Tag Archives: pool

March 2011 Trip to Florida – Day 14 (Saturday)

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It was a sad day as we packed the van and left Florida, but it was a good day as we had a nice drive to North Carolina and got to see Jeff, Evy, Ryan, Lillie, Lauren, and their house.

The boys and I got up this morning at around 7 am and went swimming for the last time. The air was cooler than it has been, but the pool was as warm as always, so there was quite a bit of steam coming off the pool. We swam for half an hour and then got out to get ready to go.

We left the house at around 8:30 and headed to Ponderosa for their breakfast buffet. It was similar to the one we had at the Sizzlin Grill last week, but the quality of the food was a bit better. But hey, for $3.99, you can’t complain too much 🙂

After having breakfast and filling up the van, we were on the road by 10:06. Here is the timeline…

  • 8:29 left the house (odometer at 141,118). Graham drove.
  • 9:36 left Ponderosa
  • 10:06 left gas station. Arrival time is estimated at 7:41
  • 10:10 on the highway I-4
  • 11:38 arrival time estimated at 7:30
  • 11:39 – 11:47 at a rest stop. Arrival time at 7:34. NOTE: just before the rest stop we saw some burned out areas along the highway from the forest fires from a month or so ago
  • 12:51 arrival time estimated at 7:20
  • 12:54 crossed Florida/Georgia border (odometer at 141,429)
  • 1:32-1:43 bathroom break and filled up van. Arrival time estimated at 7:25. Lisa started to drive
  • 1:49 things don’t look quite as green as Florida

At some point along the way, I took this picture…

  • 2:36 crossed Georgia/South Carolina border
  • 3:17-3:25 bathroom break. Arrival time estimated at 7:25. Graham back to driving.
  • 4:37-4:44 bathroom break. Arrival time estimated at 7:25
  • 5:30 crossed South Carolina/North Carolina border
  • 7:16 arrived at Jeff and Evy’s house

We had some pizza with everyone when we got there and some ice cream for dessert. The kids played around until around 10 pm and then went to bed.

As you can see, it didn’t take Christine long to dress up in Lillie’s and Lauren’s princess dresses (first Cinderella, then Aurora). She was in her glory.

After the rest of us crashed, Lisa and Evy stayed up until after 1 am. I’m sure they were talking about how great their husbands and kids are 🙂

We noticed lots of Ontario plates along the way. It was strange to see so many. We don’t know if it was because everyone else was like us going home, or if something else was going on.

The only license plate that we saw that we hadn’t seen the whole trip yet was South Dakota.

On Sunday we are going to Sacrament Meeting with Jeff & Evy, and then coming home to visit for a bit. We hope to be on the road by 1 pm.

March 2011 Trip to Florida – Day 13 (Friday)

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Since this was our last full day in Florida, we tried to make the most of it. Matthew and I got up this morning and went swimming before going out. We then headed out for a few hours.

We went mini-putting at Bonanza Golf, an old west mining themed miniature golf course. It was a gorgeous morning, and the course was beautiful. After getting a 24 on the first hole, Christine settled down and did much better after that 🙂  There was even a hole that we all got a hole-in-one on (as long as you could hit the ball, it would go in).

After golfing, we headed off to Kissimmee Go-Karts. We had gotten a coupon that gave us a free lap. It wasn’t much, but neither Lisa or can remember ever driving a go-kart, so we thought we’d give it a try. I went with Andrew and Lisa went with Matthew. It was a lot of fun. We’ll have to try go-karts again another time.

After that, we went to Shell World. They have a golf cart that is covered in sea shells, so of course I had to take a picture of the kids.

Inside the store, they had a fake shark’s head, so I told Matthew to pretend it was eating him. Of course, the others wanted in on it too. At first Christine sat on the mouth and it looked like the shark was biting her bum, but then she decided she wanted to be like the boys.

Eventually we made it home and we jumped in the pool. Andrew is totally comfortable in the water. He is quite a good swimmer. Matthew is very brave now as long as he is close to the edge so he can grab hold of something. He loves wearing a mask or goggles and going underwater.

Even Christine is getting more comfortable in the water. She won’t venture in very far on her own, but will put her face in the water and asks for the mask sometimes.

