vacation day 1

Vacation 2010 by Jeff

Saturday, November 27: Day 1

After celebrating Thanksgiving #4 with the Robert's family, we hit the road. It was about 3pm and about 30 degrees in Evansville. We said ours goodbyes to the family and to Chaco and were off.

The drive to Birmingham was pleasantly non-eventful. We stopped in Hopkinsville, for gas, potty, and $.99 spicy chicken nuggets. From there it was straight through to Bama. We arrived at our hotel around 8:30pm. Generally, we try to avoid the "standard" hotel rooms with 4 kids, but, in this case we gave it a shot. 3 of the 4 did great. Poor Reed wasn't really havin' it. He was pretty much inconsolable for a few hours but finally gave in. Aside from falling asleep late and waking up early, I slept pretty good. Apparently, Amanda didn't have as good of a sleeping experience. She's in the beginning stages of the cold that I thought I was over but seems to be creeping back up.

So...up and at 'em at 6:30 this morning, we hit the road for the last 4.5 hour stretch. But not without stopping to grab Starbucks and McD's breakfast first. Most of today's drive was spent on the quaint, 2-lane highways of Southern Alabama and NorthWestern Florida. Everyone that had been here warned me of the "backroads" but I loved it. We saw everything from beautiful countryside to smalltown shopping blocks to the storybook cabin with a Bassett Hound laying on the front porch next to the rocking chair.
As we entered Florida, we wondered when we would catch our first glimpse of the Ocean. Unfortunately there was no view of the ocean. This disappointment would, however, be short lived. As we entered the resort, just beyond the guard gate we saw people riding bikes with their kids and others walking and just all around enjoying life and a beautiful day in beautiful surroundings. We made our way to our building, driving through a beautiful community that seemed a bit like a different world. After I spent a few minutes fighting the automated parking garage barracade until I realized the importance of that pesky # sign at the end of the code, we unloaded and made our way the floor #4 room #4732. As we opened the door we were wowed by the Condo and reminded of the blessing it is to have the opportunity to enjoy such a "perk." Then came the best part. As we drew the curtains blinding us from the patio, there it was, our very first view of the ocean. The kids went nuts (particularly Avin). Amanda appeared to be near tears at the grandeur of it all. Definitely the vacation we've grown accustomed to (primarily because there is no tent involved).

So, we settled in. It was about 1:00pm...ish and we were all hungry. Being that food is an extremely high priority on the Seymore vacationing agenda, we did some a quick search to find a pizzeria nearby (Amanda promised Parker Pizza). We found one called Fat Clemenza's but, after a quick drive by, we decided to try again. We ended up at a place called Ciao Bella's. It was part of a shopping area that was still bussling with post Thanksgiving shoppers. My take on Ciao Bella's was much different than my wife's. I was simply satisfied, but she loved it.
From Ciao Bella's we went to the grocery. We found a Publix just down the street from the hotel in a very high class shopping area (high class=driving through behind a Maserati). After a brief altercation learning moment determining which of the 3 kids I was managing would occupy and operate the two steering wheels in the race car shopping cart, we gathered our groceries for the week.

We ran back by the condo to deliver the groceries. Amanda took them up while I waited in the car with the kids working on finding the nearest Target on the TomTom. As we made our way to Target, each of the kids fell asleep. It really had been an exhausting day for us all. We picked up a few things at Target including what we thought was a Leapster 2 for Parker. As we made our way back to the condo, we considered the start of our nightly ice cream routine but the kids really just needed to get out of the car and settle in for the night.
At about 5:30, we came back into the condo and gave the kids some time to roam and play games. Parker was so excited to play his new Leapster so I got it out, only to realize that I had grabbed the wrong thing. I didn't actually grab a leapster but rather picked up a rechargeable Leapster battery pack. So, there I was, left to explain my mistake to Parker. Hoping for the best but expecting the worst, Parker did what only Parker does. He simply said, "Ok, I wanna play with my Yegos (Legos)." Crisis overted!
At about 6:15, the kids were all put to bed for some quiet time in their room. At about 6:45, we said our prayers and it was lights out. After 2 quick reminders that it was bedtime, it was peaceful in the condo. Amanda spent some time trying to locate the resort fitness building and I just vegged on the couch.

We called it an early night and look forward to the beginning of a relaxing vacation tomorrow.
I have to praise my kids for being so awesome on the trip here today. With the exception of a few moments, they were extremely well behaved and made for a great trip.