Florida 2013

We took a much needed relaxing vacation to Florida the end of April and had a blast. We flew into Orlando and stayed at an awesome resort - Floridays. The place was bigger then a college apartment I swear as we had two rooms, kitchenette, dining area, living room and small balcony. There are several pools on the resort yet the main one was heated and very kid friendly. And the best part is that is was slightly more then you would pay to stay in a hotel. So highly recommended to anyone! Monday when we arrived we had lunch and hung out at the pool just having a relaxing day before we went to Magic Kingdom on Tuesday.

Tuesday the kids we so excited to go to Magic Kingdom as we spent the whole day meaning left the resort at 9 am and didn't return until 11:30 pm. It was a great day, the park wasn't super busy and the weather was great. The kids favorite ride was Splash Mountain as I would agree.

Wednesday we decided was going to be a chill day at the resort. Which nice decision on our part as it was cool and rainy all day. We did get breakfast and hit the pool in the morning before lunch and much needed naps so we still got some fun in. To make the day better my good friend Lauren and her son Bentley from Tampa came to visit. Lauren and I have been friends since 2003 when I did my internship in Flordia. Of course we don't get to see each other much so it was so nice to see her and meet her son who is Tenley's age for the first time. 

Thursday we checked out of the resort and drove to LegoLand for the day. If you have never been to LegoLand its awesome for kids as our kids absolutely loved it. Tenley had a limited selection on rides to go on due to height but Paisley and Tenley were free to go on anything with an adult. So guess who got to go on the roller coasters a million times...yes Bernie and I think he loved it as much as they did.

Hello LegoLand!

 Hudson with the cars scene all made out of legos

 Girls chilling waiting for dad and Hudson to get off ride

 The FAVORITE ride of the day!

After LegoLand we drove to Sarasota/Siesta Key to stay the night and visit some dears friends of ours that we met in Iowa. The exciting thing is they are moving back this fall, yet still keeping their house in Florida so best of both worlds. We had pizza on the beach when we arrived and then Friday spent the morning at the beach, which Bernie and I especially loved, had lunch and then spent the afternoon in the pool before we had to leave and head to St. Petersburg early that evening. It was so awesome to see them, their kids and spent some time in BEAUTIFUL Sarasota. Now to only figure out a way to have a house there too!

Friday night we got to St. Petersburg and had pizza and hung out with some of Bernie's friends from college. It was a fun relaxing night hanging out and letting the kids play, except that Paisley started to not feel good on the drive from Sarasota. What we thought was maybe just heat exhaustion turned into the flu bug. So we cut the night short and headed to my friend Kate and Doug's house for the remaining of the vacation as planned. Kate is a friend of mine that I met while I did my internship in 2003 also and we have kept in great touch and visit them whenever we make it to Florida. It was nice to see their kids as they have grown up so much along with their new beautiful house. Unfortunately Paisley was sick all night Friday and all day Saturday. The poor girl when not sick spent a lot of time resting. We felt so bad for her. It was good that we didn't have anything planned for Saturday other then hang out with Kate, Doug and their family. The day too was cool and windy so it was a good day to relax. The kids did get to swim in the pool and play which they enjoyed and we got to spend a lot of time visiting.

 Spencer and Hudson aka Superheros

 Poor sick Paisley - lots of cuddle time

Sunday it was time to head back to Iowa. Unfortunately Paisley still did not feel well so the trip back wasn't much fun for her as I can't even imagine how she felt. Thankfully all flights were on time! When we got home we decided to take her to the ER as getting sick after a day in the sun didn't help much with dehydration which we knew was one of the issues. So at the ER they gave her some anti-nausea medicine along with an IV which turned her into a new girl. She finally ate for the first time since Friday and was alert, awake and in a good mood. Still tired of course but so glad it started to make her feel better. We believe it was a 24 hour bug but due to being run down and low on fluids prior to getting sick it didn't help her recovery. After the ER we made it home and had a relaxing night before starting a new week.

The vacation was awesome and we can't wait for another!