Emi wasn't sure she wanted to go. In fact, she proposed staying home with Grami and Papa, but we convinced her that she would have girl cousins to pal around with (not sure that will be enough to convince her next time).
The plane ride there was busy, but pretty easy going.
Arrived at 7pm? Ate at Cracker Barrell (Crapper, if you ask me) for Thanksgiving. Drove 2 hours to the hotel. Hung around and chatted until about 11. The next day we went to St. Augustine.
Getting 19 people going in the same direction was a feat.
The oldest wooden schoolhouse.
Shari's favorite past time...frisbee. She actually offered to pay me to destroy it at night. Haha
The "little" cousins.
All the cousins. minus one Noah. In the pics at the bottom of this entry you'll see why...
En route to new location. I think we had to stop every few minutes to count heads and figure out where to go. And we joked that we were really good at blocking pathways...
The Baxters.
Everyone went in...
he didn't come out. I found him in there a few minutes later waiting there just like this. :)
Shaun striking a pose.
Noah wanting a picture alone.
The girls minus Ali.
Isaiah getting a ride on Jim's shoulders...he did like it.
The million dollar trolley ride that Isaiah took a nap on.
The cool bridge we came across to get there.
The prison we toured. Really cool spot.
Breathtaking sunsets.
Fun on the beach. Everyone else was still getting up and going, but our kids wouldn't wait any longer...
It was COLD. Like Half Moon Bay cold, but we had fun anyway.
Saving him from a big wave. He actually wanted to keep running back down. He is usually much more timid. :) Getting bigger. Bitter sweet. :(
No trip to the beach is complete without digging a big hole. Noah was on top of that.
Artistry in action...
No trip to a freezing beach is complete without a hot tub warm-up!
Just about to find out we're going to Disneyworld.
Pretty exciting.
Cutest thing. They talk about each country's holiday traditions. Emi was mesmerized by this Dutch princess and the naughty elf (Santa). Wish I could think of how what they said...
On the only ride that was sort of exciting in the entire Epcot park.
Meeting Mulan. The other boys refused to get in there. :)
Light saber wars.
Mary Poppins. Emi was so thrilled!
Nemo area was so fun!
Earlier in the day I got stuck for about 15 minutes on the ride with the little boys. Fun. At least they were good, it was dark, and I was sitting. :)
The Baxters had given in and headed home a while before, but us nutty Fletchers stayed to the bitter end. Fireworks and all. They were tired, but happy and smiling still.
In fact, Isaiah ran and sang all the way to the bus.
The next day (our last day before boarding the plane that night), we played at the resort all day. THE BEST SPOT!
The kids even said this was better than Disney. Note to self, save the $500!
Noah was sad because his dad didn't ask to see his muscles. oops.
Love that Ali, trying to make Isaiah feel better about the photos. :)
This makes me laugh every time I see it.
Family pictures...lighting upon my arrival.
Lighting upon everyone else's arrival. Oh well.
I couldn't get over the beauty of the sky!
I had to get each kid...
Warm, indoor pool...
big hit, especially with our Little Mermaid, Emi.
Overall, the trip was fun. We didn't see any alligators. Darn! We didn't get any great family pics. Very frustrating. But we enjoyed the time catching up with everyone. I might have cursed them all for making us come so far as we spent 45 minutes going through the wrong security and having to repeat on the other side as each child under 9 had a melt down of epic proportions, but all is forgotten. I won't be going to that side of the coast again for about 3 years with the kids, I hope! :) But I do feel blessed to have had the opportunity to be with family and to afford to travel and enjoy so many experiences with my children.
