bubba's mom's annual trip report to Univ...wait! WHAT?! NO Universal?!?!?!?!

[jenseib]

Wow, you were kicking out the updates today! YAY!!!!
It looks like a relaxing couple of days. I think it's fun to get togehter with family like that. Our family is pretty boring. But we used to do stuff like that years ago with my cousin when I was little and it was so much fun.
I think Bubba grew another foot this year.

 

[natebenma]

Is it wrong that I wanted to blast an airhorn when I looked at the "sleeping teens" picture?

Not wrong! I am looking at 4 teens/preteens sleeping in my living room now and I love the suggestion. Of course, it is only 5:30 in the morning so I'll cut them a little slack!

P.S. Of course they have a 4th of July in England. Everyone with a calendar has a 4th of July. America is just the country that celebrates it as Independence Day.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

My answer is "Of course. What comes between July 3 and July 5?"

 

[bubba's mom]

Is it wrong that I wanted to blast an airhorn when I looked at the "sleeping teens" picture?

NOT at all! If you were there, I woulda triple dogged dare ya

Wow, you were kicking out the updates today! YAY!!!!
It looks like a relaxing couple of days. I think it's fun to get togehter with family like that. Our family is pretty boring. But we used to do stuff like that years ago with my cousin when I was little and it was so much fun.
I think Bubba grew another foot this year.

eh...we are pretty boring actually...just ask the kids! It's a lot of talking and laying around (little productive). Next year we have a whole week with just BIL & his fam...gonna be a great week!

uh...yeah..he is just about a foot taller! He's 12 (13 in Jan) and he's 5 foot 6"! Wears same size sneaker as his Dad!

Not wrong! I am looking at 4 teens/preteens sleeping in my living room now and I love the suggestion. Of course, it is only 5:30 in the morning so I'll cut them a little slack!

WOW! You are SUCH a great Mom! How them kids slept in the living right across from the eating area, with us adults talking (not quietly), is BEYOND me

 

[keishashadow]

swimming, eating, repeat - sounds good to me

 

[macraven]

you all look like a close knit family having a great time!

 

[bubba's mom]

Day 5 -- Tuesday, July 5th

Now that BIL and the family left, it was time for my poor husband to get to 'work'. Dad had bought a new computer in the spring and was waiting for DH to pull it out of the box and set it up for him. He also had some things to 'fix' on Joyce's computer. Poor guy spent most of the day doing computer stuff. We call it 'Dad's annual computer fixin'.

While he was inside working on computers, Bubba & I swam and played in the pool. But before we did that, and before lunch, I had Bubba do his Leadership homework for taekwondo. We'd gotten the calendar for July with the homework due dates and had him turn in the first couple of assignments, that would be due while we were gone, before we left. Now he needed to finish up what would be due when we got back. He also worked on some of his forms today. He's studying to test for the rank of instructor, so he needs to make sure he knows ALL the forms. Since he was only 4 and 5 years old when he learned some of them, he's been relearning them. Now that company was gone, and Dad was busy, it was the perfect time for some practice.

Today was also the day of verdict in Casey Anthony's trial. DH let me know when they were 15 minutes till they read the verdict. I was in the pool with Bubba, so I told him to come get me when it was time. We watched that verdict live. That was ALL the news was in Florida while we were there. It was all about her trial. And it didn't get much better after the verdict either.

It was the usual rest of the night. Roasted chicken and corn on the cob for dinner, I did dishes and we watched the Phillies game. Not an exciting day, that's why hardly any pix.

 

[bubba's mom]

Day 6 -- Wednesday, July 6th

Today was just relaxing. DH did more computer stuff and got some time to hang out in the pool with us. Bubba was trying to play baseball IN the pool...with a noodle? He's ready. Here's the wind up and the pitch.... And.... a miss! I guess it's just not meant to be! I took my annual nap in the pool this afternoon too (and DH didn't get his annual pic because he was "working")

After swimming for a bit, Bubba got out and dried off a bit while waiting for dinner. Bubba chilled out on the computer for a bit while waiting for dinner. We had dinner and watched the Phillies game after I took care of the dishes. Since they didn't get around to it last night, DH & Bubba went for a night swim in the pool tonight. Bubba thought that was really cool. He really enjoyed that time with his Dad!

 

[RVGal]

Gotta admire Bubba's creativity with pool baseball. Maybe he should market it. It looks like more fun than "Marco Polo" to me.

