Florida!

We made it to Florida!  It's sure lovely here.

We left Tuesday morning with plenty of time to spare, for Minneapolis.  Thank goodness!  The roads were absolutely terrible.  It was 40mph winds, a sheet of ice, and snowing.  I honestly can't remember the last time I've been that nervous.  Cars were spinning, crashing into the middle bars/walls of the interstate, and going into the ditch left and right, directly in front of our eyes.  I was terrified.  But alas, we made it to the airport (had to change our parking plans, but at that point didn't care!).  Our van is sitting on the very top of the snow covered parking garage, unlocked (whoops!!!!). 
Woo hoo!  Welcome to vacation.  :)

We treked our way through the airport with two big suitcases, a carry on suitcase, three little backpacks, a big backpack, double stroller, and let's not forget four children.  Can I brag for just a moment and say they were perfect?  They were so flexible, followed directions, and just went with it.  We didn't have time to get lunch or stop to watch plans.  The minute we got to the gate, they were ready to board.  We made it.  (There were lots of people on our flight who missed the previous ones with the weather.  I was so glad it worked out for us.)

The airplane ride went so well.  There were times when everyone was antsy, but overall there was not a minute of crying, they were happy to watch all the people, eat their ginger ale and cookies, and read books.  We all played musical chairs, having sat in a different seat at one point or another.  You gotta do what you gotta do.
Sidenote: people were so great to our children.  We figured everyone would roll their eyes, but I'm happy to say it was the exact opposite.  So many people waved at them, stopped to visit with them, and commented on how happy they were.  That was a breath of fresh air for this nervous mom.

Ruby following suite with the dude next door.  (His name was Chris.  Nice man!)

After getting to Orlando, it went slick as a whistle getting our luggage and vehicle.  We were on the road to see Papa and Nana at last!  This is when things started to go down.  A road was closed, Charlie woke up wondering where the heck we were, Ruby woke up starving, we were lost and the kids had had it.  Layla said, "Are we EVER going to get there!"  We felt the same way.

Our wheels for the week.  So glad we went with this, as Papa and Nana can go everywhere with us.

 Still, with our exhaustion, the homecoming to Abbey Way was splendid!  We were thrilled to be here, the kids were so excited, and we sat outside to eat supper.  Ahhhhhh, lovely.

Mom & Dad's house on Abbey Way.  It has suited us all perfectly, and I can see how they love it here.

Overall, the traveling went far better than we expected.  We were so proud of the kids for minimal whining and obeying so well.  It was precious to see their excitement on the plane.  Charlie laughed and laughed when we took off, and Maleah said "her tummy felt funny."  Layla's eyes were just huge and Ruby was sucking her little bottle, twirling my hair.  The excitement and nerves mixed together made for some great moments for them.

We have been anticipating this trip for quite a while, and are so happy it is here.  Yay!