Day 1: First Flight

After a busy day of travelling on Thursday and with a full schedule for the rest of the week, we decided to just lay low on Friday. With new friends, a houseful of toys and books, a pool, what more could you ask for?!

Breakfast

We did a few little things. Joe had school in the morning. Alan took Eve for a quick trip to Target. I thought all four of us could go (“C’mon kids, it’s Target!!”) but Lex chose to spend much of the morning like this:

I think he read every book in Joe’s room.

When he was done reading he came out to join us and we all ended up hanging out by the pool. It was only 66° in the water, and about the same in the air around, but that didn’t stop the kids from jumping in!

Lex discovered the bubble machine first thing. What a fun toy!

Bubbles, bubbles, everywhere!

Lex getting his feet.

Lex finding out just how chilly 66° really is!

We tortured Lucas for awhile by letting Lex swim and not him. He’s only two and can’t swim alone and none of the grownups wanted to swim in the chilly water! The poor baby cried and cried outside of the fence while Lex swam.

More Lex. Eve was still at the store at this point.

Brrr….

When Eve came home she almost burst into tears upon seeing Lex swimming. She asked me, through sniffles, if we had brought her bathing suit too. Silly girl!

She had chosen and packed her own bathing suit! The cold water warning didn’t stop her either.

I love how they smile for the camera!

He’s such a ham!

After swimming and lunch it was time for rest. Eve was sooo tired! She played on the tablet until I took it away…

… and replaced it with a daddy. Then it was lights out for both of them!

After all four kids and all four grownups had some rest time we decided to go to Ikea and out to dinner. Ikea, you ask? Why would anyone do that on vacation?! The answer, I will tell you, is to humor me! I’ve heard so much about the “Ikea experience” and really wanted to go. The closest one to where we live is hours away. People I know actually rent U-Hauls and drive down to Ikea for a day or weekend trip. That’s how cool it’s supposed to be. When Andrea told me there was one right near by I couldn’t resist! Fortunately everyone was nice enough to humor my excitement. :)

Lex was excited to touch a palm tree. They are pretty cool, and quite different from the pines and maples we have here.

Darn sun, ruining a lovely group picture! :)

The shrubs are shaped to spell IKEA. Crazy.

Trying out the furniture at Ikea. It’s nice to see that Joe is as well practiced at posing for the camera as my two are. :)

Did you know they sell Eves at Ikea?

Dinner at BJ’s Brew House or something like that.

Can you believe I just posted 21 pictures of our down day?!? That’s not even all the pictures I took that day! No wonder we came home with over 800 pics! Sheesh.

Day 3: Disney Fun
Day 4: Lego Land
Day 5: Kennedy Space Center
Day 6: The Zoo
Day 7: A Drive Along the Coast
Day 8: Heading Home