Florida Vacation

Tuesday June 1, 2021  

Get ready for a very long 5 day vacay post!

We wanted to slip one more Gwilliam family vacation in before Parker headed off for two years.  Luckily flights were super cheap due to the world being closed for over a year.  We decided to go to Florida and enjoy the beach and Harry Potter World.  (Universal Orlando)

We sent this to Brinley.  We miss our girl.  It's really weird vacation without all of our chickadees.

We had to wear masks the entire time in the airport or on our flight unless we were eating or drinking.  Tan and Park were asked by flight attendants several times to please put their masks over their noses.  Sorry airport workers.  Kind of glad I was on a different row during those reminders.

We had to leave for the airport super early.  I think it was 4:45 a.m.  Thanks Grandpa Vore for the ride.

We got comfy because our flight didn't leave until 7:30.  But...we eventually made it to Orlando 12 hours later, rented a car and drove and hour to New Smyrna Beach.  Our VRBO was spacious and beautiful.  The beach was only a few hundred feet from our house.  And the beach was AMAZING!!

That first night the kids and I walked to the beach in the dark to check it out.  The sound of the waves crashing and the feel of the wind blowing was rejuvenating.  I just felt like I could breathe deep breaths. I felt all the stress of real life releasing with each exhale.  No one was out....it was just us, the night sky and the ocean.

One kind of crazy/scary (for me) thing happened on our first night.  It was 11:00, and we hadn't eaten dinner.  Aubrey wanted McDonald's and Bri was ordering pizza for everyone else.  We thought McDonald's was super close so I decided to run her to order some food.  Well, it was only a couple of miles away but it took a long time by car to get there.  (Long as in 10-12 minutes and lots of random turns.)  

When we got to the McDonald's, it closed an hour earlier than stated online.  It was dark.  The part of town didn't look the greatest.  Aubrey was really hungry.  I noticed the Pizza Hut two doors down though, so I called Brian to let him know we could just pick up the pizza.  However, mid conversation we realized: 1. The Pizza Hut he ordered from was actually 30 minutes from where we were. (Whoops) and 2.  I only had 1% battery life on my phone.

PURE panic on my end I tell you.  I had paid no attention to where we were driving.   I just let the GPS guide me.  We were in a sketchy part of town.   Aubrey was in her swimsuit with a cover up and no shoes.  It was late and dark, and I knew 100% I couldn't get back to the beach house.  Heck, I didn't even know the address to the beach house.  Without my phone (which actually kicked the bucket on this trip), I was in trouble.

I quickly hung up the phone with Brian and looked around.  I was seriously trying not to freak out.  I was thinking I'd need to bang on the McDonald's door and hope one of those workers cleaning up could charge my phone for a long time.  We pulled into a parking lot and prayed.  On this dark street where everything seemed to be closed, I wasn't sure what to do.  We drove down the block and found a gas station!  Aub stayed in the car since she wasn't dressed, and I am kind of glad about that because it was not the best area.  

I went in and told the nice lady on duty my plight.  (First night in town, no phone battery, not sure exactly where I was or how to get back to our rental.)  She opened a a charging cord from it's packaging and started charging my phone!  I felt so much relief.  Fifteen minutes into me wandering the store and Aubrey waiting, I realized I needed to buy that charging cord because if my dying phone ran out of batteries on the way home, we would be in the exact same position again.  

Well, about an hour later, we were home safe and sound with the pizza and some drinks.  I'm so grateful for prayer.  I know Heavenly Father helped me calm down on the inside and stay calm for Aubrey on the outside.  I know he helped us get out of that bind safely.

Moving on....

On Wednesday morning we packed up the awesome beach supplies available with our rental house and headed to the beach.  It was awesome that it was so close because we all trooped back and forth to our VRBO several times throughout the day.

Bri and Tan

We brought sand toys and beach mats and boogie boards and chairs and drinks and snacks and sunscreen and balls and all the things for a fun day!

