would be!

After leaving the Lego store, we drove to "the springs". It was beautiful! The kids loved cooling off.

After getting home from the springs, we spent the remainder of the day relaxing. Mary had gotten a cake and she was kind enough to let us use it for a birthday cake for Saydie, since I had promised her we would sing Happy Birthday to her while we were in Florida since we were leaving the day before her actual birthday.

The boys spent the rest of the evening playing with Legos and Video Games!

Our last FULL day in Florida...

So sad knowing that our trip was coming to an end, but we still had a lot to do. We woke up and made reservations for Marineland so we would be sure to get in this time. So while we waited for that, we went to a farmers market and walked out onto a pier.


We love Hazel's hot dogs!!

SO FINALLY... after 3 attempts, we were headed to Marineland to "touch and feed" the Dolphins. The kids had been talking about this for months, but I still think it was cooler then they expected! They really enjoyed it!! I really HOPE these videos work!!

After that, we went back home to decide what to do with our last night. I thought it would be really cool to take the haunted ghost tour, I thought you would drive around on a little tram and hear tales of St. Augustine ghost stories, but... when we checked in, they gave us a camera, and and EMF reader to pick up on any "action", and then as the sun was going down they took us around to some of St. Augustine's most haunted locations. I began to worry when Saydie clutched onto my hand, and Bradan went into freak out mode... I tried telling them it was all made up and that they just did it to make money, which worked until the tour ended up back at Ripley's (which used to be a hotel, in which a murder had taken place, and they take you into the actual room where this particular murder took place, with the LIGHTS out), let me just say, I didn't get to see it... Bradan, Saydie and myself spent the remainder of the tour in the car. SORRY KIDS. I did learn a lesson, when Bradan says he doesn't want to do it... I need to find out WHY!!! Anyways, here are some pics of what I did get, you can see some "orbs" in many of the pictures. Hummm... You decide!

at least Dylan liked it!

He looks like he is kind of liking it

Will he ever forgive me?


yep..that's a cemetary

OUR LAST DAY... packing up and heading home.

All good things come to an end...

We really experienced SO many things that we had never experienced before, and I am so grateful for Marty and Mary for being so accommodating. We say good bye for now, but we'll be back!!

When I asked my kids what their favorite part of Florida was, They all say Disneyworld, Ripley's and Marineland. We had a GREAT time!