Tampa, FL-Lazydays RV Campground

I really wish we had made it to a rally last year because this one was a really wonderful experience. There were over 35 fulltime families there and we met, played with and shared experiences with so many of them.

Jordan's new friend, Melia

Sword fights! (Jacob is in the red shirt)

But before the rally officially began, the kids and I went to Legoland and I must say that I LOVED this place! 

I really think I enjoyed it more than Disney. I know there are a lot of people who are thinking I am crazy now but let me explain.

First, I should mention the price.  Tickets are usually about $80 per person, but we went on a "homeschool day" and received a discount. The three of us were able to go for $48 total!! Amazing discount, huh?!

But that's not the real reason I loved it. The real reason is that  I    like    rides. While Disney has some, it is not just about rides; there are shows and other experiences (and I get that many people like that).  And really I just felt like most of the things at Disney were just OK and occasionally something was really fun.  I found myself really hoping that the kids thought it was ALL really fun.

Legoland has a few shows but there were definitely more rides than shows. And the rides were great. My kids were the ABSOLUTE PERFECT age for the rides. It was just the right amount of “thrill” without the head banging and neck jarring of many roller coasters.

And I just loved looking at all of the structures built from Legos. They were so cool. 

 Daytona

 Times Square

And something that made it even more enjoyable was that there were so few people there. Many times we just stayed on the ride and rode it over and over again. I have been to a Six Flags park on a not so busy day but they reduce staff and the number of cars on a ride that are running. That was not the case here. I think I wore a smile ALL day long!

The only negative I found was a ride called The Quest for CHI. Many amusement parks have the tube river ride where you get a little more wet than you really want and have to spend the rest of the day drying out but here they have a boat ride where you don't get a little wet but totally and completely SOAKED. I knew better but the kids insisted. Ha ha! Jordan was NOT happy. She did manage to give me a two-thumbs down despite her chattering teeth and shivering body. LOL It was just another chance for me to prove that Mom knows best ;) And don't worry, I had spare clothes in the car.

And in case you are wondering, Jacob says he preferred Legoland over Disney and Jordan says she liked them both equally.

Our first field trip with the rally group was to the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Tampa. It was a pretty big group and later in the afternoon, when we went for the planetarium program, we filled the entire room!

(a few of the kids)

The kids really explored the many areas of the museum.

We felt earthquakes and Jordan experienced a hurricane

She and her good friend Melia did a brief news show while Jacob helped to produce it.

Our second field trip was to Clearwater Marine Aquarium, home of Winter and Hope!

For those of you who do not know, they are the dolphin stars of Dolphin Tale and Dolphin Tale 2 (which is based on a true story). And Winter is special because she lost her tale after it became entangled in fishing line. She learned to swim again and even had prosthetic made for her!

 Winter

 Winter's prosthetic tail

Hope

Everyone was so excited to go and look how big our group was (even bigger than MOSI)!

The kids were also registered for a 45 minute program on Turtle Life Cycles. Greg was one of the chaperones for it and said all of the kids, ages 3 and up, were really into it.

My kids always enjoy the touch tanks

And we got to watch into the surgical room as they scoped a turtle who had esophageal scarring after swallowing a hook.

The rest of the week was filled with Rally fun. As I said, we met many families. We did activities together, swam together and just hung out. 

We also did a “Tour of Homes” to learn how other families have made their RVs work for them. Some of them were so BIG! And several had made some awesome modifications to fit their families.

There was also a scavenger hunt, balloon launch contest and a team tailgate game competition. The Biles family won first place in the tailgate games, which included bocce ball, ladder toss, corn hole toss, and horseshoes! Yay Team Biles!

It was really a great week. We will run into several of these families later on and we are excited about that opportunity. For now, thought, we are leaving them all and heading to the Keys!

Orlando, FL-Thousand Trails Orlando Campground

This was another fun week. We spent two weeks here last year and so this was a familiar place for a relaxing week. Although, it was actually pretty busy. Since it is still peak season here, there is a lot going on.

Each day after school and lunch, we would head to the rec center for a kids activity and then it was time for playing and swimming. The kids' met Alexander (Nicholas) and Andrew last year and did a lot of lizard catching. And it was so awesome to see them there again this year. 

We also met several new families with kids near the same age, which was awesome.

The week closed with a campground dance. Jordan was beautifully dressed as Queen Elsa and I had to argue with Jacob just to put on a shirt that had 3 buttons.

 (I tried several times to get a picture without the closed eyes but the flash is so bright on my camera, Jacob couldn't help but blink)

 (His eyes were open here but the enthusiasm was definitely lacking ;)

Nicholas and Andrew's little sister, Bella (3 years old), immediately spotted “Elsa”, which she would be called for the rest of the night, and grabbed her by the hands to dance. They had such a good time together that night and Jordan got such kick out of her thinking that she was Elsa.

So, this week we really just hung out, met some new friends and had a fun time. It was the perfect introduction to a few of the families we will hanging out with next week in Tampa at the Fulltime Families Rally!  We are very excited!

Orlando, FL-Fort Wilderness Campground

This was our week at Disney and you can tell from the video below, the kids were super excited.

