Florida Fun

A few weeks ago, I shared that Shayne and I were Florida Bound. Well we have been back for 2 weeks now and I have yet to post about it so today I thought I'd share a few quick photos and brief overview of what we did while we were there.

We made a road trip out of this trip and drove the 19 hours both to Florida and home. We took Shayne's car and Shayne did all the driving (thankfully, he's a much calmer driver than I am). We had planned to leave bright and early on a Friday morning but a huge storm came through Thursday night and delayed our plans.

We put off leaving for awhile in hopes that it would stop snowing and the roads would be cleared up. We left around 4:00 in the afternoon but were able to make it to Lexington, Kentucky the first night (we had originally planned for Knoxville, Tennessee) which is further than we would have expected given the late start. We stayed in a beautiful hotel and got an early start the next morning. We drove to Atlanta, Georgia and stopped as planned to spend some time at the Georgia Aquarium.

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We got there about 4:00 on a Saturday and it was suuuuper busy. There was a good sized line to get in and it was definitely very packed inside as well. We enjoyed ourselves here and loved seeing and experiencing it all. I didn't take a lot of photos though because A) I didn't have time before we left to start my photography course and still have no idea how to use my camera in manual mode which is needed with all the lighting and glass reflections and B) there were too many people and I didn't want to have my camera out with all the kids and people in my space. I tried to take a photo of the jellyfish since I loved the bright blue tank against the orange of the fish. It didn't turn out so great though.

So I moved on and chose instead to just absorb as much as I could and enjoy the experience instead. We would recommend going though if you're in the area and you can check out their website here.

From here, we got back on the road and got to Perry, Georgia. We spent the night there and then drove the remaining way to Kissimmee, Florida the next day. We had a fantastic condo, thanks to my parents. They own a timeshare and let us borrow it this year along with my brother, his wife and their daughter. The condo had it's own laundry room, kitchen, dinette, living room, 2 bedrooms (one with a king and one with 2 doubles) and 2 bathrooms. We also had our own covered balcony area. It was perfect for us. My favourite design feature was this light over a small computer desk. I was tempted to take that with me!

 

The first two days were fabulous weather. It was hot and sunny. We had been on the road for 3 days by that point so we enjoyed the heat and spent the days by the pool. Our resort had 3 pools. Two of them were zero entry and had water slides. There were also 2 large hot tubs, free mini putt, beach volleyball, basketball and a splash pad. My five year old niece loved it!

We enjoyed relaxing, soaking up the sun and a few rounds of mini putt. We cooked a lot of our meals but also went out a fair amount too. It was a good balance- I loved having our own kitchen. Wednesday, we soaked up a bit of sun in the morning and then met up with my Grandma, two of my aunts and two of my uncles for dinner. They were down vacationing at the same time. We went to Sweet Tomatoes restaurant for dinner- it was delicious! It rained while we were at dinner and for the rest of the night.

Thursday, it was cloudy and rainy. My brother and his family went to Magical Kingdom for the day. It was Valentine's day and they were hoping for extra magic given the holiday. Shayne and I decided not to go with them since it was expensive and we figure we will go when we have young children of our own to take. We instead spent the day shopping and we found some GREAT deals. It definitely helped me meet my goal for February of a wardrobe revamp.

Shayne got some things too. Afterwards, we went out for dinner and then enjoyed a hot tub. Friday, my brother and Shayne went golfing while the girls did some more shopping. Saturday, we soaked up a bit of sun in the morning while we could and then Shayne and I went to play a fancy mini putt course that was close by. We had a lot of fun and the course was fantastic. We all went to Red Lobster for dinner that night to celebrate the end of our trip. It was delicious and a great way to end a fun trip.

The next morning, we all headed our separate ways- my brother and family had flown down. Shayne and I powered through and made it to Lexington, Kentucky on the first day of driving. It was a long day and we were on the road for 13.5 hours but it wasn't too bad as we made sure to stop for stretching and food along the way. We made the last leg the next day and made it home in time for dinner with our family for the Family Day holiday here in Canada.

All in all, it was a great trip. We enjoyed lots of relaxing time, soaked up some sun and just enjoyed being with each other. It's nice to spend time together without the stresses of everyday life and errands. I am definitely missing this ....