 

[rpbert1]

Another nice couple of relaxing days for you guys.
yeah we where in walmart when the verdict came out Barb and everyone was in a state of shock I think. And that was the main news for the rest of our vacation

 

[SharonK0527]

All caught up! Thanks for the updates! Looking forward to more. Looks like you guys are having a nice relaxing time hanging out with family

 

[jenseib]

I love the noodle baseball. It's fun when kids make up games like that.

 

[bubba's mom]

Day 7 -- Thursday, July 7th

Today was 'packing day'. We slept in this morning, as there was no need to hurry and get up. The usual breakfast, dishes, hanging around, DH making sure ALL computers and such were in working order in the house, etc.... Today I needed to do some laundry before we left because we were running low on clothes. I ended up doing 2 loads of laundry and two sets of sheets. This was a good day to pack because we had some rain this afternoon. Not a good pool day with the overcast sky. We were having an early dinner because Joyce needed to get somewhere by 6:00 tonight. We sat down to dinner just after 5:00. Joyce ended up leaving right after dinner for her thing, I insisted I do dishes, and luckily I can move faster than Dad, I did just that. He wasn't pleased with me

After dishes were finished, DH loaded the car and around 6:00 we were ready to be on our way to BIL's. Every year this kid of ours grows like a weed, so we needed the annual picture with him & his Pap. Pretty soon he'll be just as tall as his Pap!!

With our pictures taken, we were on our way. Unbeknownst to DH, his brother was throwing him a surprise (belated) birthday party. We were supposed to be there by 7. Not happenin'. It's a 2 hour ride over to New Smyrna from Ocala. I called BIL when we left Dad's to let him know we were on our way. Our ETA: 8pm.

We encountered some rain along the way, and by the time we got to BIL's house, there was a light drizzle. I wanted DH to get in the house because I knew everyone was waiting for him/us. HE on the other hand, wanted to get ALL the bags in the house asap. So, Bubba & I were hanging back trying to let him go in the house first, but he kept going to get more bags out of the car! (Our room we sleep in at BIL's is right inside the front door, so you don't need to walk all the way into the house...one reason BIL kept calling DH to "come here for a quick second".) Finally, Bubba & I went in ahead of him (BIL escorted us) and then went back to wait for DH to come in the last time. After dropping the last bag off in our room, he came out and around the corner. Everyone yelled: "SURPRISE!"

And, surprised he was. And, a bit embarrassed. His actual birthday is in January, but BIL had his reasons and had been planning this all along! It was a full house, and we even got to visit with some folks we haven't seen in a long time. It was a great party he threw....everyone seemed to have a good time.

We sang "Happy Birthday" and had ice cream cake. And then BIL brought out this stack of gifts. I was already packed as much as I could fit. DH & I looked at each other and agreed.... we're gonna need another suitcase.

Especially once we realized the 'theme' of the gifts. They were all gifts he could use for our sailing trip next year. New snorkel & mask, flippers (the heavy, rubber ones), booties, dry bag, new sunglasses.... We made good use out of the new bag (rolling duffle) we ended up buying at Walmart the next day.

Not long after cake, some folks needed to leave. Understandably, it was late and a 'school night' for everyone else (but us). We stayed up visiting for a little longer and eventually went to bed around 2am. We were supposed to get up early to take the boat down to see the space shuttle liftoff. It was gonna be a short night and early morning.

 

[natebenma]

Nice beginning to your vacation- hanging out with family and taking part in the surprise party plot. I love the picture of Bubba and your dad! Great smile!

Your DH got some great, useful presents. I hope we get to hear about them being put to use. A nice reward for all of his computer work. I can definitely sympathize. My husband always gets tapped by family and friends to help out with computer issues.

That will be cool if you can get out for the shuttle liftoff!

 

[bubba's mom]

Day 8 -- Friday, July 8th

BIL & SIL kept tabs on the shuttle launch updates that morning. They had alerts sent to their phones. They were going to get up around 6am and check the latest. They were calling for a 70% chance of a scrub. IF it was going to go, and we were going to go see it by going down on their boat, we would have to leave the dock at 8am.

