Thankful Friday

1. Paul and Ian enjoyed seeing the Lego movie at a theater for $1 on July 2nd. It was Paul's first time in a theater in 10 years, and it was Ian's second time. I enjoyed doing some shopping in the mall (with Oliver) while they watched the movie.

2. Even though we didn't have the use of a DVD player, we had a very smooth ride to Maryland on July 2nd with the boys. I was amazed at how well Oliver did!

3. My parents took us to the airport on July 3rd, which saved us paying for 7 days of parking. Paul's parents and Nadia picked us up at the airport in Orlando. We all arrived safely! It was great to be reunited with Nadia after having not seen her for about 55 hours.

4. We had a lot of fun swimming and enjoying the splash pad in Florida! We swam a little bit on the 3rd and swam many hours on the 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, and 10th. All of the kids progressed in their swimming skills in one way or

another. Nadia learned how to do a handstand in the water. Ian and Oliver enjoyed jumping in from the side. Oliver is a little too brave. He'd walk right in to water that is over his head.

5. We also enjoyed other fun things at the resort such as the reptile show, magic show, miniature golf, and the playground. Nadia enjoyed entering a variety of competitions so that she could earn sand dollars that she used to buy some toys and candy at the end of our stay. These included using a hula hoop, throwing water balloons, water slide races, etc. I've stayed at many time share resorts over the past 14 years, and this is the only one I'd even consider purchasing (which shows how much we like it). When I found out how much this resort charges for maintenance fees every year, I again realized it's much cheaper to do it the way we are now through Interval.

6. We had a great time at Hollywood Studios on the 6th even though it rained for over four hours, and the kids had a blast at Magic Kingdom on the 9th, even though a few of us had the stomach flu that day (detailed post on that day's adventures to follow).

7. The boys and I had a safe trip back home to PA last night. We got home a bit later than
planned due to our flight being delayed by 90 minutes, but it was very nice to sleep in our own beds last night. Ian woke up at 6:30, but he fell back asleep in our bed, and wonder of wonders, Oliver slept until after 7:00. Paul's parents and Nadia are spending the night in South Carolina tonight.

8. I took Oliver and Ian to the swimming pool this afternoon. I left my swimsuits in the van so I just sat by the edge of the pool, and I didn't have any sunscreen, but a
neighbor let me borrow some for Oliver as I didn't have a rash guard for him to wear (only swim trunks) because they are also in the van. Oliver really wanted to spend some time in the big pool (not just the baby pool), and the life guard graciously offered to take him in the pool and play with him a little. If we ever fly to a vacation again while Paul's parents drive there, I am going to check our luggage on the airplane. It wouldn't have been a big deal to take our suitcase with us, and it would have made life
easier for us on both ends of the trip when we were missing items that were in the van. We flew out Southwest, and they don't charge for baggage so it wouldn't have cost us anything to take it along. Lesson

learned!

9. I'm very thankful that Paul's mom was healthy enough to join us on our trip, and that she stayed healthy while we were down there. In particular, I am very grateful that Paul's parents and Oliver escaped the stomach bug. Ian and Paul had very mild cases. Nadia and I were the only two who were throwing up. All in all we had a fabulous trip. Nadia and Ian are already asking when we will be returning. Ian said he wanted to go back while he was

still 4 1/2 years old. No, I don't think so. I have no idea where we'll go on vacation next year, but I doubt it will be Florida, although we do want to take the kids there again some day in the future, Lord willing! If we do, I hope it's not in July or August.

10. The resort photographer got some good photos of us! In 2011 and 2013 we only got the free 5x7 and didn't buy any pictures. We bought a photo package this year, and this year we put a lot less effort into getting ready for the pictures than we did the other two times. Paul's parents were wearing dry clothes, but the rest of us had just gotten out of the swimming pool before the photo was taken (I threw on a dry shirt over my bathing suit top, and Nadia put a dress on over her swim suit). It's so rare to get a photo of all five of us, much less of all seven of us (including Paul's parents). I haven't looked at the Disney website yet to see how the pictures they took of us turned out yet, and I haven't gone through many of the ones I took yet. More pictures to follow in the coming days! Next month we have our annual family photo shoot, and I'll put a lot more thought into what we wear that day (and our hair will be dry!).