Florida: Day by Day

Okay, first a little smidge of back story. Derek's parents lived in Rockford, Illinois from 1994-2005. We visited them there at least once a year, often more than that, as it was an easy days drive from here. Five years ago Derek's parents moved from IL to Florida and until last week we had not yet been to visit. We had been watching air fares on and off for a few years and on Christmas Eve we were very blessed to find a fare that didn't totally break the bank. I am going to do a separate theme park post, so I'll tell you then how I prepared for our one day to Disney's Magic Kingdom and all of the fabulous tips and tricks that I have amassed and what worked for us. For now I am just going to do a day by day play by play. So here goes:

Tuesday we left our home at a very comfortable 9am and headed to the cities for our afternoon flight. We left plenty of time in our schedule for potty breaks and lunch in Maple Grove. Our non-stop flight was fairly uneventful (just how I like it) and we arrived in FL just in time to go home to Grammy and Grampy's, have a bowl of cereal and head to bed.

Wednesday we kind of chilled. The girls were totally enamoured with unlimited access to Disney channel and breakfast choices that we don't have at home. Derek and I headed out to the Temple in the early afternoon while the girls explored the senior living community in the golf cart with Grammy. That afternoon we headed to the pool although it was a bit chilly. The girls didn't notice and had a great time. Our evening was spent watching the Olympics and gearing up for DW the next day.

Thursday we headed out nice and early for the Magic Kingdom. My in-laws live about 45 minutes away and we were at the park plenty early to walk through the front gates right at about the time they opened the park. We had a WONDERFUL day. I have decided that I'd like a vacation home in the park. I am pretty sure that there are apartments above the shops near Pirate's of the Caribbean. I would like to live there someday.

Friday we kept a bit more low key. We alternated park days with slower days so we could actually enjoy our vacation and not wear ourselves out....or our kids or hosts. After a blissfully lazy morning we headed to a manatee preserve at Homosassa Spring State Park. This was probably my least favorite day, but that could have been because I wasn't in on the plan for the day, wasn't sure what we were doing AND I was fighting a migraine all day. The girls and Derek LOVED it however and now we have enough photos of hippos, manatees, alligators and various birds to torture my sister with for a lifetime to fill an entire scrapbook. HA! Friday night we got home kind of late but still had time to watch the U.S. bring home a few medals. I love the Olympics and since we haven't had a chance to watch for almost 10 years (no t.v.), this turned out to be a highlight of our trip.

Saturday we headed to Busch Gardens, just the 6 of us. Bonnie came down with the flu overnight and she and my father-in-law sat this one out. It turned out to be a fantastic day. The weather was perfect, the sun was shining and we had a really great time. Busch Gardens is essentially a zoo with rides. Some of our "learns" for the day were that Madison was just not quite tall enough for the "big" roller coasters and that Busch Gardens has more ride issues than the other parks. In all I think 5 or 6 rides were down for part or all of the day. We did ride a huge, crazy, gut wrenching really fun wooden coaster when we first got to the park....that was pretty much all the roller coaster fun I could handle I was able to ride, except for the ones that were safe for 36" and taller. I didn't want Kamiryn to feel left out. I liked that we were able to get all of our fun in by about 6pm so that we could head out of the park for supper at McDonald's and not spend next months mortgage payment on dinner at the park head home for a bit of an OF (Olympic Fix) before bed.

Sunday was another lazy day. Derek and his dad went golfing and Bonnie and I headed out to a scrapbook store at a crazy place called The Villages. It is like Disney World for Senior Citizens. Anyway at this scrapbook store a class was being taught and as I browsed the isles I heard a somewhat familiar voice. I didn't think much of it...mostly because who do I know in Florida. As I walked around a corner I stopped dead in my tracks, Donna Downey was there teaching a class and I was missing out! I couldn't believe it! I did get a chance to say hi and have a photo snapped of the two of us together. So cool! We rounded out the day with taking the girls swimming and a yummy pork roast and potatoes dinner. And of course the Olympics.

Monday was our last park day. This time we headed to Sea World. Madi was once again dissapointed about not being quite tall enought to ride Manta or Krakken. We loved riding Journey to Atlantis...especially because Derek was the one to get TOTALLY SOAKED! The shows were amazing and our highlight was feeding the dolphins. {We missed the tragic death of one of the trainers by just 2 days. I am so very grateful that my girls were not in the park that day, especially Madison. My heart and prayers go out to the family of the trainer and the Sea World staff.} We were blessed to have the weather hold out for us until the very end of our day at the park. Rain was forecasted for the day and it did not start pouring until we were headed toward the gate! Awesome timing! For dinner we headed to Five Guys. It is honestly my new favorite for burgers!

Tuesday was our last full day of vacation. We headed out fairly early for Daytona Beach which is 2 hours from Derek's parents house. The drive was scenic and the girls were good. We passed through a darling little town called Mt. Dora. Definitely a future girlfriend vacation destination! Daytona was an awesome experience. This was our first time seeing the Atlantic Ocean and driving on the beach. We had an amazing time. When we first got there it was about 68* but still quite cloudy and we pretty much had the beach to ourselves (well, we shared it with the seagulls) for the first half hour or so. The favorite activities were wave jumping and shell collecting. After the beach we found a place for fish and chips (so yummy) and headed home. After one last trip to the pool the girls started repacking their suitcases and sucking every last minute out of Disney viewing time that they possibly could. I settled in for my last night of Olympics and made myself stay awake way too late to watch the women skate.

Wednesday morning was slow and steady. I scheduled our flight times so that we wouldn't have to rush on either end. It worked. Kind of. We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare so we didn't think much of hitting the Disney Store for a last minute souvenir for Miranda and then the food court for some lunch. Apparently neither Derek or I was keeping track of time. We headed into our terminal just in time to hear "Hubbert, paty of 6 departing to Minneapolis...THIS IS YOUR LAST CALL!" OH CRAP! We ran to beat the band...with not Derek or myself in the lead. Not even Dani or Madi. Miranda ran like I've never seen her run before. DO NOT COME BETWEEN THAT GIRL AND HER PLAN!!!! She got to the gate and let them know we were on our way. Picture me running up the terminal wearing a heavy backpack, pulling my carry-on, heaving Kamiryn's carry-on in my arms and chanting "YES YOU CAN....YOU CAN DO IT!!!" the entire way as Kamiryn is limping along whimpering...."I can't do it!"
I guess the rest of our trip was so nearly perfect (I forgot tell you about the ride home from Bush Gardens through BACKWOODS Florida in the dark...we were almost never seen or heard from again!!!) we had to have some adventure thrown into the mix for good measure!
It was a most memorable and much needed vacation. I will try forevermore to escape Minnesota every February for somewhere warmer.
In the meantime I have over a thousand photos to help me remember this trip!