Final thoughts on trip

If you ask me if there is anything we should've done differently with our trip to Orlando, I will answer 'no'. Jeff agrees and he isn't the kind of person to look at the glass "half full".  Not that he always sees the glass on the way to being empty either, but he is definitely more cynical than me.  It went as well as if not better than we could have hoped for. 

Driving straight-thru on the way there and back was smooth sailing.  Mount St. Samantha did not blow -- not once!  It took us 13 hours when going at night and 14 hours driving back during the day.  We definitely had more stops for meals and to walk around during our return drive on Sunday.  I introduced Jeff to "South of the Border."  This is the big tourist trap that is located right in between South Carolina and North Carolina.  I have so many memories as a little girl stopping there each summer when driving up to NJ.  Boy, has that area expanded!

Having fun at South of the Border:

THE smartest thing I ever did was purchase a dual port USB charger with a 4 foot cord.  The kids could be on their iPads while they were charging.  It didn't matter their iPads were on for almost 13 hours non-stop, it never went below 100% on the battery.  Seriously, can you think of $20 better spent than that?!?!?

Jeff and I were able to see 3 movies in the 8 days we were in Orlando.  I was in movie heaven!  Each film we saw was better than the last.  "The Wolf of Wall Street", "American Hustle" and "Saving Mr. Banks" all were fantastic.  How nice to go to a movie and not have to pay for a babysitter. 

It had been a while since Jeff had been in Orlando.  We were trying to think of his last visit and we came up with my sister's wedding in October 2009. I honestly don't think he has been back down there since then.  He has seen my family lots of times in other locations, but not on their home turf.  So weird that for the last 4 years, I've gone down with just the kids and not him.  It was great having him with us. 

In lieu of Hanukkah gifts from us, Jeff and I planned a family outing to go go-karting and out to dinner.  This was a fun evening and a great way to spend time together. 

 

 

 

Dinner!

It was a great trip!  My favorite highlight was meeting my gorgeous niece, closely followed by getting to see so many awesome movies.  And I feel it necessary to mention being around my family may very well trump going to the movies.  Gosh we have a good time when we get together. 

The most bizarre part was how much we did in Orlando while we were there and then when we got back home, the kids still had an entire week off from school.  We have certainly had the best of both worlds -- a fun adventure seeing the relatives and still lots of downtime chilling at home.