Quick Florida Trip!

I said to Mike the other week, "I'm just looking for any excuse to go to Florida this fall!"  We both laughed.  And you know what?  Dreams come true!  We went to Florida in the fall last year and loved it!!!!  It was so beautiful!  Well, about two weeks ago, Mike said he actually has something to go look at in Florida for his mom!  She has some empty property lots down there and he wants to spy them out.  Yeah!!!  Here we go!

The morning we left, there was our first heavy frost on the ground!  It was beautiful!

We got Eli to drive us to the airport.  Ashlyn and Austin got to join us and we fueled up with some coffee and off we went!

Favorite traveling buddy!!!!!

We arrived safe and sound and enjoyed a sunny evening at the park.  We also tried a new Mexican restaurant that served a very delicious Pina coloda and tacos!!!!

Mike's mom was already in Florida and Mike's sister and family went on the same flight as we did!  The cousins were all about being together the ENTIRE time!  :))). They biked from their house to Mom's house.  They went to the ice cream shop together.  To the beach together!  They had a sleep over!  It was all one big party for them!!!!!

I have learned over the years that if I want my kids to eat healthy, than put it in front of them.  Lettuce and greens and healthy foods like fennel, celery, cucumbers, carrots ... don't get eaten if they just stay in the fridge.  I often cut up celery sticks before heading out the door and offering it to the kids on the road trip!  It's amazing how much they eat if I offer it to them!  Well, this night they all chose cotton candy ice cream.  I walked across the street and bought some spring mix and when I came back to the ice cream shop, they asked what I was eating.  I said, "lettuce.  Do you want to try it?"  They all tried some and ate all but a few greens!  There ice cream cones got flushed down with greens!  I'm telling you, if you offer it it may just get devoured!!!!

We started using Turo a few years ago and really had good experiences!  It's an app that you use to "AirB&B Cars".  Any car really!  Vans, trucks, cars, SUV's ... it's all on there!  For a much better price than any rental company offers!  Mike loves this because it gets us different fun cars to drive.  This time we rented a Tesla.  It was a sweet car!  Only a few hundred miles on it and it drove almost like a golf cart. 

Besides the warm weather, the food is a huge plus in Florida!!!  We got breakfast wraps and coffee every morning at the local coffee shop.  

We didn't have the best weather on our short trip but that was OK.  Thursday was cloudy.  I wanted to go see the ocean and get my toes sandy a bit, so the littles went with me.  Janessa and Angelyn went along too!  I told them not to wear their swimsuits because I knew as soon as they came out of the water, they would be cold.  The sun wasn't shining very much!  

That worked for a little while and then they ended up all wet!  They shivered a bit on the way back to the house but I did warn them about that!

I surprised them by stopping at McDonalds on the way back for slushies and fries.  We were in the Jetta car and laughed our way back to the house!

Yoders has a killer pumpkin cream pie!!!

Friday it rained the entire day!  Morning, noon and night!  Some of us went shopping.  Some played games.  The kids biked and splashed in the rain puddles for awhile.  I must admit though that Florida is way better on the sunny side!!!!

It was time to head back home on Saturday.  Four days are only a tease but still fun!  We masked up before getting on the plane and I had my first Christmas coffee cup purchased.

Ashlyn was so tickled to be able to sit with her cousin friends on the airplane too!  

We arrived home safe and sound.  Matthew was ready to have us back home!  But, we came home to a warm fridge and freezer.  I'm not sure why the fridge stopped working but food needed to be thrown out and we have someone lined up to come fix it!

Until the next time Florida!!!!!