Road Trip!
Finally getting a chance to sit down and write! It's only been a couple months since this trip! These are all from our road trip east and southeast. Nick and I packed all of their stuff after they went to bed the night before. We surprised the kids on a Friday morning by getting them up pretty early and making them get in the car. We told them where we would end up that day, but nothing more. They were given a map of Tennessee to let them know where we would end up that day.
Sleepy Owen waking up to good news.
Ready to go!
The first day of our road trip we drove east through Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and ended up in northeastern Tennessee. We stayed in Blountville, TN with Nick's Aunt Deanne. Gracie and I both didn't feel the greatest after the first day of driving and ended up going right to bed. I felt better the next morning and we gave Gracie some Tylenol and she felt better for awhile.
On the first day we stopped in Lexington at Churchill Downs. Nick wanted to see the racetrack, which was pretty neat.
We also stopped at a scenic lookout on the way to Deanne's. It was beautiful driving through the mountains, although I'm almost certain that is why I felt terrible by the time we arrived at Deanne's.
After recovery sleep in Tennessee, we woke the kids up and let them know where our next destination was:
Savannah, GA
I gave them a book about some of the history and attractions in Savannah. They didn't read a lot of it, but looked at some of the pictures.
We drove through Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and finally made it to Georgia. Gracie still wasn't feeling well, but was a trooper. We stayed downtown and walked to River Street. We ate at a restaurant right on the river the night we arrived and walked around a little bit, before heading back to our hotel.
Gracie and Owen by the Savannah River.
They watched the tow boat steer the barge up river.
Owen and mom waiting for food at the restaurant.
Savannah was beautiful and full of history. These are the stairs we had to walk down to actually get to River Street. They are hundreds of years old.
The next day we ventured out again, exploring a little more of Savannah by foot. It was so hot!
This picture is in Forsyth Park. We walked quite a ways to get there.
Owen wanted a picture next to a cannon. There were statues everywhere with descriptions and dates. The buildings all had plaques, as well with the dates they were built. I loved reading about everything, but I'm not sure Gracie and Owen appreciated it quite as much.
Here is another picture of Owen in Forsyth Park
The morning we woke up in Georgia, we let the kids know that we would continue south and our next destination would be Orlando. They were pretty excited without even knowing that we were going to Universal Studios AND that Grandma and Grandpa would be there. After another day of driving, we pulled into Cabana Bay Resort late in the afternoon. Gracie was out of the car almost before we had it parked because she had spotted Grandma Deb before anyone else. She was so excited! The whole family was there. We all went out to eat at Bubba Gump's and had lots of fun the whole evening.
Gracie and Grandma at the pool
Grandpa and Gracie swimming
Owen swimming at Cabana Bay
Universal Studios!
Owen and Grandma on the spinning cups while we waited for everyone to get on the Hulk Coaster.
After that we headed to Hogwarts to see the castle and experience a ride on a broomstick.
Hogwarts and Hogsmeade
Owen and Dad in front of the castle
We had a very happy little boy
Gracie and Mom at the castle
Gracie and Owen getting ready to go in
We all went on the Harry Potter ride through the castle. I must say it was pretty fun, although it throws off all of your orientation and senses for awhile. Inside the castle, everything was so detailed and thought through. It's amazing what they can do. You really felt like you were in the castle at Hogwarts.
Amber and Gracie eating lunch
After going through the castle on a broomstick, we had lunch at Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade and went through some of the shops there. Again the attention to detail is amazing in every store and restaurant in all of the Harry Potter themed locations. I was pretty impressed.
Owen waiting for his lunch
We continued exploring Islands of Adventure. Owen went to Jurassic World and watched dinosaur eggs hatch. After that demonstration was done, he said "Mom, I don't think that was a real dinosaur, but I still like it."
Owen in front of a dinosaur
Gracie and Owen signed up for a ride on the Pteranodon Flyers and had fun in a pretty big park while they waited for the ride. Owen found a big water gun to spray people with.
Nick and Owen waiting in the park
Gracie and Owen getting their ride on a Pteranodon. It was a kids only ride that Gracie was actually too big for. Luckily a parent was allowed to go with smaller kids and Owen was willing to allow her to take him on the ride.
Our last ride before leaving was Dr. Doom's Fear Fall. This is Gracie and Owen after getting done.
We rode a lot of other rides, too. It was a pretty full day, before making our way over to Tampa.
All of us at Universal
Grandma and Grandpa's House!
Next on our agenda was a three-night stay in Tarpon Springs with Deb and Norm. We arrived late in the evening after our Islands of Adventure Day, so just stayed in at their house. The weather was off and on rainy while we were there, but each day had plenty of opportunities to have fun outside on the ocean. The whole time, Gracie was fighting being sick, so she was not feeling good a lot. The help of Tylenol and Ibuprofen helped make it tolerable and she was able to have fun doing all of the activities.
Downtown Tarpon Springs
Owen with a shark statue
Dolphin!
We went to look around Tarpon Springs with Deb and she showed us a very good Greek bakery
Baklava!
Gracie getting some softball in.
I guess it's not a problem to pitch in a swimsuit and bare feet.
Having fun with Dad.
We spent two afternoons on the ocean with wave runners. It took us about 10 minutes to get to the ramp to put them in. Nick and I even had an afternoon that we spent a couple hours by ourselves on the water. That was probably my favorite part of the trip! Gracie and Owen seemed to enjoy the ocean and beach quite a bit too!
Gracie enjoying the water
At the beach
More fun
All of us on the island that we drove the wave runners to.
Even though we didn't get a really sunny day, it was perfect! It was warm and the water was warm!
Gracie on the beach. I think she still didn't feel very good the first day we had the skis out on the water. The bouncing was making her head hurt more.
One of the days spent on the water
Just waiting to load it up again.
Both afternoons we got back to the ramp just before we were rained on.
Gracie showing her skills. Not bad.
The last evening we were there, we walked out to the dock in Deb and Norm's neighborhood to see the sun set. It wasn't anything spectacular that evening, but a great way to end our vacation.
Gracie and Grandma
We left pretty early on our last day in Tarpon Springs and made it to Nashville that night. We went out to eat and had fun seeing the Parthenon the next day before heading home.
Gracie and Owen in front of the Parthenon.
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