Road Trip!!

Road Trip 2010!!!!!

Initially we cancelled our trip to Florida b/c of Jaylee's broken wrist.

BUT, my work schedule got changed a bit so one day we just decided to go...

and that night we went!!!!

I LOVE spur-of-the-moment trips!!!

We left Weds April 14th at 7:30 pm.

We drove south through Richmond then got a hotel at 1 am.

Jenni slept a little in the car,

Jaylee and I hung out the whole trip.

The girls love that I let them jump on every hotel bed we ever get.

And we only get hotels with pools, preferably indoor up North.

I thought they'd let me sleep in a little BUT

at 7:30 am Thurs, here they are...

We at the disgusting free breakfast at the hotel

and then they opened the pool early for us.

Swimming is a great way to wear them out before car rides!!

Luckily, Jaylee's cast protector worked great!

We were back on the road at 10:30 am.

We had fun spotting the fun South of the Border signs along the highway for 100 miles.

I believe we got there around 1pm.

Jenni, especially, was SUPER excited after reading all the signs!!

*****

Jason laughs at me b/c until I was ever at Las Vegas,

this is what I pictured it to look like!!!

Jaylee enjoyed a scoop of "Trashcan" ice cream.

Both girls LOVED all of the pretend animals,

the ball pit at the ice cream shop,

and the fun mirrors that make you look tall, skinny, fat, and like a midget.

THEN... we were off to Savannah!!!

We arrived at the Leclair's around 5:30pm.

It's so great having friends that your comfortable around even though you only get together once a year or even less often!!!

After playing and dinner, we headed to the ball field to watch Brady's game.

I had forgotten all about Sand Gnats!!!

I wish I had gotten a pic of everyone with their incense sticks, trying to protect themselves from gnat bites... I have never seen incense sticks so big!!

Poor Jennibelle just stared at everyone and then asked me why EVERYONE was smoking?!?

She is still so innocent and I cherish that!!

Mr Matt bought each of the kids an incense stick, which was a big hit.

Jaylee was so bitten up that she was on Zyrtec and Benadryl for 5 days to control her itch...she looked like she had chicken pox!!!

Here's a shot of Ryan, Jaylee, Hunter and Jenni playing tag.

We spent Friday morning downtown along the River.

Here's Jaylee and I at our dock...

She's 7 and I'm 31.

The girls played so well together.

Both of my girls were given a flower made out of palm leaves from some guy hanging around while they were while climbing these trees!

Jason bought me one of those flowers right before we moved to PA.

(Jenni's in the bright pink outfit)

We had to let the kids play on the tug boat!!

Around noon we headed up to City Market, where there are new fountains to play in.
It was at least 85' and sunny!!!

I really do miss the South!!

Everyone was a little shy with the water at first,

but then...

Then it was off to Vinny Van GoGo's for pizza and spinach salad...

Tough Vinny's was VERY fun, I think that I have created it into something so big and good and fun in my mind, that in reality, it had no chance of meeting my expectations!!!

The pizza was nearly as good as I remember, though the atmosphere was awesome!!!

I have great memories of that place!!

The kids got to hang out with horses after we ate.

Me and Christy!!!

Then at 2pm, we were "On The Road Again..."

We sang that song a lot this trip.

We were off to Florida.

This trip, we enjoyed seeing the different types of Palm Trees along the highway...

I didn't realize how many varieties there are.

Unfortunately, we didn't take a pic of the type that we decided was our favorite...

guess we'll have to make another trip for that picture!!

My darn GPS took me 60 miles down a street that went from 65 mph to 25 mph repeatedly, so we got to Mommom's an hour late... 7:30 pm.

We got to hang out with them and catch up.

And, of course, play some cards!!

I was very happy to see that Neil's meds seem to be helping him very much...

other than some minor conversations that we repeated throughout the day, he seemed like the same old Neil!!!

On Saturday morning, we got up early and explored their back yard.

The gators have moved out, but there were frogs, cranes, birds, palm trees, a "black bear climbing a tree", and a grape fruit tree.

Jenni was disappointed that she did not get to pick an orange from a tree!!

We were in the pool by 10 am!

Poppop Neil

Mommom... she'll be furious if she knows I put her picture on the internet!

That afternoon, I took the girls back to the pool.

They wanted a picture in front of this building so that they could tell their friends that this was Mommom's house!!

Sat night we made chicken and mashed potatoes and then watched Marly and Me together.

It was very low key and relaxing!!

On Sunday morning, we woke to some dreary weather.
That didn't stop my girls though...

Neil and I watched them swim for an hour in the rain!!!

And they had a blast.

Then Neil took us to their favorite pizza joint for lunch.

We left their place around 2pm and headed to Orlando...

Our Orlando hotel.

Comfort Inn in Lake Buena Vista...

We'll definitely be staying there again!!!

Jumping on the beds b/c it was pouring outside!!!

We had tickets to Sea World's Luau dinner at 6pm.

We entered Sea World at 5pm and quickly saw some animals before dinner began.