Aub and Bri

This picture is my view.  My feet and my kids and the beautiful ocean.  I loved how uncrowded this beach was.  We are used to departing a cruise ship with 3000 people and heading to a beach with all of people from the 5 other cruise ships making the same stop.  On this beach groups set up from each other atleast 10 feet apart up and down the beach.  It was perfect.

The kids boogie boarded together for a long time, and then the boys played this paddle ball game.

The teens laid out some. (Aub and Tan above. Park below) Notice Parker's swimsuit pulled up super high?  Both boys did that.  Why?  No one's going to be seeing those upper thighs?  They both got pretty red on their upper legs.  Crazy boys.  Tanner got sunburned bad on his belly, of course.  He did allow me to put more sunscreen on him once.  Brian and I both mentioned he needed more, but he can be so darn stubborn.  We have learned you just have to let some things go with him and hope he eventually chooses a smarter way.

Me and Aub.  I think sunscreen was on the phone lens....thus the hazy picture.

Aubrey loved the ocean.  She played in the water.  She built sandcastles.  She spent a lot of time collecting shells.  She went back to the house for this net to try to catch fish.  She did a photo shoot.  I think we could have stayed there all week, and she would have been happy.

Wednesday evening Park and I decided to take the bikes that were in the beach house and go for a ride.  It was exhilarating.  I loved the ocean and the wind and biking with my boy.  

We were going down wind and didn't realize just how far we had gone until we turned around and tried to bike back the other way.  That gentle breeze which was at first at our backs felt like a force to be reckoned with.  The ride in the sand, against the wind was tough.  Then Parker's chain fell off.  He fixed it, and it fell off again.  

We decided it would be quicker and maybe easier on the bikes to travel on the streets rather than the beach.  However, there was no straight path back.  Our fifteen minute ride down the beach turned into an additional hour ride (or walk when his chain didn't cooperate) to get home.  Once again so grateful for GPS on our phones to guide us back!

The living room of our VRBO.

About 9:00 that night, I was telling Tanner about how fun it was to go on a bike ride earlier that evening  with Parker, and he decided he'd take a little ride on the beach.  I told him to take my bike because the bike Parker was on had chain issues, so he did.   

It was very dark outside and especially on the beach.  Tanner was gone a long time, and Parker and I pulled up Life 360 to see his location.  He was even further down the beach than we had been.  We knew that was not good! We called him to tell him he'd probably better turn around.  He mentioned it was kind of scary. (That he would admit that is huge. Tanner will silently endure just about anything.  He keeps his emotions close.)  My mama heart was once again panicking.  It was pitch black.  His chain had come off.  He was walking his bike back, and we knew, from Life 360, he was  over an hour away from us on foot.

I talked to Brian and we came up with a plan.  (Brian didn't seem too concerned, but I was!  I had been at that very dark beach the night before, and Bri had not.  I had also been on that long bike ride down the beach just hours earlier.  And I had heard my strong, almost 17 year old son admit to his big brother that it was kind of scary.  I think that scared me the most.)  

Our rental car was too small to pick up Tanner and the bike, but Brian was going to try to drive near the area where Tanner was on the beach and drop Park off.  At least then they could both walk home in the dark together.  (Also, Tanner's sense of direction is very much like mine, non existent.  I wanted Brian or Parker with him.)

Brian and Parker went out to the rental car, and It Would Not Start.  Seriously.  

Brian began calling the rental car hotline and an hour and a half later (1:00 am), they arrived to jump the battery.

Parker, bless him, decided to book it down the dark beach to find Tanner.  They eventually met up and headed home together.  I think they got back around 11:30.  So much for a quick ride on the beach.  And our calm night of playing games turned into rental car care and a bike rescue.

Thursday morning I set my alarm for 6:15 (5:15 Texas time!) so I could go down to the beach and see the sunrise.  No sunrise was really visible due to clouds, but I loved my early morning stroll.

This was the most sun I saw.  Notice it is already much higher than the water line.

