Journal Entry....sorry!

Florida was awesome! We had such a good time, and there were some ups and downs like any vacation, but I am glad that we took this time just for us three before things get too crazy in life.
Day 1: Travel/trauma

The trip started with a 2 hour drive to the airport, then a 2 hour flight to Albuquerque. We had a 2 hour layover there, and then were off to Tampa on our 4 hour flight. Thomas was a champ the whole time, slept a little, and watched some TV and played with us. I was so glad he had his own seat. It was only hard keeping the earphones on. So once we finally made our destination we let him run around in the airport, he was so interested in the escalators, and as he walked over to them I was right behind when he put his hands down, I picked him up and he had pinched his middle finger on it causing it to slice both sides of his middle finger. It was bleeding so bad, and we were running all over looking for some help. We went to the E.R. and this picture does not do it justice. It's four days after the fact, so a lot of healing already took place. I just hope it doesn't heal with that big lump on the side forever. I've never felt like a worse parent, and we extended our airport time by 2 hours getting everything worked out with first aid and police. We still had an hour drive home to our hotel, so we traveled for 14 hours that day and were wondering what we were thinking going on this trip!

Finally once we got to sleep around midnight, we had another challenge of getting Thomas to sleep with not only a sliced finger, but in a strange pack n' play. It was the worst that he couldn't suck his finger to fall asleep.

Day 2: Sea World

The next morning we had a timeshare thing to go to so we could get our Disney tickets and hotel for a good deal. It was unfortunate that we had to wake up at 6 am to make it though. Thomas wasn't too thrilled for the wake up, but once we were done with that we were ready to start having fun and go to SEA WORLD!! We missed the shuttle going there for the rest of the day, but they said it's not too far of a walk. Yeah right, it was like 2 miles in Orlando afternoon heat, with no sidewalks through the grass. We were wet with sweat once we entered the gates and already tired for the rest of the day. Even though it totally tuckered us out, we had a blast in SEA WORLD. Nolan loved the roller coaster Kracken, and Thomas was obsessed with the gift shop where the floor you walked on was see-through to fish, sting rays and all sorts of aquarium life. We had fun at all the shows especially the dolphins and SHAMU. Amazing stuff. It was a good place for a pregnant lady and infant to go because we did most everything.

Lame that this was our only photo from Sea World, but Thomas and I had fun doing the kiddie rides while Nolan did the big ones.

Day 3: DISNEY WORLD!!
We had a hard time deciding what park would be best for a pregnant lady and toddler, and are so happy we picked Disney World. I have been a few times but this was so fun having Thomas. We were able to go through everything so quickly and hardly wait in lines. We did almost every ride. Thomas favorite rides....Buzz light year, Woody's roundup parade, Mickeys 3D movie, and the Country Bears. I loved seeing his face light up, and then him pointing wanting to go back. (Ignore my bangs, they were doing something wild in this Florida humidity!)In line waiting for It's A Small World we asked a couple to take a picture of us. We not only experienced the ride, but the couple asked where we were from and it turned out it is a small world because we both were from Utah, and went to BYU. Then we went to lunch and got along so well we spent the rest of the trip together, not really but they were from Utah and went to BYU just seeing if you were really reading this.

After the park we had a 2 hour drive to our friends house in Venice. They weren't going to be there for another 3 days because her dad passed away, but they were nice enough to let us stay there until they got back. Well the freeway was closed toward the end of our drive, so it took us an extra two hours just to detour around it with the rest of Florida drivers. So many random unlucky things had happened by this point, we really weren't surprised, and had a pretty good time in the traffic just watching other people handle a little bad luck.

Day 4: Relax then hit the beach!
Once at our friends house Sleep finally came! We also Caught up on life at home a little: 2 people called to go through our house, (too bad no one does when we're in town.) Nolan needed to get a grade from his professor on his transcript so he could officially graduate and send them to his new job. He was feeling the crunch from the school and the company so it was good we got it all figured out. Then we went to beautiful Venice beach. It was so fun, and Thomas loved it. The water was AWESOME temperature. I can't say it enough how much we loved playing in the water. There wasn't a sole around, and we were confused, but realized why 2 hours into playing there when the biggest rainstorm hit in a matter of seconds. Luckily we got to the car in time.

Does this sky look like a storm is on the way? We didn't think so either, but it was black in a matter of minutes while we packed up to go. Ignore my pearly white legs in this shot, they're not so bad I am just partnered with a tan lawn mower man.

Day 5: More Beach
Our friends told us about another beach where you can search for sharks teeth. We were unlucky in finding any, but still had fun catching some waves. We went to the beach a lot, and it is a lot of work getting there, but fun once you're out. I'm glad we had a rental car we could fill with sand. I wouldn't want to take my own.

Day 6: Hanging with the Buckley's
Our friends came home late the night before so we spent a lot of the day catching up and chilling out at their house. We also went to their community pool which was so fun, and played some games. Thanks so much for letting us stay there guys, WE LOVED IT!

Day 7: Siesta Beach & The Salty Dog
We drove about 40 minutes to this beach that is ranked among the TOP 5 in North America. The sand was so soft, and white, it was just like powdered sugar, but not so tasty. It was busy even on a Monday but it didn't feel that way since there is such a long sand bar, you can feel pretty secluded in the water. By this point, Thomas was really getting use to the beach, and loving the water more and more. Here he is sitting with almost 5-month old cute Eleanore. Who knew Thomas was getting so big. She was a lot of fun to get to know more.

Nolan thought maybe he'd like being buried since he liked playing in it, but it was not the case.
We ate out a lot, but it was fun for the Buckley's to show us the "local goods." The Salty Dog was one we went to and it was right on the water, so that was fun, then we ate at a few others, but I can't remember the name. That's another part of vacations I love....eating!

Day 8: Shopping and Going Home
There were some awesome outlet malls on the way to the airport and we hit em' up good. A vacation doesn't feel right to me without bringing home some deals. Then we started home on our 12 hour travel. Our plan was delayed, we almost missed our connection, and we got home around 1AM Utah time, 4 AM Florida time.

We are so glad that we did this vacation. Things went horribly wrong at some points, but that can happen anytime/anywhere. I love these two boys in my life and am so glad I was able to spend time with them before our lives get even crazier with a move and a baby. Nolan was super dad all week, getting up with Thomas, packing up the car. We really bonded more with Thomas too, since we got home he always makes sure we are in the same place with him to play.