Surf, Sun, and Big Family FUN!

[donnaf516]

I'm in! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Happy Elf]

I was going to guess McDonalds! Where did my response go? I guess into cyber space. Or maybe I didn't press the submit button... Sounds like something I'd do on an early morning.
I've never been in the McDonald's in DTD, looks awesome!

This McDonald's isn't actually at DTD, it was probably a couple miles away, but it was on the way. I originally was thinking of eating at the one that looked like a giant Happy Meal box, but this was the one Ben programed into the GPS.

Sorry you started off the trip with rental car issues but it seems like after that the vacation is back on track.

I too want a Dooney & Bourke purse with Mickey on it but still don't have one.

Your kids are adorable. I'm looking forward to hearing all about your trip.

I probably won't end up with a D&B purse unless Santa brings it! DH throws a fit about my Vera Bradley's half the time. Of course, that could be because I have several. Thanks for the compliments on the kids we think they are worth keeping.

Hiya! Enjoying your Trip report. We are going to WDW and Vero Beach the last 2 wks of July 2012 and I wanted to read TP's for that time. Yours is perfect!!

Hey, I am from Indiana too! School starts back Tuesday August 16th for us.

I got the 40th Anniversary D&B WDW bucket purse this past trip we used Disney rewards dollars and we had Premium Annual Passes at the time so I also got 20% off. They only thing I regret is not buying the matching wallet at the time because they are sold out now So I got a $250 dollar purse for around $60 dollars at the time. It was too cool!!!

Looking Forward to more!! )

Hello! Where in Indiana do you live? We are in Anderson. I start school Wednesday, but the kids start Friday. Trying to get excited! I found out my DD got the teacher I hoped she would! Great deal on the purse! If I could get one for $60, DH might let me get it!

my dh could stay in the lego store all day. He's always too busy playing to fill the cup, which is why we have four thousand teeny pieces we can do nothing with (i didn't know what was for what)

yeah for your dd getting to go to your school! that has to make life much easier!

can't wait to see the house!

Glad DH doesn't know about the fill a cup! I noticed it but didn't say anything. My MIL is just waiting till Owen is a little bigger then she is going to send the 2 or 3 big boxes of Legos from Ben's childhood home with us!

I'm in! Can't wait to hear more!

Welcome! Glad to have you along!

 

[Happy Elf]

After our lunch at McDonald's we headed toward New Smyrna Beach. It took us a little over an hour to get there. Soon we pulled into the drive way. Mimi and Pawpaw were already there so we went in and said hi and checked out the house.

Here's the front:

The kitchen:

The Master-King bedroom (sorry it's so dark). This was the bedroom we had because it was upstairs and it's too hard for Mimi to climb stairs.

The Queen bedroom. Miranda and Chris had this bedroom because they could fit Danica's crib in there.

The twin bedroom. This was Mimi and Pawpaw's bedroom.

There was also a second bedroom with twin beds. We pushed the beds together and all 3 cousins shared that room. Boy did they have fun together....there was LOTS of giggling every night!

Living room:

The back of the house:

The pool:

The views:

Soon Miranda, Chris and the kids arrived. We got the cars unloaded and we unpacked. By this time the kids were just dying to get into the pool. Mimi and Pawpaw headed to the store to pick up groceries and get KFC for dinner. We were the only ones that flew, everyone else drove, so no one felt like cooking that night!

Soon we were here:

We had to drag the kids out of the pool when Mimi and Pawpaw got back with dinner! They loved it! After all that fun we got the kids ready for bed and after probably about 30 minutes of giggling, we went in to see this:

Next up: Surf's up!

 

[teekathepony]

Wow, what a nice place!

 

[MeMom]

What kid can resist McDonald's? That's the coolest one ever, I guess!

Great house! I think we need to check on renting a house sometime when we have our whole gang going. Maybe they need to start a new on-property 'resort', only it will have houses instead of rooms or suites. Can you imagine the cost? It would be like $3000 a night!

 

[lmillercrew]

I love cousin play time. Laughing with your cousins is the best! That house looked bigger on the inside, than it did on the outside. And the view from your room looked amazing!

 

[kathleen27]

The house looks really great! Plenty of space. Glad the cousins had lots of fun together!

That's an amazing McDonald's!

 

[Happy Elf]

Wow, what a nice place!

It was a nice place! We enjoyed it!

What kid can resist McDonald's? That's the coolest one ever, I guess!

