Spring Break in Florida

I am beginning to pack for our annual trip to Florida, a trip that we look very forward to.  Donna, Cindi, Joe, Blaine, and Joey are what keeps us going back.  Great family bonding time, I love it.   This is our plan for 2016, fly into Orlando and meet Donna for our first two days at Disneyworld.  We have booked a Room at a Hilton right Accross the street from Downtown Disney. Day two Epcot. Then Port St Lucie for St. Patty's day and other activities till Saturday, and then home for Palm Sunday in Orland Park.  That's the Grand Plan, I'll let you know how it works out.

I need a BIG cup of coffee to plan what I'll pack!!

I'm in the final count down:

5 days and counting.  I've made a dent on the packing, but the key is to watch the weather forecast so I pack only what I need, and to always save room for my shopping excursions.  This year it looks like it's going to be really warm, and summer clothes take up less room so I can shop like a maniac.  

Today ( March,10th )is a free day, so no plans just continue packing and then dinner with the family.  Justin is coming home for a long weekend so it's a Hooters night.  Tomorrow we are planning a road trip to Michigan's Four Winds Casino with Tracy and Justin.  I'll let you know how that goes.  

Hooters was fantastic, as it always is when the family gathers.  Attending was, Allyson, Zack, Bob, Tracy, Justin, John, and I.  We all ate, laughed, and one even cried a little. (It's ok Allyson, crying cleanses the heart and soul) Drop of the hat emotions are in the genes, so happy or sad we tear up.

We missed you Jeremy!!

Our plan for the casino trip was Tracy and Justin will ride together because I had to leave at 3:00 and they might want to stay longer.  Justin sent a text at around 6:30 AM and told us they were already on the road.  I think they were anxious.  They arrived about 30 minutes before us.  This was Tracy's first time there and she loved it.  What was not to love, she won big time at black jack.  Justin also won this time leaving John and I the losers!!!  The drive home was horrible, two accidents slowed  everything to a crawl.  John dropped me off at home then headed to Dekalb to pick up Jeremy for the start of his Spring Break 2016.  And me, I happily went to Bunco.  

Bunco was fun as usual, however my losing streak continues, I didn't win! Ugh!

It is Sunday morning and Justin and Allyson are meeting us for noon mass.  We will be singing without rehearsal but it's all familiar songs, so we are good.  The highlight of this day is seeing Justin's new car.  He got a 2013 Chevy Cruze.  It is a really nice looking car, with lots and lots of upgrades, and only 25,000 miles on it.  It is still under warranty for 4 more years with free oil changes too. The old car on right, the new one on left.  The low point of the day was that Allyson didn't join us.

March,15th - On to Florida.  Justin is driving us to the airport and the ride is like a limo compared to the ride in his Saturn.  In order to try to avoid some rush hour traffic we headed out really early.  However, we weren't the only ones with that thought.  

Note, I don't know how to pack light!!!  This is my largest suitcase, lol...

And we are finally at the gate waiting to leave for Orlando..  The weather looks like it will be beautiful.  Fingers crossed!!

Security was grueling. Hundreds of flights were cancelled on Sunday and Monday because of fog in Chicago.  Even with a TSA pre board we took about 20 minutes to get through security.  (It normally takes 5 minutes)

Finally we are on the plane and ready for takeoff.  

Here we are!! It was a great flight and as we sit here waiting for our transportation to the hotel we enjoy the scenery.  Palm trees and sun, my idea of a perfect start to our Florida journey. 

Tuesday night we will stay in Lake Buena Vista at the Buena Vista Palace (Hilton of course) enjoying a free night on our points.  One of the perks of being a Hilton Honors member, and traveling a lot.

My sister got there before we did and was extremely impressed, she tried to describe it to us in a text since we had never stayed in this particular hotel.  I think her exact words were WOW, WOW, WOW!!!!  And she was right, it was a wow. 

We couldn't check in yet so off we went to the bar to have that first vacation cocktail.

 🍹🍻🍷

The room was beautiful as expected, so we were very happy. 

The view from our balcony on the 24th floor.  Breathtaking!!  

Donna's gift to us this year was a selfie stick.  It was so much fun to use and we all get to be in our pictures.  Now, getting Donna to step onto this balcony was a challenge, but she is a great sport and didn't want to chicken out.  But notice, she is closest to the patio door and not the balcony rail.  