When in the pool, my job is to splash the kids and throw them when requested. It works fairly well.

Lisa’s job is to try to get the kids back for all of the grief they’ve caused her over the years. You can see she receives great pleasure from doing this 🙂

We went to The Olive Garden for dinner and had a great meal. We went to the outlet stores again to pick up a couple of things, and then we headed back to Downtown Disney for one last trip. It is beautiful at night with all of the people, and the buildings lit up.

Grandma and Grandpa gave them each a bit of money to get something, so Andrew did some prospecting/sifting. He bought 2 bags of what looked like dirt, and then you can sift them in the water and there are “gems” inside. He was very excited. Matthew and Christine both got to split open some volcanic rock to find a geode inside. Very cool.

We got home rather late, but Andrew still had time to have ice cream. Andrew then headed off to bed and the rest of us had the unpleasant task of cleaning up and packing 🙁

Saturday is our last day. We have to be out of the house by 11 am, so we will probably leave by 9 am, and we’re heading out for breakfast. We’ll then be on the road and hope to make it to Jeff & Evy’s place before 8 pm.

Driving to Florida and Day 0

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The trip down could have been disastrous (the kids have never driven for more than 3 hours), but it wasn’t too bad. The first night we drove to Jeffersonville, OH, then the second day we drove to Macon, GA, and then on the 3rd day (Day 0) we arrived at the house in Kissimmee, FL. We arrived a little early, and so we went and got some groceries first. We then went to the house and swam.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

  • 3:35 Lisa, her parents, and the kids left home to pick me up at work
  • 3:56 picked me up and drove away
  • 4:03 got through customs at the Rainbow Bridge
  • 5:44 crossed the PA state line
  • 5:47-6:04 stopped at a McDonald’s for dinner
  • 8:09 left a rest area
  • 10:28 arrived at the hotel in Jeffersonville, OH

Lisa drove to pick me up, and then I drove the rest of the way

Christine had gotten sick the day we left, so she was pretty grumpy and groggy during the trip. At night I gave her a blessing. I laid my hands on her head, and started by saying “Christine Lisa Wing” and she opened her eyes a bit and said, “Yes?” 🙂

Christine stayed in our room and the boys shared the second bed in Grandma and Grandpa’s room.

Friday, March 4, 2011

The continental breakfast at the hotel was quite good. We had bagels, cereal, juice, oatmeal, and waffles.

  • 8:00 on the road
  • 9?29 crossed the Kentucky border
  • 9:40 stopped at a rest stop
  • 12:40 got lunch at Wendy’s
  • 1:00 crossed the Tennessee border. We’ve noticed quite a few trees with blossoms, as well as some daffodils growing.
  • 1:09-2:00 hit a lane closure in the Tennessee mountains which delayed us almost an hour
  • 4:24 crossed the Georgia border
  • 7:30 arrived at the Macon hotel

Grandpa drove for a couple of hours in the morning, and a couple of hours in the evening. Lisa drive for a few hours in the morning. I drove the rest of the way.

Christine was feeling better (not 100%, but better), but Andrew was miserable. He just didn’t get enough sleep last night.

We had hoped to swim at the Macon hotel, but it was an outdoor pool and was closed for the season. It wasn’t opening until Monday. It was too cold to swim anyway.

The hotel was much, much nicer than the previous hotel.

Saturday, March 5, 2011 – Day 0

The continental breakfast in Macon was excellent. Along with the standard muffins, toast, cereal, etc, there were also biscuits, eggs, and sausage rounds. We ate well, and then got on our way.

  • 8:16 left hotel
  • 11:24 crossed the Florida border and stopped at a welcome centre. We each got an orange juice and grabbed lots of pamphlets of things to do
  • 1:04 stopped at a rest stop
  • 3:15 arrived in Kissimmee

We can’t believe the number of anti-abortion billboards around. There must have been one every couple of minutes along the Florida Turnpike. Strangely enough, during the whole trip there were also billboards for strip joints or “adult” stores at almost every major rest stop.

Of course we were looking for license plates. Here is what we have seen so far:

  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • Nova Scotia
  • Ontario
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Virginia
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming
  • Oklahoma