And I am soooo glad that we did!!!

In fact, if I knew that we had pre-assigned seating, we would have seen more of the animals!!

Here's the girls in the rain at the entrance...

We got this close to some dolphins!!

How exciting!!

When we checked into the dinner, we each got a lai.

Jenni's itched her, so she gave it to Jaylee to decorate her cast!

We had the best time together...

the whole trip!

We were all relaxed and full of fun and I never had to yell at them or stop them from fighting!!

Here's my goatee!!

We had a table to the left of the stage.

The girls got their meals in a bucket...

Jaylee claims it was the best hot dog she EVER ate!!

They did not like the Hawaiian salad but Jenni loved the banana muffins that came with it!

Jaylee spilt her water all over the table and her shorts.

Then she spilt her fruit punch all over the table.

Then she was so embarrassed that as she was crying,

she shot boogers all over me!!!!!

So... when they called the kids up to dance on stage, she couldn't go b/c it looked like she peed her pants!!

Jennibelle was super excited to get up there!!!

With all of this technology, I have only on terrible still picture b/c I was also videotaping!!!

Darn!!!

She looked like she was having a great time, but came back to the table and went on and on about how she was "shaking" b/c she was "so embarrassed!!"
She matured a lot on this trip!!

She sure didn't seem nervous beforehand!

When they asked who's Bday it was, she jumped right up on her chair, waving her arms, so she got another lai!!!

We celebrated her Bday the whole time we were in Orlando, though it is a month away!

She's the littlest one in the picture...

There will be some videos at the end of this blog... there's one of her dancing!!

The fire dance guy...

the BEST part of the show by far!!

Again, I have no still shots b/c I was videotaping for Jason to see!!

Some of the dancers...

The show was really good for the last 20 mins or so, when everyone cam eout and danced and the Fire guy was on stage.

The 1.5 hours before that was pretty slow, so I don't know that it was worth the $100 we paid to go. I'm a very glad that we did though, we just won't do it again... I'd rather spend the money to get into the park the whole day and maybe catch some Hula dancing along the way!!

The girls were excited to take this pic, but my darn camera wasn't cooperating totally and a line was forming, so it was rushed!

When we got back to the hotel, we checked the weather forcast...

THUNDERSTORMS ALL DAY MONDAY!!!

So... we booked the room for an extra night and pushed back our day at the Magic Kingdom!

Which meant that we could...

Go swimming until 10pm!!!!!!

I kinda think they liked the pools more than the park!!

We spent Monday at the pool and Downtown Disney -

I'm glad we got the chance to go there!

Me kissing a pirate.

Jaylee scared of the pirate.

Jennibelle wanted NOTHING to do with the pirate!
But she LOVED the Lego store!!!

Both girls enjoyed "racing" the cars they made.

Then we checked out 2 restaraunts for dinner...T Rex and Rainforest Cafe.

After swimming for the afternoon, we returned to Downtown Disney for Dinner...

The loser was...

Rainforest Cafe!!

TRex was much much much much cooler!!!

I think the fossil dig area may have won them over...

or the Build a Dino area...

or the awsome dinosaurs everywhere!!

Here's the link...

www.trexcafe.com/Main/Events.html

Happy Early Birthday to Jenni!!!

**BTW, they have the BEST chicken quessadilla that I have ever eatten...

chicken, cheese, red peppers and some green sauce on the outside!!!**

Then, if finally thunderstormed, as we were ready to leave.
So, we played!

You don't often get THIS view of a storm!

The girls wanted to bury all of me, but I was not up for that...

the little pebbles gave me a nice mani/pedi though!!

The storm left us an Awesome puddle to splash in!!

Jaylee and I had terrible dreams of someone breaking into the hotel room the night prior, so Monday night I barracaded us in and we prayed that no fire would break out!!!

When the alarm went off Tuesday morning, it scared the whoosi-whatsie out of her...

she was screaming and flailing through the air and on all fours bouncing across the bed!!!!

It was quite comical afterwards, but broke my heart while it was happening!

She actually hurt her broken wrist through it all and I had to given her a dose of Motrin b/c it was bothering her sooo bad! We almost went to the Urgent Care for Xrays!!!

Tuesday was our day at Magic Kingdom!!!!!!!!

Our bus ride there was great!!!

The tour guide was wide awake, singing, funny, and gave us lost of good info!

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We got there 30 mins before it opened!!!

Everyone came out to welcome the crowd!

There were NO lines that early so wejumped on the rides.

Unfortunately, Snow White was the first ride we went on and it Terrified Jenni.

(It really was scary for kids!!)

But Jaylee got to jump on other rides and take advantage that there were no crowds!!

She loves to spin and only having one good arm did not slow her down!!

Jenni and I enjoyed our time together watching Jaylee.

We all squeezed onto a race car after that!

Then we enjoyed a Monsters Inc comedy show, where Jenni's joke was shared.

