At the end of June, we took off on a road trip down to Florida for a fun 2-week trip. We spent 2 days driving down, staying overnight in Chattanooga, TN. Our next destination was The Villages, FL to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Reder. We celebrated Cassidy's 9th birthday, and she was thrilled to spend her special day at Harry Potter World at Universal Studios! It was an exciting visit for all of us, but it was particularly magical for Cassidy, our resident Hogwart's super fan. We also enjoyed some great outings around The Villages, spotting wildlife during golf cart rides and swimming each day. From there we went on down to Pompano Beach for some family time by the ocean. We enjoy spending the 4th of July on the beach, where we can watch fireworks take off from the pier and light up the waterfront. When it was finally time to head back home, we stopped over in Lexington, KY to visit with the Burkholder Family. We made s'mores in the backyard and had fun cousin time! Such a treat. It was a really wonderful vacation. We took a lot of photos to document all the adventure - here are some favorites!
 |
| Our first big stop of the road trip - Chattanooga! |
 |
| Tyler loves trains - this place was perfect! |
 |
| Not sure why this cool "Hudson Hornet" was parked in the lot, but we had fun checking it out. |
 |
| Road trip naps for some... |
 |
| ...headphones and screens for others. Realities of travel! |
 |
| We arrived at The Villages! We were glad to relax by the pool and have a glass of wine while the kids swam the night away. |
 |
| It's always fun to swim at Grandma and Grandpa's! |
 |
| Goofing off with Grandpa |
 |
| We always love spotting these cute little guys around FL! |
 |
| Golf cart rides are always a hit |
 |
| Cassie and Grandma designed and crafted a cute new skirt! |
 |
| Grandma and Grandpa took the older two kids to a kite-making class in The Villages. |
 |
| Dancing with Grandpa Reder at the square... |
 |
| Cassidy's 9th birthday! |
 |
| Everyone helped bake the birthday cake! |
 |
| Happy 9th Birthday to Cassidy! |
 |
| A selfie with the birthday girl, including a photo-bombing brother! |
 |
| At Harry Potter World - time for the butter beer |
 |
| Ready to ride the Hogwart's Express |
 |
| This is when Cassie's wand "chose" her...very special. |
 |
| Learning to use her magic wand... |
 |
| This is the entrance to what became our favorite ride, "Flight of the Hippogriff" |
 |
| Magical Hogwart's! |
 |
| Mom jumped in a photo! |
 |
| Universal Studios has a large Dr. Seuss park that was silly and fun! |
 |
| We had a fun dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Studios. |
 |
| I always love views of the sun shining down on the water! |
 |
| Pool fun with Daddy |
 |
| We had a nice dinner at out Aruba's - Tyler was being silly as usual. |
 |
| After-dinner photo |
 |
| We always pay a visit to Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton, FL. |
 |
| The kids know that Grandpa loves the ocean! |
 |
| We caught some creatures! |
 |
| This raft is lots of fun in the ocean! |
 |
| We had a casual dinner on the patio on this sunny evening |
 |
| Family photo |
 |
| It's extra fun when other kids are staying at Sky Ranch, too! |
 |
| Ice cream! |
 |
| We enjoyed a nice dinner for two at Blue Moon Fish Co. |
 |
| The 4 of us took a stroll along the pier to see what the fishermen were catching... |
 |
| Ice cream at the Pompano Fishing Pier |
 |
| Florida skies can really be so beautiful. |
 |
| We watch the dates of the turtle nests and when they are due to hatch, we walk down in the morning to see the hatchlings (the ones that don't quite make it out of the deep nest overnight are rescued in the morning!) |
 |
| Welcome baby turtle! Go go go! |
 |
| I attempted this annual photo of the kids on the beach - it was a challenge this time! |
 |
| Ready for fireworks! |
 |
| Sparklers on the 4th... |
 |
| The whole crew... |
 |
| We stopped for dinner at The Woods in Jupiter, FL - Tiger's restaurant! |
 |
| It was really delicious! |
 |
| Another beautiful sky as we drove...looked like a fire in the sky! |
 |
| I turned around to find Tyler traveling as an invisible ghost. |
 |
| S'mores with cousins in Lexington! |
 |
| Cousin photo |
 |
| Cassidy loved "girl time" with the cousins - a fun sleepover! |
