Disney/Daytona Drama 2005--as told by our 7yr old daughter Joely Faith DAY ONE

[joelyfaithsmommy]

(I posted this in my WISH journal, but wanted to post it here as well for those who don't visit the WISH board!) ENJOY!!!

THURSDAY JUNE 9, 2005

We left our house at 9am, (1/2 hr before schedule) We followed my parent from our home in Bloomington to Indy to the airport.

We arrived early to the airport in Indianapolis, IN. Our plane mysteriously was scheduled to leave 1 hr later than our agenda said..hummm not sure what happened there, but in the end it was a good thing...this gave us MORE THAN ENOUGH time to check luggage, find our gate and get lunch...the kids were pleasant during all of this, and we didn't have to rush at all! THANK YOU THANK YOU

Here is an excerpt from my 7 yr old daughter (Joely Faith's) journal from the trip (this is an exact quote, spelling and all):

"Still in the air port (12:30) we leave in 45 minutes. I can't wait! We are in the C4 room, watching planes land and leave. Theres a big plane out the window. Mom's sitting in the cornner charging the camra! There are small trucks out the window and more planes. Dad's waiting for our plane to come. Mimi is asking me questions while Jaron is playing his D.S. Pawpaw is in the bar that is right beside the room C4, Mimi is saying it should be fun. Mom's gone now I don't know where. Now the plane is backing up and getting readdy to take off! The plane that's backing up is what our plane should look like! 25 minuets till we get on board! I'm still sitting by the door! When we were eating I was cold so I got this brand new sweater, Our plane just arrived but, Were not leaving just yet! Now were in the air (10,000) feet. Lots of water is below us! We are 15,000 feet in the air (above some of the clouds, The clouds are very cool!) (The cars look like Hot Wheels!) The plane is nice and cozy. (I'm sitting by the window with Dad & Mom beside me!) The buildings look flat! I'm about to eat so intill I do I'm righting in this book."

"We have just landed in the airport now we are getting our bags and our E-Z rent-a-car van"

END QUOTE

Well, I think she summed up day one well huh? LOL

Our plane ride was uneventful except for the older ladies sitting in front of us who kept complaining that Joely was making too much noise (she wasn't)...I was very aggrivated with them!

We got our van and headed out of Orlando to Daytona...the traffic was NOT GOOD...and it took a bit to get there, however we FINALLY made it to Daytona at about 6:30pm LOCAL TIME...and Joely's eyes LIT UP as she saw the Ocean for the first time, although she didn't realize just how big it was til we pulled up to our motel and immediatly exited the van and we all practically ran to the ocean (we were ocean front)!!! It was truly amazing to see her realization at how big the Ocean really was! She ran and played in the surf with the boys...and didn't want to leave, but it was past time for dinner, so we told her she could spend more time there the next day and we left to go out to dinner.

We went to a place called "The Wreck" for dinner. We ate outside on the deck at waterside...it was so beautiful, and the air felt so good. Because I was 'eating responsibly' I made good choices and boy was it good.

I had a GROUPER sandwich plain w/baked potato (butter and sc on the side) I used only half of each...also watermellon...YUM...and water to drink...Jeff had chicken & cheese sub with baked potato (butter and sc on the side) and watermellon (tea to drink)

There was this HILLARIOUS guy singing while we were eating...I had to call my brother back in Indiana just to let him hear how ridiculous the guy sounded and we all had a good laugh...I wouldn't normally laugh at someone, however, OMG IT WAS TERRIBLE!!! It was almost like he was trying to be bad!

We left there and went back to the motel where we sat on the deck and watched the ocean surf by the moonlight...it was a beautiful night, we finally went to bed (Jaron slept in the other queen bed, Joely slept in the hide-a-bed in the living room area of our room, and Jayt slept in the other bed in my parents room) We left the sliding glass door open and fell asleep to the sound of the ocean!!! So wonderful!!! It was a good first day to our vacation that's for sure!!

Stay tuned for DAY TWO....

 

[joelyfaithsmommy]

ok, continuing with my trip report! Day 2

Jeff and I got up at 5:30 am and went to the gym at our motel to work out...after a very hard workout for about 60 minutes we went back to the room where we showered and woke the kids. We then went down to breakfast where we had fruit, cereal, and a bagel and cream cheese...

Once everyone was up and we'd all had breakfast we went down to the beach where the kids dug for shells, walked in the surf and built sand castles!!! We saw some neat things...which I'll talk about more in a bit, however I'll let our 'diary keeper' explain the day first:

(2 day) Now that its today to and we went to The Reck last night for dinner now we are looking at the ocean. We just saw a big crab, red footted duck & a whale. Now I'm about to leave for the flee market. I'm going to get a jar & some Florda sand in it and shells and otehr stuff I get from Florda (I want to get a coconut!) Geuess? What I found some new sandels they fit Mimi but she said, "They will fit me next fall! (end of day 2) END QUOTE

While at the beach we had really seen a crab, it was very big, probably washed in with the surf, we tried to help him back to the water, but when we put him back in, he just rolled to shore again with the surf...we got some pictures of my step-dad holding it, and then we left him be.

We also saw lots of birds with red feet, we were unsure what they were, but they were unique looking, and interesting...Joely liked them!

As for the whale...LOL WELL that remains to be seen (or unseen in this case)..Joely was just SURE she saw one...I however, am doubtful but I hated to dash her joy...so she has a memory that will last forever, even if it probably isn't real!

At the flea market we got several 'good buys'...but one of the best buys according to the kids were the two Red Ear Slider Turtles they got..Joely named hers "Shellie Luck" and Jaron's turtle was named "Daytona Beach" (I'll explain Shellie's middle name later in the trip report!)

The turtles aren't any bigger than a half dollar, so cute...the kids just love them..Jayt opted out of getting one of his own...instead he got binoculars!!! LOL

We came back after a long morning at the flea market and swam in the pool and relaxed in the Hot tub...

Later we went to dinner at a very nice restaurant (the name escapes me now) I had stuffed talapia that I shared with Jeff and peel and eat shrimp that we shared as well...YUM YUM...they had valet parking and everything!!! I was so impressed, the food was great, and the atmosphere was LOVELY...we left there and headed back to the motel where we vegged out on the bed, ate strawberries we had gotten that day at the flea market, and watched CSI on tv lol..

on to day 3...we fell asleep to the sounds of the ocean again...it was AMAZING!!! I sooo wish I lived ON A BEACH!!!

STAY TUNED FOR DAY THREE ADVENTURES!!!

 

[joelyfaithsmommy]

SORRY DIDN'T MEAN TO POST THIS more updates later!

 

[DisDon]

Hi Jen, the beach sounds nice, that's a big thing for our family too, don't get to see it very often. DD's reports are awesome, make me grin. Keep 'em coming!!