(Why is 6 afraid of 7? B/C 7 8 9!!)
Then it was off to Mickey's toon town where the girls got their faces painted.

They were both very excited to go thruohg Minnie's house.

This is when I realized that my camer a battery was just about dead!!!!!

Jenni was the Chesteshire cat from Alice and Wonderland.

Jaylee is a chipmunk.

Jaylee got to do Goofy's roller coaster by herself and loved it.

Then, Donald's water boat was fun but it wasn't hot enough yet to get wet.

We all agreed that the 3-D Phillharmonic Show was awesome and one of our favorites!

Jenni was still very nervous going into it, b/c she was afraid it would be scary!

Here's the line for It's a Small World.

I love when they are the best of friends!!

She LOVED it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then we maded our way to a Haunted House for Jaylee but found out after we were in it, that she couldn't go through without me... that was a nice waste of 20 mins!!!

So we got Jenni excited for the Pirate ride that was "kinda like It's a Small World" except with pirates instead of dolls!"

WHOOPS... boy was I wrong!!!

She was a trooper though, she just hid in my belly and let us enjoy the rides!!!

The girls were excited for The Swiss Family Robinson Tree House,

it's one of their favorite movies. Then it was Jaylee's time go on big rides... Jenni was content just hanging out!!

First was Splash Mt which she loved!

In fact, she enjoyed it so much that she was determined to try Space Mt!

(She attempted it earlier, but when it was her turn in line, she decided not to -

we had fun ROLLING down the exit ramp though!! - I did anyway, the girls were afraid soemone might see us!)

I felt badly that she had to go on them alone, but she really didn't mind!

I let her go through the line alone for Space Mt and then regretted my decision until I saw here again.... though I never felt uncomfortable at the park, there are way too many creaps out there just waiting for their chance to grab a little girl!!!

She's in the 3rd row.

She loved the Big Thunder railroad coaster too!!

As Jenni said, "The clouds were rolling in" while Jaylee was on the ride.

We attended the Monsters Inc show 2 more times that eveing.

This time they told Jaylee's joke

(What's a dog with no tail? A hot dog)

They LOVED hearing their names announced and Jennibelle was jumping on her seat, trying to volunteer for more!

My camera was totally dead before Jaylee made it onto Space Mt.

I tried to take a pic with my camera but ti didn't work too well!!

We'll see pix of the fireworks when the girls get their disposable cameras developed.

The storm finally hit the park when we were on the monorail heading out of the park, we were very blessed for the storm to hold off all evening!!!!

Jenni was sound asleep in the stroller.

Jaylee was very helpful and a good sport!

I carried her on my bcak as long as a could, but it was difficult to carry and pusha stroller at the same time!!!

We all slept well that night!!!

Wednesday morning we left for Savannah again.

The girls got $10 each to spend at the souvenirr shop before we headed out of town.

Why do kids like stuffed animals so much?!?!?!?!

We stopped along the way to get Jason some boiled peanuts, but they were fresh, not canned.

Jaylee found a cool back scratcher made from an alligator's hand!!!

We got to the Leclairs at 3 and just relaxed and let the kids play.

When we woke up on Thursday morning, we all headed to the beach!

The boys were excited that they got to take a "personal day" from school.

Tybee beach is just soo awesome... No boardwalk, cheap parking, no big crowds, no life guards so you can swim wherever you want...

Everyone had a blast!!!!!

I have never dug up so many sand castles!

Here's Jaylee...

and Evie Leclair...

21 months old and she talks clear as day, climbs a jungle gym like a 7 year old, is pretty much potty trained, and rides a scooter...

She's pretty amazing!!!

and Ryan Leclair...

She just turned 4 yrs old and is quietter than the other Leclair's.

She seemed to enjoy having the girls attention, esp when it was 1 on 1.

The girls had a great time at the beach!

After lunch at Spanky's, we were on our way home at 2pm!!

We drove all day until 1am, when we reached King's Dominion.

We found a hotel and crashed.

Again, we were up at 7:30 on Friday so that we could swim before we got back in the car.

The girls loved that the hot tub had bubbles in it!!

The last part of our vacation was a brunch at Mariette's b/c she was home in the DC area for a few days with he r new son, Kingston.

I wish I had pix, but I had no battery!!!

It was nice to catch up and the girls got to run around a bit.

Then, at 4pm, we were...

HOME!!!!!

Jason surprised to girls with 20-30 balloons, a cake, a candy party, and marshmellows to roast.

He surprised me with flowers, 10 day old dishes, and a mailbox FULL of mail.

That was one of the BEST vacations ever and I don't want to be home!!!

(As I type this at 2 am at work!!)

****************************

Here are some videos totally out of any order...

Jaylee after Space Mt

Stringham & Leclair girls at Fountains.

Jenni in the pool.

Jaylee in the pool.

The girls in the pool.

The girls jumping on 2 beds.

Jenni at the Luau.

The girls dancing in a puddle.

Jaylee on the Tea Cups.

Are you scared of It's a Small World?!?

Nope!!