Disney Days - The Drive Home

  For the drive home we gave ourselves three full days instead of the two and a half we had coming down.  We definitely needed that extra time.  We got out late on Saturday, much later than we had planned since we were so tired.  And we only drove a short distance before we took a small detour to visit Daytona Beach.  

  James was really excited to drive and park on the actual beach (it was pretty cool) and the boys were happy to see the ocean.  Our bathing suits were easily accessible so we just changed the boys by the car and let them play.  It doesn't matter where we are or how cold it is, if my sons are near the water they will get wet!

Tide pool at Daytona Beach

Playing with sand

Boys in the water at Daytona Beach

  There was a warm little tide pool that they spent some time in before we went down to the ocean.  Will and Jon ran and splashed and jumped in the waves.  Charlie ran in the waves as well but his legs were too short to jump over them.  The waves knocked him over a couple of times but he kept his head and got up all by himself.  I was so proud of him!  

Charlie goes down but keeps his head up!

Playing in the waves

Will runs from the waves

  On the way back to the car the boys spotted an ice cream truck so of course we all had to get some.  The boys ate in the little tide pool while they played with a new friend.  It was a hot day though and no one could eat fast enough so we were all covered with melted ice cream.  We washed the boys off in the ocean and changed them before piling back in the car.  We were able to clean them up pretty well but we still managed to bring some Florida sand back home!

Will runs from the waves

My silly boys

Jon takes a nap in the sand

  
























  I don't remember much of the rest of the drive because I was sleeping almost the whole time.  I hadn't managed to get much sleep at Disney and I was exhausted!  Luckily James was wide awake and didn't mind doing all the driving.  We did stop for supper and while James ordered us food, the boys ran around with their swords playing pirates.  Charlie was a perfect little pirate, he'd charge at me brandishing his sword and yelling "Arrrr!"  

  We didn't make it too far on Saturday and when we stopped we were still over four hours from Washington D.C.  Since we had plans to meet with friends and to see my grandmother, we woke up really early and were on the road by 7:30.  As I was wrestling my sleepy sons into their clothes and forcing them to brush their teeth, I knocked Jon's tooth out with his toothbrush.  I didn't know that I had done it until afterwards and I'm pretty sure his tooth went down the drain.  He wasn't too upset though, especially after I assured him that the tooth fairy would still come. 

Jon's toothless grin

  We planned to meet up with Bob and Amber at the Natural History Museum, one of the boys' favorites.  On the way into the city we hit a lot of traffic, got lost and searched in vain for a parking space.  By the time we arrived at the museum we were an hour late and very cranky.  It was wonderful to see Bob and Amber and they were great sports, especially since the kids were having a hard time listening.  Unfortunately the dinosaur exhibit was closed for renovations but there was a new hands on section of the museum that we all LOVED.  

Amber, Bob and Jon

Jon investigates a skeleton

Will examines an aligator (or a crocodile, I'm not sure which)

  The Natural Museum is great but it was a little difficult to enjoy it.  Jon wanted to go somewhere (he didn't know where) and spent the last half hour melting down.  In hindsight, a museum is probably the last place to take little children who have just spent the past seven hours in a car.  Next time we'll take them to a park instead so they can run and we can catch up with our friends in peace!  

  After reluctantly saying goodbye to Bob and Amber we dragged three screaming boys back to the car and left for Leesburg to visit my grandmother.  Leesburg isn't very far from Washington D.C. but it took us a while because we got lost (again!) and stopped for groceries.  We did practically no planning for the drive down and back and our only map told us roughly where we were but not how to get where we were going. 

  It was almost 7 by the time we arrived at my grandmother's nursing home and we were only about to see my aunt an uncle for a few minutes.  But it was so wonderful to see my grandmother.  She recognized me right away (although I don't know if she remembered my name) and we had a great visit.  She has alzheimers and did have some trouble remembering what I told her.  But she was still my Grammie, just the same with her sweet spirit.  For most of my life we lived with her (she had a small apartment attached to the rest of the house) and she has always been the person I most admire and who I want to emulate.  She is a sweet, loving and Godly woman and I was happy to see that her disease had not taken that away from her.  

Grammie and Jon

My beautiful Grammie

Me and my sons with Grammie

   The boys played on the little lawn while I sat with my Grammie and talked.  Because of the distance, we don't get down there very often and I treasure the little time I can spend with her.  But finally it was time to leave.  She was tired and the boys were antsy so we said goodbye and packed ourselves back into the car.  By this time it was 8:30 and we were all exhausted.  So we drove just an hour before finding a hotel and settling down for the night.  It was nice to have an early night and a slow start to the morning.  

  Our eleven hour drive home Monday was uneventful.  We listened to The Jungle Book by Kipling (one of my favorites), talked and took turns sleeping.  As it got dark poor Charlie was angry "I wanna go to bed!" he yelled at James.  Thankfully by that time we were close to home.  

  Our vacation was wonderful and truly an escape from the stresses of everyday life.  But now, alas, it is time to stop blogging and start on all the laundry!  Thank you for reading!