Family Vacation

Last week we went on a family vacation to Florida. It was a fun trip. We drove down there in a Chrysler Town and Country. That was a very nice ride and the boys enjoyed it, as much as they can for a 23 hour drive.

We spent the first 4 nights in Orlando. We went to Magic Kingdom for one day. Here are some pictures.

This is where we parked in Magic Kingdom.

Brady and I on his first roller coaster.

Isaac & Brady being silly. (Especially Isaac)

Buzz Lightyear ride. We got stuck on the ride a couple of times, so we were really able to score high.
Shawn maxed out at 999,999 points.

Isaac & Daddy on the Buzz ride.

Brady and Mommy on the buzz ride. As you can see, Brady spent a lot of time with mommy on the rides.

Isaac with his new "mouse" ears.

Isaac & Brady waiting for the parade to start.

Cinderella's Castle at night.

Family picture

We were also in Orlando with Grandma and Papa Neuser. Unfortunately, they had to cut their trip short because Grandpa McCabe passed away on St. Patrick's Day.

After our 4 nights in Orlando it was back on the road again for a short ride to New Smyrna Beach (near Daytona Beach) where we spent the next 3 nights. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from this part of the trip. We spent most of the time on the beach or in our condo.

The weather overall was pretty nice. We had low to mid 70s most days, but there was a strong wind that was cold. Because of that, I didn't spend a lot of time in shorts. I wore mostly capris and I made sure we all had long sleeves for the nights. We had one not so nice weather day on Thursday where the temperatures were in low 60s and cloudy. Then Friday the temperatures were in the mid 70s and sunny. The beach came to life then.

Shawn and I didn't care too much for the beach because you could drive on the beach. So we were always watching out for cars and making sure the boys watched out as well. The boys loved the ocean. They loved playing in it and we had to drag them out, even though it was freezing cold. They didn't even ask about playing in the pool.

Myrtle Beach Vacation

The boys did wonderful during our ride out there. We left about 8 pm Friday night and arrived I think around 5 pm Saturday afternoon. The boys did a lot of sleeping on the ride which really helped the drive. We drove straight through as usual. Don't know how much longer we are going to be able to do that. It gets harder and harder I think for Shawn to stay up all night to do that. This time around it helped that Shawn was able to take a nap before hitting the road so he felt pretty good the entire trip. We usually split the drive up into about 3-4 shifts. I take the first shift and try to drive through Chicago or as far past it I can get. This time I made it about half way to Indianapolis. Then Shawn takes the night shift until about 7 am. We usually stop for breakfast and then I drive through the mountains. Then we stop somewhere in South Carolina, and Shawn drives the rest of the way to the condo.

The weather was great. When we first got there, the temperatures were in the high 80s, low 90s and humid. About mid week, a cool front had gone through and the temperatures were in the high 70s, low 80s, but still beautiful weather. We only had one afternoon of rain.

The boys really loved the water. I had bought some floats for their arms last year at the end of the trip and brought them along for this year's trip. The first real day in the water I had gotten them out for the boys to use. Brady really took fast to the idea of swimming and is really quite a natural at it. Isaac was a little more cautious about the whole thing. Isaac however was the first one to walk from the zero entrance area over to the steps which were in just over 3 feet of water. Shortly after that, Brady started getting a little more daring and realized that the floats would keep him afloat so then he would start walking over that way without my help.

Within about an hour of being in the water, Brady was completely trusting the floats and kicking his legs to swim. Grandma had also bought the boys inflatable rings as well, so I blew those up and let the boys float in them. With the help of the rings, Brady flew through the water. Isaac again was a little more cautious about it all, but towards the end of the trip he was going all over the pool without the help of anyone.

I will try and get pictures up as soon as I can. I'm having difficulties getting them to upload.