SURPRISE!! :) Vacation Destination

So, Spencer had his flag football game last Saturday at 8:00 am in the morning. We were scheduled to work concessions. We worked concessions, his team won, the game was over, and we hit the road traveling east on I-24. The kids hopped in the van and started reading their books we had checked out before at the library. We were a good 30 miles down the interstate when Natalie said, "Where are we going?". The kids said, "maybe on vacation". Trevis said, "If we were going on vacation, we'd have bags packed in the back wouldn't we?" At that, Spencer unbuckled his seatbelt and through himself over to the back seat. He said, "WE HAVE BAGS!!!" Then, they began, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!" The next question was, "Where are we going?" We told them we'd let them know one day at a time. This was our first time ever to pull off a suprise vacation. We actually had never tried, but had this in the works for a couple of months.....It was so fun! The looks on their faces were priceless!!

We drove the long 12 hour drive to Clearwater, FL. On Father's Day, we got up and headed to Madiera Beach (at the recommendation of the locals). It was beautiful, hardly anyone there, waves were calm, no June grass, beaches were white and clean, and the dolphins were coming in and out of the water. I guess Trevis and I saw at least 6 dolphins. I just sat in the sand and took it all in....ahhhhhh Here's a couple of pics:



After we went to Madiera Beach, we drove on down to Fort Desoto Park. It was rated one of the best beaches so we had to go check it out. It was fabulous as well--a little more crowded, but the park was fantastic. I wish we would've had more time, but we had to check out of the hotel.
We all shook the sand off, took showers, checked out, and jumped back in the van headed to Orlando. The kids didn't know that's where we were headed. On our way to Homewood Suites (I highly recommend this place.), Spencer and Natalie began asking if we were going to Disney. I told them no. Then, we passed Billboards of the new Harry Potter exhibit at Universal and they began asking if we were going there. I told them, "yes" and they were excited. I think they were in disbelief. Both of my kids and my husband have read the books and this is a great age to go to Universal since Natalie is tall enough to ride almost all the rides. The Harry Potter exhibit just opened last Friday. We knew that months ago when we planned the trip. I knew it would be magical for them at this age just like Disney princesses are for a little girl at Disneyworld. We waited 2 hours just to get in Hogsmeade. Once inside Hogsmeade, we waited about an hour and a half to get into Hogwarts (the castle). It was a ride and it was great!! The kids were like, "mama look! It's __" "Daddy look!" all the way through the castle. Here's a picture of Hogwarts:



After the long anticipated wait, we rode the two other rides in Harry Potter world and then went back to the hotel. I made us sandwiches for lunch, we swam in the pool, and then we headed back to Universal: Islands of Adventure at about 6. We were able to do all the other rides from 6-9:30 in the park that night. We rode all the water rides and were drenched. What a wild day!!

Tuesday, we went to Universal Studios. We did just about everything the kids wanted to do and they humored me by riding the "E.T" ride. I mean, what kid who grew up in the 80's wouldn't want to see E.T.?


God was so good to us! I am so thankful for the opportunity to go and surprise our kids. They were appreciative and got along surprisingly well. It was probably one of our best vacations. Spencer didn't have any meltdowns. What a blessing!! It was fun just being together--swimming, laughing, talking, taking it all in.....

Side note: As I was kind of planning things out for summer, I asked Natalie and Spencer what they'd like to do this summer. Natalie kept saying, "Mama, all I want to do is go on vacation." She wrote about it at writing camp, at home, you name it....So, there you go baby girl! What a great vacation!! SURPRISE!!

May you have some great surprises this weekend.
With much love,