It's me again, yes it's been a while but I just get busy and forget to post here. I apologize and will try to do better, I swear.
Well we took our first family vacation in almost 4 years last week. We exchanged our timeshare and went to Orlando again with all 3 boys. We stayed at a place called Westgate Town Center and let me just tell you that boy was I shocked at this place. You see, all the other times we have stayed at places through the timeshare the resorts end up looking nothing like the pictures and are usually run down or very outdated. Westgate Town Center, which is in Kissimmee, Fl was NOT. This place was beautiful. Everything up to date, very clean, the grounds were beautifully kept and everyone was so nice. We really enjoyed our time at the resort. They have 15 pools, but we mainly stayed at the one that was pretty much right outside our building. We ended up buying a week there every other year so we can go and stay a week in a 2 bedroom condo for free. so now we can vacation every year since our other timeshare is an every other week in the opposite years. I am very excited about this.
So, back to our vacation. We went to Universal Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios on 2 of the days and had a great time. I was very impressed with Austyn who went on all the rides with Tyler, including the big scary roller coasters and things like that. The kid has no fear and a stomach of steel it seems. Tyler loved it of course since no one else wanted to go with him..ha ha ha. I wasn't all that impressed with the Harry Potter part of the theme park though. I feel they gave it too much hype for all it is. I was very disappointed that you could not tour the castle of Hogwarts unless you went on a ride through it which was a very intense motion simulation ride. I think they should have made it so you can walk through Hogwarts and see the inside of the castle regardless of going on the ride. Oh well. I had a good time at the parks anyway with the family.
We got to spend a day with Linda, Dave and Mia and that was GREAT. It's been too long since I have seen Linda and been able to really visit. We had a good time and I know the kids did too. Mia is so cute and a good kid too. Linda and Dave have done a great job with her and she's going to grow up into a fine young woman. I worry about Linda though, she's gone through so much with her health in the last couple of years and I just want her to be completely healthy and stay out of the hospitals. I love you Linda!
We also did mini golf a few times, which was okay, but my children are too competitive and sometimes that just ruins the fun. (Tyler! lol) We did have a good time though. We also did Wonderworks again, which was okay, sometimes that place reminds me of a place for smaller kids though. However, I did learn that my fear of heights is not just in my head as I had a full blown panic attack while trying to do a 3 story rope challenge. I had to get down and didn't stop shaking and freaking out for about a 1/2 hour! I was freaking out and seriously just froze up there. I felt so dumb, but I guess it's a real fear then huh? The rest of the family had a great time doing it and even Tyler admitted that parts of it were hard for him too. Jacob didn't stay up as long as everyone else, but I am very proud of him for getting up there and trying it.
Austyn did act up quite a bit with the attitude and acted like he didn't need to do anything and that since he was on vacation everyone had to do things for him. I don't think so, and he got mad when I spoke up about it. He also didn't know when to stop with Tyler and Jacob and just kept pushing buttons until one of them would explode and then of course Austyn cried and Mike got mad at Tyler or Jacob. Whatever, I don't know why I thought maybe this vacation could be different from how it is at home, but it wasn't. I really learned a few things about my marriage too and it's sad actually, but somehow I will get through things and make the best decisions for me and my kids.
The drive there and back was fairly uneventful, it really helped having 3 drivers though and gave each of us a little more rest time. It still exhausts me mentally though and am hoping that next year we can somehow afford to fly and just rent a smaller vehicle there. We did almost hit a deer that ran right over the expressway while I was driving. That was a little scary since there was a big semi behind me and I had to slam on my breaks some to avoid it. Dumb deer, what are they thinking, running right through traffic on a highway where the speed limit is 70mph?? Thank goodness we didn't hit it and that we made it home safely.
Phantom and Harley did great for my mother in law and she did really well with them considering there were storms here. Harley handled them great because my mother in law was on top of getting him his meds before the storms hit. They were both very happy to see us though on Saturday morning when we walked through the door. I was very happy to see them too. I really missed them.
Well we are home now and it's back to the grindstone of work and home life. Tyler started football camp yesterday morning and that will go all summer. he also is doing a wrestling camp this week at school. He's getting things ready for his trip to Nicaragua in July. Jacob will be spending time with our friend's Tia and John this summer too and possibly going on a trip with them somewhere too. He's very excited about that. I am just working and hoping to make some extra money before school starts again in August. Mike is working again and his car broke down yesterday on the way out to a clients. We have no idea what is wrong with it and are really hoping it's not going to cost too much to fix. He's got the van today and so that leaves me stranded at home, which is okay since it's my day off anyway.
I hope everyone has a great summer and I will try to update more often! Love you all!
