Oh you really have no idea how much I am looking forward to our Florida vacation! Most of you know that I was born in St. Pete, FL and consider myself to be a Floridian even though I'm stuck in the wannabe tundra that is Wisconsin. I love the heat, humidity, beaches, sand always in your shoe, flip flops being dress shoes, etc. Most of my family still live in Florida and I miss them terribly, and of my family- only my Aunt Ginger & Uncle Danny have met my daughter. It is really important to me that they all meet my kids and that my kids get to spend time with them. When I think of my childhood- I think of my uncles and grandparents-somebody was always around. That's what I miss the most living up here. I miss having family like that to just stop over at your house or to call up to go to lunch with, etc.
So this year we decided that we were going to Florida, come hell or high water. Which might literally happen because we're going in the middle of October, which is almost at the end of hurricane season. As a former Florida resident, I've been through my share of hurricanes- which I love. Is that weird? I love hurricanes, storms, etc. There is a sick part of me hoping for a hurricane, but then the bigger part of me really wants to get a Florida fix, so I'm hoping for sunny days with the occassional rain in the afternoon.
Oh- and for those who don't know, we've elected to drive instead of fly. I know- I can already hear you groaning about that. But there are lots of reasons we're doing this- the main points being:
1. It's actually cheaper if gas stays under $2.75/gallon
2. I like road trips
3. We wouldn't have to rent a car with 2 car seats
4. If we flew, the amount of stuff we'd have to carry is unbelievable- definitely not worth it.
Is this set in stone? No. If plane tickets get incredibly cheap, it would make more sense to fly and then rent a car with car seats. I think I'd have to have car seats on the plane for the kids. If that's the case that's insane. I know for sure Matt doesn't want to carry two car seats- I'm not even going to ask because I know the look I would get. :)
But if we drive, we leave Superior super early on October 15, with anticipated arrival in Florida October 17. Then we would leave Florida the following Friday, with anticipated arrival back in Wisconsin on Sunday. We'd obviously have to spend the night somewhere in the middle, probably Tennessee and hopefully have dinner or something with an uncle and cousin who live there. Nothing is really planned yet since we just got the dates. If you have any travel ideas/tips- LET ME KNOW!! We haven't taken a vacation with the kids ever (not including weekend trips), so we're like vacation virgins at this point. :) LOL.