After getting settled into our room, it's off to Downtown Disney, or "new name" Disney Springs.  You can't get too familiar with anything, someone decides to change it.  A little trivia: in 1975 it was called Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village.  Then in 1977 it was renamed Walt Disney World Village.  In 1989 it was again renamed Disney Village Market Place.  Finally in 1997 it became Downtown Disney.  And then in Sept 2015 it officially was renamed again to Disney Springs.  Whewwwww!!! 

The most important part of all of this is that In March, 2016 it is a gorgeous day 85° and very sunny.  

Waiting for the water shuttle that takes us from one side of town to the other:

Riding on the Lake Buena Vista shuttle. 

This guy is welcoming everyone to the Rainforest Cafe:

Then a sight to see, this car riding through the water.  We needed to find where it docked so we could watch it go from boat to car:

Here it was, on land.  It was called an AmphiCar and made in Minnesota.. Probably during one of their LONG winters.

Transportation is the theme here, and my sister is a true biker chick.  If she could have driven right out of this Harley store, she definitely would have.  Check out the attitude!

Dinner was absolutely YUMMY! And our waitress Ginger was as cute as a button.  

It was a perfect day, and while we were taking our last group selfie a young teenager stopped to high five us for being so cool and up to date on technology.  Just joking, trying to blow his mind, we told him it was going on Snap Chat now.  His comment "NO WAY!"  We had a great laugh and it was a fun way to end our evening.  

After one of the best Hilton Buffet breakfasts ever, we pack up and head over to our day 2 destination. 

The selfie stick is hard at work again today, and it's another amazingly gorgeous day.  89° and sunny, with just enough breeze to make it very comfortable. 

It is Flower Festival time at Epcot, and everything is beautiful.  

At our family trip in 2005, all of our grandchildren had their images etched onto these walls that greet you at the entrance.  This was the one of Joey and Danny, ages 1 and 3.  We hunted and hunted but never did fine them so Dave sent this to me when he and Lynette were there about a week later.  

Our energy level is falling fast and this is why.  # of steps walked today:

It's time to head to Port St. Lucie, our final destination for the week:

Thursday is March 17th, happy St Patty's Day to my Irish family members.  When in Rome!!!

And thanks to Cindi who picked out our shirts this year. 

We begin our day at Archie's, a fun biker bar and restaurant in Fort Pierce.  It's an annual MUST!  I rank it #1 burger in all of our travels and the casual atmosphere is great fun.  They have been expanding for years because the crowds get bigger and bigger each.  Last year we carved our names on a wooden post and we were going to add this years date but we couldn't find it.  We will look again next year, as there are hundreds and hundreds of carvings, so it will be a challenge.

After lunch a walk along the pier to people and creature watch.  Of course another selfie along the way:

Finally our St Patty dinner at Duffy's in Port St. Lucie.  Green beer, Corned Beef and Cabbage, and this year its free!  Joe and I had a bet on the Stanley Cup game between The Black Hawks and Tampa.  Loser buys St. Patty's dinner.  AHHHHHH! Thank you Black Hawks!! And aren't we stylin in our Green?  Next year I'll buy John a "greener" shirt.  

One of my favorite Great Nephews opening his gift.  I had a coffee cup made with our picture on it.  He said he would drink his hot chocolate in it.  

End of another great night with the family. 

March 18th. Today is our last day so it is off to Vero Beach to the outlet mall, then over to 2J's for a wonderful New York Deli lunch before heading back to the hotel for a rest and printing of our boarding passes for tomorrow's flight home.  Tonight we will pick up Pizza's at Umberto's (New York Pizzeria) and have a game night at Cindi's house.  

This guy was walking around the Pizzeria begging for food.  Fun show while I wait in the car.

This is Felicia, Cindi and Joe's newest baby.  She is absolutely beautiful and definitely a puppy.  She has so much energy, I wish she could share some with me.  

  

I won the Yahtzee trophy this year but will return in 2017 for a rematch.  Blaine is anxious to win it back as well as the Monopoly trophy.  We need a whole day for our competitions.  

We said our goodbyes and Donna dropped us off at our hotel.  I want to thank you Donna for being our chauffeur all week but mostly for taking on the challenge of driving us back to the Orlando Airport , in the rain.  You are awesome.  

All ready to board the plane and return to Chicago.  It is always fun to visit and also great to get home to our own bed.

This is exactly how we feel, TIRED!! (This guy is actually a statue in the airport, but he looked so real we were staring at his chest to see if he was breathing)

As my final blog photo I wanted to add this photo of Blaine and myself from 3 years ago.  He has now grown taller than me.  All of the children in the family are getting taller, ugh!