Late Thursday morning we checked out of our rental house and drove an hour back to Orlando for the remainder of our trip.  (We flew home Saturday morning.)  We had a relaxing afternoon in the hotel room.  Bri took Aubrey to the pool for a bit, and then I took the kids to the outlets for a little shopping.  

Tan got a pretty bad sun burn.  His stomach pealed a week later.  Whose stomach peels from a sunburn????  Bri was texting Holden about how Universal was for him and to see if he had any tips for us.  Holden went a couple of days before us with his orchestra friends.  Hold asked how the beach was for us and if Tanner got burned.  We sent him this picture and he replied, "well, of course he did." 

That evening we walked to a Put Put golf down the street and had a great time playing together.  This $11 per person activity was definitely a highlight for me.  We were all together interacting the whole time.  On the other parts of the trip we were together but with different family members: on the plane, at the rental house, on the beach, in our two hotel rooms, at Universal etc.  However, while golfing, we were all together the whole night and we had fun!

Here are a few pictures.

It was such a beautiful little place and it had two courses.

Me and Park

Tan and Aub.  She was pretty nervous because she has maybe done put put one time in her life.  She did great though.

Park and Aub

I was so proud of Aubrey's posture in this picture and pointed it out to her.  (We have some expert slouchers at our house.)  She told me she side eyed me and knew I was snapping a picture so she sat up super straight.  She did admit she liked the way she looked though.

She said she sat up for this one too.  I'll take it.  It was kind of hilarious when the boys were adding because Parker wanted to win so badly.  It's tough when you have a younger brother who has always been athletic and on your heels.  Park has always managed to stay ahead until recently.  Tanner can beat him in basketball now and this first Put Put game didn't go Park’s way!  (Thus the ripped score card he was trying to hide from the camera.)

It's hard to see but I think Brian finished first, and Tanner and I tied for second.

Park came out on top for game two.  He was pleased!

Friday morning we headed to Waffle House bright and early (7:30) so we could be at Universal Orlando by 8:30.  

Brian was awesome and stopped by the store for some waters and treats to take with us.  We had a long, hot, humid, fun day at the park.  A few years ago I realized my neck can't really hold up to roller coaster rides anymore.  Brian and I had a nice day traveling from one area of the park to the next and kind of waiting for the kids to finish each ride.  It was pretty fun just visiting with Brian and scouting out shady places to sit and wait.  We did do a couple of rides, and I looked in a few shops along the way.

The grumpy teens did not want a family photo going in, but I said we spent a million bucks on these tickets and we were going to take at least one or two photos together.  They zipped it and complied.

Aubrey has wanted to do The Wizarding World of Harry Potter for years and that is why we chose this theme park.  It was cool!  We cruised through it in the morning and enjoyed the "Escape from Gringotts" ride.  The boys especially were eager to do more rides and see the rest of the park.  

I'm so glad Aub and I decided to go back in the afternoon and look around a little more.  Diagon Alley, Olivander's Wand Shop, the Knight Bus and lots of other stores/store fronts were awesome to see.   Aub waited in a long line at from The Leaky Cauldron bought some frozen Butter Beer, which was surprisingly good.  

We had to document Tanner willingly applying sunscreen.  We sent the photo to Holden.  Also, sadly I failed at remembering to bring sunscreen.  This tiny tube cost $17!!  SEVENTEEN.  At the grocery store it would probably cost $3.50.

Random performers we saw out and about.  There was a cool construction band that made percussion music with trash cans and construction supplies.  Also there was an amazing group that used to be popular before my time, The Blues Brothers.  Brian and I were enjoyed listening to them while the kids were buying treats.

Our day ended around 4:30 in a downpour.  We were in two separate groups at the park and getting dumped on.  Aubrey and I finally decided to just make a run for it to meet up with the boys.  All in all it was a successful day at the park.

Saturday morning we headed home to craziness.  Tanner had to mow several lawns, and all three kids were leaving to youth camping trips early Monday morning.  We unpacked, washed clothes,  emptied all the camping supplies onto our kitchen floor, and repacked.    All in all we had a successful family vacation in Florida!