The Happiest Place on Earth...MOST of the time...(PART 1)

We finally had our very first family vacation. IT.WAS.AWESOME!!! 

Around Christmas of 2012, my mom and I began talking about vacations. Its kinda funny that we had both thought Disney World would be a great destination because Rob and my dad aren't exactly 'fans' of Disney. I won't even divulge in that conversation, but suffice it to say, every time a Disney commercial would come on and our older children would beg to go there, Rob would become more like the Grinch...with the heart size being 4 times too small or whatever.  However, with a little coaxing, my mom and I won the men over and we decided around Christmas that we'd plan for a Disney extravaganza over spring break.

This is the 'Rolling Terd' that we chose as our source of transportation!

When we began looking into transportation, the sheer cost of airfare was enough to choke yah. RIDICULOUS. I think it would have been over $8000 just to fly all of us to Disney World. And, because I'm WAY too cheap, this was absolutely unacceptable. We'd have to figure out another way. An RV is what my dad started looking into and we eventually decided on because it was the most economical and really, who wouldn't want to drive 2000 miles with 4 small children and 4 adults? LOL

 Ironically, it was really comfortable! And because there was enough room to spread out, we all were able to rest when we needed to. It really did have almost all the comforts of home and we didn't have to stop for potty breaks.

Our trip began in Denver, CO and we were going to hit as many states as we could so that I could use it for educational purposes. Really, homeschooling in this kind of environment was so fun. And my children got to SEE the states we were learning about and I feel like that made the state's history and facts so much more interesting because my kids could tangibly relate to what they were reading and learning.

Our first day driving was through Colorado, Kansas, and our destination was Lees Summit, MO. We've made this trip several times in the last year, so our kids were fairly up to date on facts in these two states.

We made it to our first stop was in Lees Summit, MO to visit family and to spend Easter there. It was literally the BEST Easter ever. Our kids got to see their cousins and hunt for eggs. We ALL LOVE going to KC and we are all loved so completely that it makes it hard to leave!!!

SO we started off with a quick dinner and then a glow in the dark egg hunt!!!

They had SO much fun. I think the adults were having just as much fun as the kids.

Unfortunately, we had to leave fairly early the next morning to begin the long trek down to Florida.

Josh was COMPLETELY done with all the excitement and opted out of the egg hunt.

     

Hollie and Greg were given 'Gwynevere' for baby Ava

We were pretty sad that we didn't get to meet baby Ava this trip down.

Our second day driving we went through the rest of Missouri, then we hit the tip of Illinois, through a little bit of Kentucky, and over to Tennessee. We stopped briefly to let the kids get out and run around a little. Even though the RV had a fair amount of space, we still needed some fresh air and a bit of a break from the closer quarters. I think when people saw us start piling out of the RV it was almost comical because we just kept coming out. Our main objective was just to get to Florida as soon as we could. We made it to the KOA in Georgia that night. It was interesting to figure out the easiest sleeping arrangements with 4 little kids. Josh still uses a pack~n~play, so he was probably the easiest. But Rob and I were to sleep on the pullout couch...until we realized that the bar that is supposed to support the mattress really only served as an annoying and horribly uncomfortable metal bar in the middle of our backs with a sagging mattress at our head and feet. I can laugh now, but I was worried for a few minutes there. We ended up putting it on the floor and the kids kind of slept around us...?

We got up bright and early again the 3rd morning, super excited to get on the road and get to our first stop in Gainesville, FL! We were able to meet up with Jerry and Debbie, our agency director and wife. If you have followed me for awhile, then you would have seen them here, on January 9th, 2012. I have updated pictures of all of us coming soon! It was a wonderful visit...the kind that end way too soon and never often enough. Because Gainesville is still a ways from Orlando and we had to be checked in at a certain time, we couldn't stay as long as we would have liked to. (I'll get those pix up as soon as I get them! :) )

(To Be Continued......)