It was very cloudy this morning and there was still a 70% chance of it being scrubbed. They were also calling for thunderstorms and BIL didn't want to be out in the boat that far from home with that forecast. So, we decided to stay "local" and watch it. Closer to the launch time, we rode over to their friend's house. They'd just bought this house, on the river, but hadn't moved in yet. And, they happened to be in Daytona Beach having a baby at the time, so it was okay to go over.

We walked out to the end of the dock and waited for the launch. I discussed my niece's shoes with her. She said they were Italian, which is fine, but she got annoyed when I argued they weren't "shoes". They are flipflops with an ankle warmer attached to them. Yeah, she wasn't buyin' it. Our nephew handed his phone over because, well....we were certain he was going to drop it!

Still cloudy, didn't know how much we'd see, but, at least it was a 'go'. We had worried if they pushed the launch back, they'd schedule it for Sunday morning. Yes, the morning we had to get to Merritt Island to board the ship. We imagined the traffic would be near impossible to get to the cruise if that happened. Luckily, it didn't.

Checking the time via cell phone, we waited for 11:26am...launch time. We knew it was getting close because the people across the street came out of their houses. People driving on the road were pulling over to the side. This truck pulled over and the guys sat out on top of it. It was a little late (we later found out at the 30 second mark, there was a brief delay), but we kept an eye peeled for it.

Then, we saw it. Since there was nothing but clouds, we saw the bright light. Briefly. Then it disappeared into the clouds, briefly, and reemerged for a few more seconds. Anticlimatic, but at least we sorta got to see it. This was the video DH took: video.

After the light was gone, we waited there a few more minutes, and then it came. The liftoff rumble. We could hear it getting louder and louder, and even felt a bit of it. Always amazes me that whole "light traveling faster than the speed of sound" thing. We were only there a couple minutes and when it started to die down, we decided to go. Some pix of the house we were at: Backyard and backyard/future site of their pool.

Go. 'Go where' you might wonder? Well, breakfast was kind of light that morning, so we headed to McKenna's for an early lunch. It was pretty crowded...I'm guessing because of the launch. We had burgers, chicken sandwich, chicken fingers, etc... The typical lunch fare.

When lunch was over, we stopped by the gym my BIL & SIL own. They needed to check on some things and DH was going to help BIL move something. We weren't there long because our nephew had a baseball game that afternoon to get to. But, when we got there, we found out it was cancelled because of the threat of a thunderstorm. No big deal, just more time nephew had to spend with us Also, BIL had to stop and measure a roof while we were out. SIL & I waited in the car. While she watched him, she was guessing he wasn't OSHA compliant for the job. It was a quick stop and took no time at all. Then we needed to stop by his office so he could do a couple things real quick. This was okay with us. After all, it was only Friday, a working day, and they had both taken the day off to spend with us. We could make some stops....no big deal.

After all these stops, we headed back to BIL's, stopping by Walmart along the way. We needed to get that other suitcase....especially after all the gifts he got DH last nite! We settled for another rolling duffle. Not really what I wanted, but it was cheap and would do the job!

After getting a few things at Walmart, we went home and got ready for dinner. BIL made a delicious steak dinner. Leftover ice cream cake was on the menu for dessert. This crew ended up finishing it off. After dinner (and a couple glasses of wine), SIL decided to break out a game. We decided on iMagiNiff. I've never heard of it, let alone played it, but let me tell ya...it was a fun game! (even funner (if that's even a word?) if you've got a buzz goin on! ) I think it's really a good game if you know the others playing really well. We only see BIL & crew once a year, so it was more interesting since the kids don't know each other real well or anything. We had a good time playing!

It would turn out that the Phillies were in a 2 hour rain delay, so by the end of our game, it was 10:30ish and the baseball game was still going on. We cleaned up the game and watched the 9th inning end in a tie.

SIL called it a night and so did 1 niece...the others crashed on their airmattresses in the living room. We decided to watch the 10th inning and call it a night no matter the outcome. Luckily, bottom of the 9th, Phils (Ibanez specifically) hit a walkoff homerun and won! WOOHOO!!! Since I couldn't yell my happiness, I did a little happy dance.

NOW it was bedtime!

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

We're glad we finally got to see a shuttle launch - we ended up in Titusville across the water from the launch pad

... I see someone is turning into a real ham

 

[bubba's mom]

yeah....that's what happens in our family when you leave your camera unattended (even for a quick potty break!)

 

[macraven]

at least one pic didn't show up on this trippie.....

talking about when keisha used your camera when you went to the RR when we were doing our meet up............

