Legoland Fun!

Two years ago for Garry's 13th birthday we seriously contemplated flying out to California to take him to Legoland. Nuts, I know! At the very same time mom found out that Legoland was coming to Sunny Florida. So we cancelled our trip and spent plenty of money at Fun spot instead!
At long last the park opened this October. With Sara and Gage we headed to Legoland
with our fellow homeschoolers. Beautiful day and short lines made for lots of fun! Aidan rode a wooden coaster for the first time -"it was a teeny tiny bit scary!" Most of the rides were kid controlled. Lol, after watching Bryce drive the Lego car we're thankful he won't be getting his license for many years!!

Road trip!

When we saw that the Prairie Home Companion was coming to Atlanta, Sara and Mom and I were very excited. We have been listening to the show for over 25 years (I can't believe I can say that)and although we talked about flying up to Minnesota where he broadcasts from, it probably would have never happened. We are very sentimental toward the show; listening to Garrison Keillor's mid-western humor brings back many happy memories. The men sweetly agreed to go with us and tickets purchased, 11 of us were a go for a road trip (I only bought ten tickets- I didn't realize baby boy needed a ticket, so Aunt Connie and Uncle Kirk who lives in Atlanta agreed to baby-sit him while were at the show) and this is how it was supposed to go: (click to read)
See the nice outline (which, by the way, I left on the counter at home!)
The reality? Not quite per agenda. But if ya gotta road trip with people, these are the people to travel with!Yup, my hunny is in there too-only his blond hair made it into the shot. Total? 11 happy (mostly!) faces. (mom, papa, Sara, Kevin, baby boy, Me, hunny, Garry, Shelby, Bryce and Aidan).
Day one: The plan was to all go together in the big van. Mom calls me the morning of to ask if we can bring our own van up to Valdosta. Seems that the 12 passenger van holds just that, 12. No luggage, not much else. No problem, we load up our van and head that way. With the food, bedding and toys we had alot of stuff (not to mention Baby boy's birthday was Sun and I'm sure he might receive a toy or two). The rest of the gang drops off stuff in Palm Coast (for baby boy's 1st bday) and on to our way into Valdosta.We decided to rent a house there as the trip back south would not be so long and Al, Carol and their gang meet us in Valdosta and spent the night. Our rental home had 3 floors (way cool with 8 kids) and it was a sight to see all the bed rolls lined up across the floor at bedtime!
Day 2: It started well. We wanted to meet Connie and Kirk for a couple of hrs, have lunch and drop off baby boy before going to theater so planned to meet around 3 (show started at 5:45). About 30 miles from our destination, the van decides it no longer wants to keep going. Kevin found us a good spot in the middle of the median as we scrambled around for a solution. Every phone in use, we located a tow truck and taxis. One final call to Kenny (mom's wife-in-law's hubby) gave the big boys an idea on how to get the van running. Voila! It started moving again, we jumped in the van, and headed back down the road...at least for a half a mile. Van kaput. Kevin pulled off again, the boys got out the tools, and repeated. It worked again and we headed back down the road. Not sure how long it would last, we decided to pull off at the nearest exit, re-call the taxi/tow truck, regroup and decide what to do. By this time it was after 4. Here we are, stranded at a Mc D's (it DID have a great covered picnic area and playground for our wait) spitting out ideas on what to do. Finally we decided that we had come this far, we were going to the show, we could figure out the rest later. We called Connie and asked her to meet us down at the theater. The second big decision was what to bring with us and what to leave in the van (they can't start on it til Monday and we will be back in Fla by then, so whatever is in there will have to stay until the van comes back, who knows when). Papa went with the van-we were to pick him up on the way when the taxi showed up; the taxi arrives and it is NOT big enough to hold us all (are you really surprised?!) so we left Mom and Bert behind and another taxi is called for them. Zipping downtown we arrive about 5pm. I did a quick change of some of the kids clothes as they were covered in stains, (sorry for the strip show, Atlantians); located Connie and Kirk in the very busy downtown traffic, dropped off Baby boy, Papa pulls up in one taxi, Mom and Bert pull up in another, and we make it to our seats with time to spare as music starts to play! WooHoo!
If you think it ended there, haha!! After the show, Connie and Kirk reappeared with Baby boy in tow, Kirk took the boys off to the airport to find a car where they went to EVERY car rental place to locate a van and a car (with Memorial day coming up no rental company wanted their vehicles to go out of state)before locating one at the last available stand; Connie joined us girls as all the food was left in the big van-sure it will smell lovely by Monday-had a great meal at the Broadway Diner on Peachtree street (including ice cream compliments of the owner's wife for the kids), the taxi driver bringing us a bag we didn't even realize we left behind (containing all the cables for the phones/and the GPS) and of course, for the grand finale, stopping at a Wal-mart at 12:30 am somewhere between Atlanta and Valdosta for clothing and a quick bath in the sink when Aidan threw up all over himself.
Still, I would do it all over again if we had to. And I think most all that took that ride would agree. Everything and everyone was gracious; and we laughed almost the entire time in spite of it all.
Road trip, anybody???

