Summer Adventure - Day 1
Well, here we are. Day one of our big summer adventure. A year ago I was dreaming up a crazy idea of traveling around the world with our family. I even made a screen saver to fuel my crazy desires so every time I turned on the computer I would be reminded of my dream.
But as I looked at it more, I realized that our family is still pretty young (and kind of big) to be circumnavigating the globe. I know it could be done, but I wasn't quite ready to tackle it. Plus, it wasn't the right timing with Jeff's work.
Anyway, I settled for a month-long trip in the U.S. (and territories). Next year maybe we'll go international!
So here we are. A trip like this always sounds a little better in the dead of winter in Utah where we are snow-bound and wind-swept and ready for anything above 50 degrees! Now we were enjoying the beautiful summer weather at home, playing with friends, swimming at the Lehi pool almost daily and having cousins visit from back East. It was pretty awesome. And I was suddenly a little less interested in leaving for a month! But I don't want to sound ungrateful. This is going to be amazing, educational, adventurous, memorable and bonding for our family! But it will be more work than lounging on my hammock while the kids play in the backyard. (If only it was really like that at home)! Maybe itt might actually be less work. . . the kids only have one small suitcase of clothes so there will be less laundry. We won't be staying in any one place long enough to do any real cleaning and we will probably eat out more than usual. But we will have little or no break from parenting. (I sense a few lessons on patience coming in the weeks ahead)! But I do love an adventure and this definitely qualifies so here we go.
This morning we got up at 5am to head to the airport to catch our 7:10am flight to Miami. Elena stayed the night and drove us up to the airport so we wouldn't have to park our car for so long--what a great friend! The kids were pretty tired. We were up late packing and Jeff didn't get home from High Adventure at Bear Lake (he did a 50 MILE bike ride around Bear Lake yesterday)!! until 11pm. But they actually did great on the flights. (We had a layover in Atlanta). Jeff made friends with an older gentleman named "David" from Georgia and they talked the entire flight. I love how Jeff can do that! He and the lady sitting in his row complimented the kids on how great they were. I was proud! :)
Then we rented our minivan and headed to our rental home in Oakland Park (Ft. Lauderdale). I was a little nervous because I didn't know what area of Ft. Lauderdale the house was in until after we rented it and when I looked it up in my Fodor's travel guide the only thing it said was that it was a hot spot for gay nightlife and affectionately called the "gayborhood" so I wasn't sure how "family-friendly" it would be but it looks like just a regular neighborhood to me so I think we're good!
The kids immediately went for the pool and didn't get out for nearly 3 hours when Jeff brought Wendy's home for dinner. (We'll start eating healthier tomorrow, right?) The weather feels great and the humidity was actually quite refreshing when you're sitting by a pool.
But as I looked at it more, I realized that our family is still pretty young (and kind of big) to be circumnavigating the globe. I know it could be done, but I wasn't quite ready to tackle it. Plus, it wasn't the right timing with Jeff's work.
Anyway, I settled for a month-long trip in the U.S. (and territories). Next year maybe we'll go international!
So here we are. A trip like this always sounds a little better in the dead of winter in Utah where we are snow-bound and wind-swept and ready for anything above 50 degrees! Now we were enjoying the beautiful summer weather at home, playing with friends, swimming at the Lehi pool almost daily and having cousins visit from back East. It was pretty awesome. And I was suddenly a little less interested in leaving for a month! But I don't want to sound ungrateful. This is going to be amazing, educational, adventurous, memorable and bonding for our family! But it will be more work than lounging on my hammock while the kids play in the backyard. (If only it was really like that at home)! Maybe itt might actually be less work. . . the kids only have one small suitcase of clothes so there will be less laundry. We won't be staying in any one place long enough to do any real cleaning and we will probably eat out more than usual. But we will have little or no break from parenting. (I sense a few lessons on patience coming in the weeks ahead)! But I do love an adventure and this definitely qualifies so here we go.
This morning we got up at 5am to head to the airport to catch our 7:10am flight to Miami. Elena stayed the night and drove us up to the airport so we wouldn't have to park our car for so long--what a great friend! The kids were pretty tired. We were up late packing and Jeff didn't get home from High Adventure at Bear Lake (he did a 50 MILE bike ride around Bear Lake yesterday)!! until 11pm. But they actually did great on the flights. (We had a layover in Atlanta). Jeff made friends with an older gentleman named "David" from Georgia and they talked the entire flight. I love how Jeff can do that! He and the lady sitting in his row complimented the kids on how great they were. I was proud! :)
Then we rented our minivan and headed to our rental home in Oakland Park (Ft. Lauderdale). I was a little nervous because I didn't know what area of Ft. Lauderdale the house was in until after we rented it and when I looked it up in my Fodor's travel guide the only thing it said was that it was a hot spot for gay nightlife and affectionately called the "gayborhood" so I wasn't sure how "family-friendly" it would be but it looks like just a regular neighborhood to me so I think we're good!
The kids immediately went for the pool and didn't get out for nearly 3 hours when Jeff brought Wendy's home for dinner. (We'll start eating healthier tomorrow, right?) The weather feels great and the humidity was actually quite refreshing when you're sitting by a pool.
Isaac holding Mikey's hand so he doesn't get lost in the airport without even being asked.
Boarding the plane. A family of 7 is something these people just don't see everyday!
Finally in Miami! One tired kid.
The waterproof cast cover I ordered was waiting at the house for us. I love you Amazon.com! And it really works!! Mikey can swim with everyone else now--yay!
Havin' fun with Dad.
Playing sharks & minnows with Dad in the pool.
Having fun with the underwater camera.
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