December was busy. Martha's work was really really busy, Tyson's work, girls had school performances, activities, final test .... and to top if off - We surprised the girls with a Christmas Eve trip to Florida. Since both girls are in two school districts, we can't go at our usual time in late January. So we booked tickets from 12/24 until 1/4. We were worried about such a long trip ... but it turned out great.
Chenille's family was also there until 12/29 - so it was perfect. Debbie and Gaylan treated us to an amazing trip to the Nasa Space station and 3 days at SeaWorld. So on 12/26/23 we took off 3 hours to Orlando.
Nasa Space Station was our first day and it was incredible. We saw full size rockets, saw amazing movies on astronauts and loved learning. It was such a cool experience.
Then that night we drove 1 hour to Orlando and stopped by the our hotel. The next day 12/27/23 we woke up and headed to the Sea World water park - called Aquaitca. I was able to work on a lounge chair and the girls had an absolute blast going down all the rides over and over again with Tyson and cousins. They did cool slides through shark tanks, we saw turtles and they loved the lazy river.
That night we checked into our other hotel. I did laundry and we slept. The next day was our first full day at Seaworld. We loved all the animal shows and saw our favorites twice - like the Orca Encounter, the Dolphin Show, the sealions ... it was all pretty awesome.
We did it again the next two days. Each day we walked 7 - 9 miles. We were sore and had food really late - but it was really fun and the girls fell in love with their cousins - especially mandolin and Sophie. We also got a weird fire alarm one of the nights at the hotel.
on Saturday 12/30 - chenille's family headed home. London was devastated and we spent the final 4 hours watching more shows at SeaWorld. Then around 2 pm we started the 4 hour trip back. We made it back around 7 pm and put everything away.
The next day, Sunday 12/31 - we headed to church to see Debbie and Gaylan give talks at church. Then we headed home. We made spaghetti for lunch, and I did some work and laundry.
Then around 5 pm Tyson and I took the girls to a free New Years Even celebration in Ft. Launderdale. But we only lasted 45 minutes since it was really loud and the girls were not fan. So we came back, had dinner at BurgerFI.
We spent the rest of the night watching shows, relaxing and were were all in bed around 1030 pm.
The next day, 1/1/24 - Happy New Year - we spent 3 hours at the beach and loved our new cabana we tried out. Then we had dinner at fun pizza place right on the beach walk.
Then again we came back and relaxed the rest of the night.
On Tuesday, 1/2/24 - Tyson, London, and Gaylan went fishing. We got woken up really early by a faulty Fire alarm - but at least it meant I could start work early. Then Debbie took Martha and Sydney to get their nails done.
Wednesday, 1/3/24, Tyson and Gaylan went fishing again. London went with Debbie to fish at the pier, and Sydney, and I hung out at home and walked to the beach. We did our last set of laundry and packed to go home. One of the tricks we did this time, is that we brought clothes that we did not love and were getting old - so we were able to throw way several underwear and a few shirts.
The next morning was EARLY - we were up at 430 and made it to the airport. The flight home was really uneventful.
It was so fun to be back in Denver. Although cold - man, it felt great to be home. The main thing I was proud of - and the goal I had all along. We went on a 10-day Florida vacation with ONLY Personal items! It was a huge stretch but we did it. We did lots of laundry and had to be creative - but it was a great challenge and it saved us SO much money (at least $150 bucks)
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