Nickelodeon Hotel and SASSY trip recap

Today we checked into the Nickelodeon Hotel in Orlando FL. We left SASSY this morning at Clearwater Beach and drove across to Orlando. We kept it a surprise to the kids and when we drove in, all the kids were asleep so the excitement I was hoping for was more of a sleepy arousal to "what mom?"

Taryn and Tyler would not touch Patrick (from Spongebob) so just big kids to have a picture with him. However, when Dora came out... well Taryn was so excited to see her, but did not want to touch her. Mommy had to help. Ty gave her hugs and told her he loved her! It was too cute. Then Taryn just had to have a Dora cookie... (the really hard ones that have an expiration date of like 2 yrs) but she only took 2 bites... "Yucky Mommy" she told me... Haa Haa

We will spend the day tomorrow (Tuesday) here at the Nick Hotel waterpark and then go to a Dora and Diego party. Then it is off to the JW Marriott to pamper Mom and Dad before coming home on Thursday.

The SASSY boat trip on the west coast of Florida included these ports of call:

Ft. Lauderdale to Marathon Cay

Marathon to Marco Island

Marco to Naples

Naples to Captiva Island

Captiva to Longboat Key

Longboat to St. Petersburg

St. Pete to Clearwater Beach

The days were filled with sun and 90 + degree weather. Some rain, but never lasting long. Smooth waters for each move we made. While we were docked in St. Pete, we took our time visiting Busch Gardens and Adventure Island (owned by BG). Our last day on the beach with everyone before they went home was on Clearwater beach and it was fabulous. HOT HOT HOT. Almost everyone suffered from mild sunburn. The sand on Clearwater Beach is even finer than sugar. Beautiful and very clean. Fabulous way to end the boat trip. SASSY spent the rest of the day in CB before the crew sets out to return to Ft. Lauderdale alone. No passengers on the way back. Everyone we were with on SASSY is back in Michigan; we decided to take a few days just for us before we head back for Dad's busy CMU student move in weeks.

We have seen many facebook posts about the weather at home... maybe we'll stay just a few more days....

family travels update

Our family has been traveling on SASSY again, this time in the Gulf of Mexico along Florida's west coast. Thursday night/Friday morning we arrived on SASSY in Marco Island, after another disaster of a trip trying to get to Florida. Our trip began Thursday, July 23rd, in Flint with an 11 am flight. That flight got delayed; after waiting for another, we did make it to Atlanta. Another flight delay left us waiting in the airport for what seemed like days. The plane was eventually loaded with passengers about 7pm, and left the runway at 9pm. Arriving in Tampa (please not that Tampa was NOT our original destination) at 11pm, getting the last car... seriously, the last car (so they said) and started the trip south to Marco Island. 2 1/2 hours later we crawled 4 tired kids and 2 very testy parents onto the boat and made our way to bed. We left Marco Island for Naples on Friday mid day, and stayed there in the Naples Boat Club, 4 blocks off of 5th Avenue until Sunday morning. SASSY then moved north to Ft. Myers area; Sanibel Island - Captiva. It is beautiful here! We are at South Seas Plantation Resort at the end of the island. This place is really great! We spent Sunday afternoon all in the pool, all of us - big kids and little kids. It was so relaxing. Lots of laughs, splashes, and fun. Tomorrow, Monday, Uncle Pat is taking kids fishing. I guess there is great fishing here. As for mom, she is working on her tan and reading book 2 of the twilight series... seriously! Why did I get started on that? Till next time...

Ty is 4 today

Happy Birthday Tyler! Ty gets to celebrate his 4th birthday on SASSY in the Bahamas! We woke up to a beautiful blue sky with crystal turquoise water and another hot sunny day. Ty picked out "Handy Manny" themed birthday supplies, so we began our day making cupcakes for everyone, then made awesome pancakes for all the kids to eat for breakfast. Ty loves to cook; he cracks the eggs, stirs the batter, the works... he loves to help. Soon we will be headed to Atlantis' resorts man-made lagoon/beach to ride paddle boats and have a beach scavenger hunt for the kids. Dinner tonight outside on the back of SASSY, cupcakes and Ben & Jerry's ice cream will top off the menu, and a few small presents to open (more at home... too big to fly here). He has been infatuated with mom's camera lately, taking actually some pretty good pictures, so his "BIG" present is his very own "real" camera... memory stick and all.

Today is Wednesday, day 8 of our 2week vaca... we are all doing well... enjoying the relaxation, the pools, the beach, the resort food, etc. Wishing everyone could enjoy it with us!

Can't post any pics up to the web; internet too slow. So just use your imagination :)