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!