Thanks Florida Family for continuing to entertain your Chicago family.  We love you. ❤️❤️

Getting a new phone

Very, very stressful two days.  I must admit it becomes more and more difficult every couple of years when our cell phone contract is up and we must UPGRADE to a new, more complicated phone.  We try very hard to stay on top of this very fast moving world of technology but getting older does not work in our favor.

So let me introduce you to my new IPhone 6S

Isn't it beautiful??  I just love it and look very forward to figuring out all the new cool stuff I can do on it...  Hahaha, that was a joke, I'll be lucky to figure out how to simply do the things that I know how to do, so new stuff could never happen.  Well, never say never I guess.  I have learned how to take slow motion movies.. Lol. And I also had quite a conversation with my new Siri.  I asked her if she wanted to go for coffee.  She said, "no thank you, I'm quite content with what I have". I was laughing and said Siri, you are very funny.  She gave me a "LOL". Now that's funny.  It's like a little person in there.  

With our new IPhones Sprint was kind enough to give me a new IPad Mini 4.  Imagine that??  I didn't need a new IPad, but was I supposed to say NO??  Of course not.  So, two new phones, and a new IPad, and I lowered my phone bill by $30/Mo.  I feel like a crook..  

I'll let everyone know how this learning goes, but for now, I'm going to try to get Siri to go out for some Pizza with me.  

Good night..  

Winter Vacation 2014 - Final Chapter

December 15th we left paradise and headed home to Illinois.  Winter was moving very fast into the Midwest and it was hard to decide which route to take.  Going north through Flagstaff was definately out because the snow was already arriving and we have no chains, or the desire to face that challenge.  The southern route takes you down along the Mexican border and the mountains are easy driving, so that's where we are going.  Extra miles??? Yes, but safest choice.  Now the second challenge was how to pack up the car.  It always seems we buy too much and exceed the space limit, so just like every vacation I'm packing up a BIG box to UPS home.  

Every time we opened the back door or trunk something fell out.  And shopping along the way was interesting.  I just can't resist the urge to pick up just one last thing for the kids.. 

We left our rental house on Monday December 15th and enjoyed the first day driving south throughTucson, then down through southern New Mexico, and into Texas.  Beautiful first day drive.  The mountains were so beautiful and it was a sunny warm day to enjoy our journey home.  (This too will change). 

First night El Paso, TX with climates in the low 60's and still very sunny.  Lucky us, there was a Rudy's BBQ right next door and we love the food there.  It was a long drive so we walked over and back.  Our weather app tells us that a storm is going through Kansas, but we aren't in a hurry so our plan is to take our time and be safe. As we leave El Paso we drive along Interstate10 which runs right along the Mexican Border.  I can see the Border Patrol vehicles along the dirt roads and it makes me feel a little sad.  What must it be like to have such a horrible life that you would try crossing the border into the US out here in the wilderness??  Not just adults but whole families including young children.  All of a sudden it was very real to me.  

Along that route we were stopped at a checkpoint where an officer looked in our car and asked if we were US citizens.  

Speed limit on this part of highway 10, wow, I'm cruising.  

Night two was in Abilene, TX.  It took two full days to get out of this HUGE state.  The weather stayed very mild until we arrived for our 3rd night stay in Mulvane, Kansas.  It had begun raining and the temperature was dropping.  As we got off of the highway for the night there was icy rain, but we were safe.  We woke up for our 4th day of driving and we found snow and ice on the car.  

John and I had been sharing the drive until now.  It was very foggy and predictions of ice and snow at our last destination before home, Des Moines, made me nervous.  Black ice is what I worry about most and in our first couple hundred miles we saw at least 5 semi's in ditches.  We were getting tired of the drive and wishing we were home, but we knew this was our last night in a hotel.  We found a very big indoor mall where we walked and walked, and of course stopped at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.  Iowa was clear and dry, but cloudy.  Our deal is that John drives until we get through the city then I take over.  Last gas up was in Altoona.  

And the price was just right..  I'm in the driver seat now and it's clear sailing home.

Welcome to Orland Park, gas prices.  $.40 higher..  

It was a wonderful 47 days, but the first thing I said when we got home was "I don't ever want to drive to AZ again". It was a very beautiful drive, but once is enough.  We talked about our next adventure but haven't decided anything.  One decision for sure is that if we return to AZ I think we would stay closer to the Scottsdale area.  THE END