On the Road to Disney | The Adventure Continues

Most of our driving was through Florida today. We stopped in the city of Crestview and made sandwiches for lunch at Twin Hills Park. It was a lovely park with some lively kids' football games going on. The playground was mixed with the splash pad so it was impossible to play without getting wet. This made us cranky. We played on the swings, but another family was hogging the coolest swing so we decided to bid Crestview farewell and go on our way. 

We ate dinner in Live Oak, Florida, where Mrs. Fanny and her family run a delicious buffet at Stoudemire's Restaurant.

Eden loved the baked beans!

We drove for a couple more hours and finally made it to our destination!!!

We stayed at the Art of Animation Resort in a Cars-themed family suite. 

At check-in:

Outside our building.  The A/C was leaking water onto the floor in our room so we were immediately switched to another room.

It was late and we were very tired at this point. Eden and Elise both had very good naps in the car, but after a long walk exploring the resort, we were beyond done. 

On the Road to Disney | Driving Day 1

After stopping in Beaumont, we made it to Baton Rouge. We decided to stop in at the LSU campus for a glimpse at Mike, their tiger mascot. 

Unfortunately, there was a game happening the next morning, so there was a lot of traffic and campus was very congested. But, we did see the tiger. He even took a poo while we were there, which Andrew thought was amazing. Poor tiger. 

 

We found an interesting restaurant near campus to eat dinner at that featured salads and hamburgers. Interesting combination. It was yummy, but made Andrew's eyes burn. The kids enjoyed climbing in the stairs outside and Caleb pretended like he jumped a very large gap to a landing next to the stairs. 

We crossed the mighty Mississippi. 

We made it to Daphne, Alabama to sleep for the night. Baby Eden didn't sleep too well. She and I had breakfast at 5:30am, then we went back to sleep. Then I had breakfast again at 7:00am with Caleb and Eva (Micah joined us a little later). Andrew and Elise ate after them. 

This little bunny was outside our hotel. He matches the one at home at the Conroe Vineyard. 

On the Road to Disney | Stop #1

For our first stop, we made it to Beaumont. We found a park and made sandwiches while the kids played. 

This park had an old school merry-go-round. We all really enjoyed it.

Mouths full of lunch shot:

Caleb helped this family figure out how to turn on the splash pad. You had to stomp on one of the bumps on the ground. . .  exactly like the sign says.

The girls got soaked. Eva told this mom all about how we still had 14 more hours of driving. 

Eden devoured 1/3 of a peanut butter sandwich, christening her new stroller with jam hands. 

Let's see where we end up next . . . 

Sickies

Eden got pneumonia. She had a shot of antibiotics in her leg, a chest X-ray, and blood drawn from both arms. We had to cancel her birthday. She got better with breathing treatments every 4 hours, although we had to cancel her birthday party. She's a super tough girl. 

At the same time, I got viral conjunctivitis. I was contagious and a mess for over 10 days. 

We were preparing to leave for Disney World and I was very anxious for everyone to be well.  Elise came down with a fever 6 days before the trip, but was fine the next day. Then, Caleb got hit with a stomach bug 12 hours before we were supposed to leave. We prayed and he was fine within 2 hours after getting sick. 

My eyes cleared up almost all the way on the morning we left for our trip. 

The New Boat

Andrew bought a boat. It's a long story, but it's a dream of his. We took it out for the first time as a family last Friday. I was worried about how it would work for the family, but it was really fun.  

There was a lot of drama. We had to wait forever while picking it up from the mechanic, then once we got it at the boat ramp, the battery wouldn't start. We had to take it to another shop while they tested and replaced the battery. There was a lot of waiting in the car for this mama and five kids.

Once we got to the lake, we had a great time. Eden adjusted to being a sumo in her life jacket, though she couldn't move on her own, just stand in one place. 

Andrew was so thrilled to have his family out, enjoying the water!

Then we all jumped in the water!

Congratulations on your dream, Andrew!

Snapshot

Laurie's wedding. Reunited with roomies!

To Homeschool or Not?

We are a homeschooling family. We are beginning year two. I don't make a big deal about it and blast it on social media because people tend to feel that homeschooling is a superior choice to other forms of school. It's not; it's not right for everyone. Most days I feel it's not right for us and I think I've made a terrible mistake. 

Then there are moments that I know it's for our family. I'm trying to document some of these times for me to look back on. 

Baby Eden's first time at the table with the big kids. 

Taking apart Nerf guns then impromptu drawing time. 

As I browsed through all my old posts today, I remembered things I had completely forgotten about. I'm a terrible journaler (yep, it's a word, kind of) and it was really nice to have some memories documented.  I'm going to try to keep it up.