Great house! I think we need to check on renting a house sometime when we have our whole gang going. Maybe they need to start a new on-property 'resort', only it will have houses instead of rooms or suites. Can you imagine the cost? It would be like $3000 a night!

It was a cool McDonald's for the kids...and Ben. I *think* the house was around $1600 for the week...Ben's parents paid for it, but I think it was around that. It had 2 fold out couches so it could have easily slept 10-12 people.

I love cousin play time. Laughing with your cousins is the best! That house looked bigger on the inside, than it did on the outside. And the view from your room looked amazing!

The cousins had a great time. Normally we see each other for a day, but they loved having the week to play together! The outside picture of the house is very deceiving. It was a lot bigger inside than it looks. Part of it was the layout...they had added onto the house.

The house looks really great! Plenty of space. Glad the cousins had lots of fun together!

That's an amazing McDonald's!

Lots of space in the house! We had lots of fun too!

 

[Happy Elf]

Well I officially start school tomorrow and the kids start Friday....I'm trying to be excited, but my "To Do" list at school keeps getting longer instead of shorter!


On to the TR:

Sunday, July 17

I have morning pictures...they weren't all taken on the same day...I don't think! It was beautiful to see the sun rising over the water...I could have really lived there!

We enjoyed watching the different wildlife. We saw several pelican, seagulls, cranes. We even saw a dolphin and manatee in the water, but couldn't get pictures because it happened so fast!

We enjoyed watching the bridge go up and down and watching the boats come though.

A view of the house from the dock.

 

[Happy Elf]

Sunday, July 17
The girls got up and head to the store to pick up a few things we had forgotten the night before. The kids and dads stayed and played at the house.

At 2:00 we head to the beach! It was the first time for my kids to see the beach, so they were excited and maybe a little nervous!

We brought lots of sand toys to play with...Hannah had to check them out!

Hannah soon checked out the water!

And Owen too!

We're going in!

Chris and Cavin check it out the water too!

Danica doesn't want to miss out on the fun!

Hannah enjoyed riding the waves....of course she wanted Mommy to do it too! And I was the one who fell down!

We walked up and down the beach a bit and saw these:

JELLYFISH!!!

The views of the beach:

After a few hours of fun in the sun we were hot and ready to head out. On the way back to the car we saw this:

It was really neat to see a turtle nest...I would love to see the turtle sometime!





When we got back to the house the kids wanted to.............SWIM!!!!

So we head to the pool while Mimi cooked dinner (can I say I got a bit spoiled having someone else do the cooking!)

Owen enjoyed playing with the ball!

Soon we were called into dinner...we had yummy fajitas!

After dinner it was story time with Mimi and Pawpaw. We always read stories before bed at home, but they wanted Mimi and Pawpaw to read while we were there! Makes my heart smile!

After the kids were in bed the parents played a new game: The Settlers of Catan. We had fun and I would like to play it again.....that is just hard to do these days with the kids and being a few hours away from each other!

 

[lmillercrew]

Great update! Gorgeous views, who could ask for more.

 

[teekathepony]

Oh what a gorgeous place. I think I could live there too.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Finally checking back on your trip report! Looks like you all had a very nice home to spend your week in!!!
I love the view!
Ugh to those jelly fish... Did you see any in the water?

I'm not sure if you are reading Jen's trip report about our June trip but we talk about the Sea Turtle nests too!

 

[MeMom]

It was really neat to see a turtle nest...I would love to see the turtle sometime!



When we got back to the house the kids wanted to.............SWIM!!!!

So we head to the pool while Mimi cooked dinner (can I say I got a bit spoiled having someone else do the cooking!)


After dinner it was story time with Mimi and Pawpaw. We always read stories before bed at home, but they wanted Mimi and Pawpaw to read while we were there! Makes my heart smile!

Me, too on all the turtle stuff. I really want to watch one come on the beach to lay eggs someday. I'd love to see the babies hatch and go to the ocean, too, but I'd probably upset the whole balance of nature by saving all the ones that didn't look like they were going to make it.

Do kids ever tire of swimming? I know I never did!

Glad you enjoyed having your own personal chef. I am glad to do all of that stuff for my kids when we are together, too, and they love having it. Works out nicely.

Treasured moments with Mimi and Pawpaw. Thanks for sharing them. It made me smile, too.

Ugh to those jelly fish... Did you see any in the water?

