Orlando, Jacksonville, and Wilmington

Harrison, Brooks and I covered a lot of ground on our "work/vacation" trip. We started out in Orlando for a 2 night stay at the Gaylord Palms Resort with Robert. Not entirely relaxing, but a fun couple of days with swimming, downtown Disney, and some intense arcade action (Primarily the claw game in which I won 2 stuffed animals for Harrison and Brooks...it was kind of a big deal). After Orlando, Robert headed back to Naples and the kiddos and I (and the art trailer) ventured up to Jacksonville to collect my mom and Preslie before we traveled on to Wilmington. I was in an art show on Figure 8 Island which was a great show but the best part was getting to stay with and see our family who live there. We all had a wonderful time and I think the kids would like to back to Wilmington tomorrow if they could. After the art show it was on to Jacksonville for a short stint and then back to home sweet home!

Like all road trips, the car ride puts me on the fence of "should I drop my kids off on the side of the road and call social services on myself?" and "should I just ignore this, refrain from driving off that ledge, and keep going?" Road trips are never smooth sailing with 2 children who demand your complete attention at a second's notice. I'm not even going to elaborate on what their arguments entailed but let's just say there was a full blown meltdown episode that lasted 30 minutes over who was more magical. I dread these kind of situations, especially when your driving with a trailer, but my mom did come up with a phenomenal idea to motivate them. She offered both kids 2 quarters for every hour that they behaved. Then, whenever we went into a gas station or in our case, a Cracker Barrel, they had some of their money to spend. Obviously, quarters in the Cracker Barrel didn't get us very far but you get the idea...bribery at it's best.

Overall, it was a great vacation and a successful art show. The kids had so much fun seeing their cousins in Jacksonville and their new cousin, Jack, in Wilmington. They also had their share of swimming in Orlando, Jacksonville, and Wilmigton and I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to take up scuba diving in the next few months as an extra activity. And they loved being with their longtime babysitter, Preslie. She makes everything fun for these 2 monkeys. I felt like we got a chance to do a little of everything while we were on our trip. We spent time with family, had fun, got some work in, and got to spend time in some really cool places.