Rental home in Valdostathe gang

Even Scarlett and Rhett were there to welcome us to our home
in Valdosta (Scarlett was rather snooty though)

Who can sit after Aidan's been around?

Favorite cousins!Boys and their computer timeBaby boy and Auntie Katie's peanut butter cookie

Yeah for Mickey D's (waiting)!
Waiting again!Still waiting (are you spotting the trend?)We made it!Bryce was not happy that we woke him up when the show was over!Sorry for the dark picture, couldn't find the camera (in Sara's diaper bag) and my phone camera didn't like the evening sun

We're home!

As I survey the debris removed from the van, I am amazed that we managed to fit all this stuff plus 9 people in the van:) Been home for 3 days and still the living room looks like a bomb went off! Our trip went great. Along the way we saw almost everyone in the family save for Connie and Kirk. They were just too far out the loop (this time!). Looking back, I learned some interesting tidbits. I thought I would share them with you.

1. California barking spiders are EVERYWHERE!

2. The Alamo is not a dinky little building between a McDonald's and big buildings downtown (sorry, Kevin). It was a very interesting 4.2 acres of history.

3. No matter how much time we spent there, or the many books we read on the subject, we still can't remember what happened at the Alamo (pop quiz on the way home showed we didn't learn very much!)

4. It costs $8 to be properly serenaded these days.

5. Literal Little did not appreciate nor enjoy Gma's jokes (the jokes were corny, but it was a long ride home).

6. Bryce apparently has been watching Dirty Dancing judging by the way he danced at the wedding. Maybe we can all pick up some pointers!

7. 3,000 miles later and no one was accidentally pushed out of the van (we did consider Fedex'n one home)

A special thank you goes out to Aunt Tanny and Aunt Carol for the car riding goodies.

We still have some goodies left from Aunt Tanny's bags packed away for another trip (Shelby said we had to come see you next year, so watch out!)

In her buggy glasses from Aunt Tanny

Cutting the cake (he was nice to her)

Their adopted kids on the Riverwalk (Bryce LOVES Kim!)
We've just been seranaded:)

Bert's considering flying the rest of the way home!

Happy 13th to Em and Jake

It's a happy boy!

Here a little, there a little

Here we are in Lake Charles, LA. Our last few days have been adventurous. Our first night out was spent at Aunt Carol's in Tallahassee. Shelby and Beka were inseparable the entire time. Each kid has a buddy when we're there (Aunt Carol, who will Aidan have to play with when he gets bigger???) all had a great time. We went downtown Tallahassee to the Science Museum on our way out of town. There was some crying as we left the parking garage, but we assured all that we would be getting back together soon!

Tuesday evening found us at Uncle David's (thanks to all for evenly spacing yourselves out!). We got up yesterday and played on all the toys.....big kid toys. Daddy drove the Rhino into the mud and got stuck and then up a tree( I was laughing too hard to get a pic, sorry). Garry drove from then on:)

Today we are going for a quick swim at the motel before heading on to our final destination. The road trip has gone well considering the many hours in the car. We've sang, colored, told stories, and anything else we can think of. Few and far between are the meltdowns, thankfully.

Notice the matching hair!

Bahamas

Hey, did I mention, we went to the Bahamas???
It's been so busy since I got home, I haven't had a chance to put any pictures up. Here's a few:

Bert getting ready for the boat drill:)

The infamous towel elephant
At the aquarium in Atlantis

Bert's playing with the starfish

Summer Fun!

School's out (kinda, sorta, we homeschool year round), but my children's friends are out. We always are looking for something to entertain ourselves with. Our local AMC (check yours here) is not hosting free movies close by:(, but our Regal theaters are showing movies all summer long! Regal Cinemas. We of course will be using our season passes to a local water park, LIBRARY, and we'll make use of free days at the museums. What do you do this summer? At home or out, I want to know! I'm always up for new ideas....