This year we had an extra long stay, 9 nights. Mom and dad were able to join us for most of them and my brother Jeff and sister-n-law Rachel stopped in for a day on their way back from a cruise. The only ones missing were Joshua and Stacy (brother and sister-n-law) and they were missed terribly.
For the most part, the weather was not bad. We had a couple of pretty days and the others were mild and cloudy but "no rain" as YiaYia pointed out. We were thankful for that! The only bummer is we didn't get to take Boo swimming (each time she saw the sun peek out, she'd say "it's warm" in hopes that we'd rush to the pool...poor baby) but all-in-all, nothing to complain about.
We stayed at the campground which I really enjoyed. Yes, the showers weren't always hot and the trailer we rented was more cramped than if we had rented a condo or a house but...I loved it none the less. Brandon woke up early each morning, which would had frustrated me if we were at home, but instead I loved it because it gave me a chance to do one of my favorites things...walk around a campground at the crack of dawn. I love early mornings period. I don't like getting out of bed, but once I'm up, I relish them. There's something about a new day...it's kind-of like a brand new baby, nothing has been screwed up yet. Early mornings at a campground are especially nice because often times someone is cooking bacon and brewing coffee which combined has to be just about one of the best smells God ever created. Honestly, if I ever get the family ranch that I want....we will eat a HUGE breakfast everyday. Nothing better! Well, okay...hot/fresh brownies or cookies and super cold milk at night run a close second :0) Needless to say, we ate a lot on this trip...it was pretty great :)
Both Bailey and Brandon had a GREAT time on the trip. Boo of course knows YiaYia and Popo so that was easy. Brandon on the other hand only "knew" them from Skype (the flat people is what my parents call themselves) but, oh my gosh did he love them. The only tough part was when everyone had to go home. Don't really know how else to put it...it sucked. It was very tough to say goodbye.
I mentioned in my previous post that Brandon LOVED the characters. I can't say this enough. He was a crack-up! He would get soooo excited to see them. He'd have this HUGE grin and his little chubby arms would flap up and down and he'd bounce in the seat or my lap. He soaked more than a few noses with his kisses. It was very, very cute.
The drive wasn't bad. On the way down, we stopped in Gainesville (Go Gators!) for the night. That made the drive down pretty easy and on the way back, we left at dinner time (ate in the car) and stopped around 8:30pm to put the kids in their pjs; they were both out in 10 minutes so the remaining 5.5 hour drive was pretty easy (especially since Tom drove most of it :).
We've been blessed to make this trip every year since 2007...I'm hopeful that we'll be able to continue because with family and these memories....this really is the good life.