They are interesting to look at in real life, and cute as can be hanging from your classroom ceiling, but those dang things can burn the daylights out of you! I got in a school of them once when I was young, and it felt like hot oil splattered on my body. Not cool at all.

 

[Happy Elf]

Great update! Gorgeous views, who could ask for more.

Oh what a gorgeous place. I think I could live there too.

It was a nice place! The views were amazing! We enjoyed it everyday!

Finally checking back on your trip report! Looks like you all had a very nice home to spend your week in!!!
I love the view!
Ugh to those jelly fish... Did you see any in the water?

Yes, I did see some in the water. I think I may have gotten stung. My leg hurt all afternoon, and I had a small mark. It was either that or a shell scratched me when I fell in the water.

I'm not sure if you are reading Jen's trip report about our June trip but we talk about the Sea Turtle nests too!

I did see that! I just wish we could see the baby turtles!

Me, too on all the turtle stuff. I really want to watch one come on the beach to lay eggs someday. I'd love to see the babies hatch and go to the ocean, too, but I'd probably upset the whole balance of nature by saving all the ones that didn't look like they were going to make it.

I'd probably be the same way! DH says I would adopt all the dogs and cats at our local shelter if he would let me....he won't! But he's probably right!

Do kids ever tire of swimming? I know I never did!

Hannah didn't ever tire of swimming and we had to practically drag her out of the pool each evening. Owen did get tired of it after a bit....but he's not as much of a fish as she is. I was the same way as Hannah. I could swim all the time....still could.

Glad you enjoyed having your own personal chef. I am glad to do all of that stuff for my kids when we are together, too, and they love having it. Works out nicely.

Treasured moments with Mimi and Pawpaw. Thanks for sharing them. It made me smile, too.

It was nice! Both kids enjoyed spending a few days with Mimi last week when I was going to my teacher meeting. Owen won't know what hit him this year as he is going to go to daycare full time and not spend his days with Mimi. Should be an interesting transition! He's getting more active and wanting to run and climb and Mimi just can't keep up with him because of her knees. We were very thankful for the time she was able to spend with both kids as babies and toddlers!

They are interesting to look at in real life, and cute as can be hanging from your classroom ceiling, but those dang things can burn the daylights out of you! I got in a school of them once when I was young, and it felt like hot oil splattered on my body. Not cool at all.

So true! I may have been stung by a jellyfish when we were at the beach, but I'm not sure. I had a mark on my leg and it hurt for 2-3 days after.

 

[Happy Elf]

Here are a few pictures from the first day of school! Hannah (ok, ok, Mommy too) was a bit nervous about starting at a new school where she didn't know anyone, but she had a great first day!

Outside our house for the First Day of School pictures

Outside Mrs. Garringer's First grade classroom!

I fully admit I had a tough time not walking down the hall to peek in. I really didn't want to be one of "those" parents. I did walk though the lunch room to see how she was doing and she was smiling and eating. So, I relaxed a bit. Then we talked on our drive home and she told me what they did during the day and who she played with at recess. Her only complaint...they didn't really get to play. I laughed and told her she wouldn't really get to do that in first grade!

 

[Happy Elf]

On Monday, July 18 our groups split. Ben and Chris headed to Kennedy Space Center and the rest of us stayed at New Smyrna and ate, swam, and shopped.

First up, the boys trip to Kennedy Space Center. Now, I would like to go to Kennedy again (I went as a young child), but not with the 2 sci-fi geeks. I think I would have been over it long before they were!

I don't have much narration, but I can tell you a few things.

Rocket Garden

This summer KSC was having a special Sci-Fi Summer with a Star Trek exhibit. Chris is a huge Star Trek fan so he was in heaven!

"Captain Chris"

The Lighthouse

SpaceX

Apollo 1 Memorial

Saturn V Rocket

They had a great time and came home with some cool souvenir's. Ben got Hannah an astronaut teddy bear and Owen got a play set with 5 rockets. He also got some freeze dried ice cream for us to sample. It was surprisingly good! Even the kids liked it!

 

[princssdisnygina]

Hey Janell! Isn't it sad that now... KSC will truly be a museum?

 

[teekathepony]

Very cool, my DH always wanted to go there! Looks like a lot of fun.

 

[lbuzz52]

looks like a grand house! it definitely looks biggere from the back than the front. I would have been done for the week if i saw those jellyfish!