 

[RVGal]

Umm... niece's shoes ARE flip flops with an ankle warmer attached.

 

[bubba's mom]

Day 9 -- Saturday, July 9th

Our nephew had a baseball game this morning, so the guys went to that. Baseball: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. They said they started the game with the second stringers. DNe is first string. After being down like 10 runs, they pulled the second stringers out and let the first stringers in. They played better, but still lost. From what I understand, it was an ugly game and nephew's team lost. By a lot.

While they left for the game, I slept in a little longer. After I was up and had something to eat, I packed all our stuff up, since I now had an extra bag to use. Meantime, while waiting for them, SIL & I ran to the grocery store and we hung out (SIL made a good dent in her laundry...cuz they're never home to do it) at home with the girls. When the guys were finished at the ballgame, they stopped by McDonald's for lunch and got home around 3:00. About 20 minutes after they got home, we left for SIL's parents' house. I'm not quite sure WHY this was BIL's plan, but we went from New Smyrna Beach to Winter Springs, Fla. Approximately a 45 minute ride back toward Orlando.

Now SIL's parents are referred to as Grumpy (her Dad) and Nonna (her Mom). Nonna made a delicious dinner for everyone....Grumpy was in charge of the chickens on the grill. SIL's sister, her husband and 2 kids also came over for dinner and a visit. It was a houseful! Us 3, BIL's 5, SIL's sister's 4, Grumpy, Nonna & Nana (SIL's grandmother that lives there) and 3 dogs! Luckily, they have a beautiful, big house and space was NOT a problem. Upstairs, this was the bedroom we slept in; it shared a bathroom with the bedroom Bubba slept in.

Grumpy & Nonna's house is huge...and beautiful. This is the view out the front from upstairs (see our black rental?), looking down to the foyer, stairs to upstairs, BIL & SIL's bedroom, looking up at Bubba from the foyer, foyer looking into formal living room, watching the Phillies game in the other living room while Nana & Nonna prepare some appetizers in the kitchen. And my SIL breaks the corkscrew at the bar. Too many peeps in the kitchen...including DH scoping out some appetizers.

Nonna set an adult table and a kid's table out back for us to eat.

It wasn't too hot out so it was a perfect night to eat outside. And, apparently it was a good night to go swimmin too! The dogs LOVE to swim!! Ryan had fun with them in the pool...wasn't missing his Max at all Swimming: 1, 2 and 3. BIL decided to wait until the Phillies game was over and the dogs were finished swimming before he went for a quick dip. Guess he likes a quiet pool?

Just off the back patio area is a bathroom in the house. Very fancy for a bathroom you use when you're usually wet from the pool! ...but, handy nonetheless.

While having dinner, I ran a load of wash and after dinner, I ironed a shirt & Ryan's pants for the cruise. Figured there was no sense in ironing at home (last week) when I knew I'd have some laundry to do before embarkation day. Dinner was delicious and these two knew it. They didn't go far until after dessert was over! Dessert was a chocolate cake and cookies. These cookies were huge! It was as big around as the top of my wine glass! It was good, don't get me wrong, but it was a little big for me!

After dinner and dessert, the brothers did the dishes while I finished up the laundry and I repacked everyone's clothes. I had everything just about packed (except what we needed for the night and morning) and I was all finished packing the 3 (out of 4) suitcases we had, when I went downstairs to join the family. It was then I saw our case of water sitting at the bottom of the stairs in the foyer and thought "oh crap". So, I took the case of water upstairs and divided up the water bottles amongst the suitcases (so not one in particular would be heavy). Thank goodness it didn't take me long to shove some 28 bottles of water throughout them. I rejoined the family for a little bit before SIL's sister and her family had to leave for home. They have two little ones and it was closing in on bedtime for them. We walked them out to say goodbye and noticed a pair of eyes staring at us from the house. It was their doggie, Diva. Then I noticed the other dog's glowing eyes in the other window...to the left of the front door! How funny, cute and creepy all at the same time!

We stayed up to visit for a few more hours before midnight came rolling around. We were getting tired, especially the guys because they were up early for the baseball game that morning. Around midnight we called it a 'goodnight' and went to bed.

I believe the goal was to leave at 10:30 in the morning for the pier.

 

[bubba's mom]

umm... Niece's shoes are flip flops with an ankle warmer attached.

thank you!!!!


I knew it!!!