We camped at Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground in one of their Premium sites. While it was definitely clean and nice, I am still not certain what made it a premium site over the many other sites there (except the price of course).

We spent one day at each of the parks except Epcot, where we spent two days. So including the day of our arrival and our one day to relax in the middle, we were there for 7 days.

We had a good time there with Grandpa and Grandma (my Mom and stepdad). We rode many, many rides, watched a few shows, ate way more than we ever should and met A LOT of characters, including the infamous Anna and Elsa.

Jordan's favorite ride was the Haunted Mansion, which I remember enjoying when I was little. And Jacob's favorites were Mission Space and Test Track. Both of these were cool rides except I will never get on Mission Space again! It is a simulated rocket launch to Mars and begins at 2.5 G's. The kids and Greg rode it three times in a row but all I could do was stare at the provided barf bag and wonder if I was going to have to use it. Fortunately, after a couple of hours I had recovered!

Jacob was not really into the characters but did grab a couple of autographs. His favorite was Phineas and Ferb. 

Jordan got a hug, picture and autograph from just about everyone. Her favorite was Anna and Elsa with Doc McStuffins in a close second.

We also made it to the Frozen sing-a-long. Greg and I were pleasantly surprised at this. They made it very entertaining and something we would definitely recommend for all the Frozen fans. And you can see the approval on Jordan's face..

We had a really good time with Grandma and Grandpa at Disney, but we are EXHAUSTED! Grandma and Grandpa are heading back home and we are heading to another nearby campground for a little R&R.

Micanopy, FL-Paynes Prairie State Park

I feel that I should start this entry off with a bit of advice....

#1 Do not store you rain boots “out of the way” under the toolbox in the bed of the truck because when there is a downpour and the site you are trying to back into is 3 inches underwater, it is not the time to have to dig them out.

#2 Buy waterproof walkie talkies that way when you drop them into the 3 inches of water, they still work

AND #3 NEVER trust that your children have turned of the shower water and not just the sprayer. Because if you do, and they didn't, then you wake up in the morning and step into water that has filled up the grey tank, then the shower pan and then started traveling across your floor.... and THEN you spend several days trying to dry out your things in the wet, cold weather.

I am not saying we were silly enough to let any of those things happen to us, but just thought I should pass along some wisdom ;) (wink, wink) LOL

Now, on to the campground:

Paynes Prairie is known for the American Bison and wild horses that roam the prairie. We ventured along the Bolen Bluff trail in the footsteps of explorer, Hernando De Soto in 1539 and had hopes of seeing Bison but no such luck. We did, however, see a wild horse resting under a tree. It's really cool that there are no fences between you and the animals.

The campground was nice andt was definitely our reintroduction to the sand of Florida. Guess I will just have to get used to it since we will be in Florida for a few months. Maneuvering through the campground was a little tight, with a lot of trees, but we managed. The shower houses were good and I never ran out of hot water (bonus points!)

One day, we drove to Ocala to go to the Golden Flake Factory Tour. It was great and the kids gave it 5 stars! We got to put our hair in hairnets and really go INTO the factory. We saw the potato and corn chip making process, but I think they may also make salsa and one other thing. We watched the process from potato to shipment and amazingly, it only takes 12 MINUTES!!! Each person on the tour got a free bag of chips and the tour guide opened a bag right off the line and we got to test them out. They were still warm! It was so fun and it was also FREE ;) Sorry there are no pictures, but cameras were not permitted.

That same afternoon, we visited the Discovery Center of Ocala. They generally have scheduled programs for groups of kids but also had a few exhibits to view any time. Totally gross and cool were these Giant Cave Cockroaches that get up to 4 inches long with a wingspan of 5 inches! I am soooo thankful they are not native to the United States and I really hope they do not escape and begin multiplying!

They also had a few other animals like skinks, frogs and scorpions which were fun to check out along with a temporary exhibit on water conservation.

Across the street from there was a great playscape. We played there awhile and generally I wouldn't even mention a playscape but the kids had a great time on this... (me too!)

On another day, we went to the Florida Museum of Natural History. It was located on the University of Florida campus and free to the public. They had some unique displays. In this exhibit, there were very small, quarter-sized crabs on the ground that really moved! Very cute and a little startling

My favorite was the butterfly exhibit. They have a butterfly rainforest but since it was cold and raining, we did not enter because we were forewarned that the butterflies really were not out and moving. Below is a viewing area where you could see the staff pinning their collections. They have over 9 million specimens making it the largest collection of butterflies and moths in the world!

There was also an area to view the cocoons waiting to hatch. It was fun to watch the ones that were moving. We hoped to see one hatch, but I guess we would probably have to sit there for more than 5 minutes.  Ha Ha.

And one final fun thing was building this mastadon. Jacob was so proud of himself.

And, of course, a little silly...

At the end of the week, the kids had a fantastic surprise.  Grandma and Grandpa pulled into our campsite.  It was a speechless, jaw dropping experience for them.  The grandparents were going to be spending the next week with us.

Next stop is Orlando.  I wonder where we are all going....