We left on Thursday, Feb.5th at noon and drove down to Herndon, Va. where we stayed at a Comfort Inn overnight. Aaliyah slept (sort of) in bed with me, kicking me and laying sideways a few times during the night. We were shuttled to the Wash/Dulles airport at 6:30am. We went through security without a hitch except for Aaliyah crying because we had to put her princess backpack on the belt to go through the scanner. We flew out at 8:40am and she did great. We arrived in Fl., got our rental car and waited for Michael and Lynnee to get in. We all drove over to Treasure Island where we stayed until Monday, Feb. 9th.
At Treasure Island, on Sat. morning, we walked on the beach while Aaliyah asked a few hundred times for a bucket and shovel. We went to John's Pass and found a place to eat outside watching the boats on the bay. When we walked back to our Condo, we went to the pool and Daddy went to the store to buy the bucket and shovel. Aaliyah enjoyed her time on the beach making a turtle with Aunt Lynnee. In the evening we went to a place called "The Roaring Twenties with Pizza and Pipes" for supper with Uncle John, John and Norma. It was quite an experence for Aaliyah and she enjoyed listening to the pipe organ music as we ate.
On Sunday, we did more of the same and went to Bubba Gump's for lunch. It was such a beautiful sunny day with many boats of all kinds on the Gulf of Mexico. It was just what I had waited for all winter. In the evening we went to David, Nadine, and Blaises and went to eat at Chilis. Aaliyah loved spending time with Blaise.
Monday morning we went to Busch Gardens for the day and had a great time. We rode on a train that took us around the park where we saw all kinds of animals. Aaliyah enjoyed the zebras, elephants, monkeys, and many more. We rode on a skyride that took us across the park and we had a nice view of many of the animals. Michael and Lynnee went on five roller coasters which apparently were a lot of fun. We also ate a lot since we bought food tickets and could eat as often as we liked. The food was quite good. We left at 6pm and drove over to Orlando Fl. to Westgate, where we stayed the rest of our vacation.
Tues. we spent a lot of time at the pool, which we think was heated. It was so nice to sit and relax in the water and just do nothing. We bought Aaliyah floaties and once she realized that she wasn't going to sink, she swam all over the pool.
Wed. we went to Sea World and had a great time. We saw a show with Shamu, was splashed by a dolphin and got soaked and ate an awful lunch at Mango Joes. We went to a show about a fisherman who fell out of his boat and ended up in the bottom of the ocean with the fish. It was really amazing to watch the dancing, gymnastics etc. Aaliyah really enjoyed it. Aaliyah rode on a number of rides with Aunt Lynnee including Shamu the roller coaster. She rode three times.
Thurs. was another day at Westgate swimming in the pool and just hanging out.
On Friday, Tim, Aaliyah and I went to Daytona Beach and wandered through the Flea Market. There were three million people ( or less) there to buy souvenirs of the Daytona 500. We then went to visit Tim's cousins and ate at Aunt Cat Fish. The food is wonderful and we ate by the water.
Michael and Lynnee went to the Outlets and then met us for supper.
Saturday was our last day and so we spent it swimming and sunning. Tim and I were headed to the Outlets and then meeting Michael, Lynnee, and Aaliyah for dinner at The Olive Garden. We sat in traffic and got lost so I never got any shopping done.
On Sunday we left for the airport at 8:30am, dropping our car off and getting through security and were waiting at the gate by 10am. We weren't flying out until 11:50 but Tim thought we should be there early. We got home by 7:15pm and back to the real world.
It was such a beautiful vacation and God answered prayer in so many ways. It was the most relaxed I've been in months, maybe years.
