When Tia and I first decided on dates for our Disney trip, we were not planning to fly to Florida until the day after Thanksgiving. I discussed the issue we had with airline tickets in this post, which caused a change in the length of our trip and what days we'd be in Florida. It also meant we'd be in Florida on Thanksgiving Day!
While this would certainly be different for Chris and me, we weren't concerned with what we'd do on the holiday. We figured that we could find a place to eat and spend the day relaxing in our hotel room if nothing else. However, Tia's brother Terrance and his family live in Florida just about an hour from Orlando. We've known Terrance and his family for over a decade, and when Tia told him that we all planned to be in Florida for Thanksgiving, he and Shenia graciously invited us to spend the holiday at their house. Tia first mentioned this to me back in the summer, but I wasn't too sure. I mean, we are a family of six, and I didn't want to intrude on someone else's holiday with all my loud and wild kids. On the other hand, enjoying the holiday with a family we dearly love and not alone at our resort sounded really nice. So we accepted the invitation and told them we'd plan on it!
Just as a quick side note: We saw Terrance and Shenia this past September when we attended the Midwest Lectures in Independence, Missouri. It was really nice to visit with them and spend a little bit of time together. As we were leaving to head home, Terrance was walking across the parking lot. We stopped to say good-bye to him and chat for a few minutes. Just as we were getting ready to drive off, he said, "We'll see y'all in November!" At the time, our kiddos (who were in the van with us) had no idea about any plans regarding Florida. Of course, Brianna immediately asked, "What did he mean by that? Why will we see him in November?" I always try to be careful to never lie to my kids, so I just said, "Oh you know, with the holidays and people travelling to see family and everything, you never know who you might see." Thankfully, that answer satisfied her. A few months later, when we revealed the surprise about our Florida trip to the kids, we mentioned that we'd be attending church services where Terrance preaches. Brianna remembered that conversation in the parking lot at the Midwest Lectures, and put it all together! She screamed, "Now I know what Mr. Terrance really meant when he said, 'We'll see y'all in November!' " It was a pretty funny moment!
Now, back to Thanksgiving Day in Florida! We had been up later than usual the night before since the S family had joined us in our suite for bible study, so we let the kids sleep in that morning. Of course, the second Brooke woke up, she started looking for evidence that the tooth fairy had, indeed, found her in Florida (she had been quite concerned about this!). The tooth fairy pays well for the very first tooth, and Brooke was so pleased that she left her FIVE whole dollars!
After we got around and ready for the day, we headed toward Terrance and Shenia's house in Lakeland. The kids all wanted to bundle up, but I reminded them we are in Florida and the weather will be warm. It felt strange to wear shorts and sleeveless shirts on Thanksgiving!
We arrived at the Dindy's house around 11:00am, greeted everyone, and the kids immediately went outside to play. Tia asked me if I had lathered the kids in sunscreen, and as a total mom fail I hadn't even thought about it. She and I then made our first run to Walgreens down the street to buy sunscreen.
Gabriel, Brenson, Brianna, and Brooke playing ball in the Dindy's backyard.
Gabriel, Brenson, Brianna, and Caroline
Tia and I had no sooner returned to the house with the sunscreen when we turned right around and went back to Walgreens for drinks. Then, we helped a bit in the kitchen, watched kids, answered the door, and visited with other guests. She had warned me that there would probably be several guests there besides us, and she was right. The Stephanus family of four from Georgia, a preacher student from the local school, two widowed sisters from the local congregation, and a couple of Little T's friends were all there in addition to five Dindys, four Swearingens, and six Nelsons. Later in the afternoon, Little T's girlfriend, another one of Little T's friends, and a family from the local congregation stopped by to visit. It was easy to see that people were comfortable dropping in, and that the Dindys enjoyed being hospitable.
With the amount of food they had, it was a good thing there were so many people there to eat it! Terrance had smoked a couple turkeys, and they were absolutely delicious!
Chris visiting with the preacher student after lunch
After lunch, Tia and I had to make one more Walgreens run for meds for Sadie's upset tummy. The guy at the cash register was pretty entertained by us, and reminded us as we left that they were closing early that evening :-).
Gabriel has always been a favorite with my girls. I'm not sure how thrilled he was to have little girls hanging on him, however :-).
Brooke and Gabriel
The Dindys set up a few tables in their entryway, in addition to the dining room table. After lunch, the kids enjoyed playing a few games.
Sadie, Tre, Caroline, Bren, and Brecklyn
Sadie and Brooke made themselves comfortable on Little T.
The girls were kind of all over him until his girlfriend arrived to spend the afternoon, haha!
Sadie loved being with her cousins!
After lunch, we spend the afternoon visiting, playing outside, dozing off, watching football, etc.
Brecklyn had my phone, so most of these photos are ones that she took. Including this goofy one of me!
Bren and Tre had a fantastic time together, even when the twins tried to ruin their fun :-).
Brianna is always drawn to the little ones, so she enjoyed Miss Avery on her lap.
Caroline and I got some good cuddles in until she almost fell asleep. Then she was done with that!
Around 5:00pm, we left to head back to our resort. As soon as we got on the road, the kids told us they were hungry. Chris and I couldn't see how that was possible, but we stopped by McDonald's and got them food to take back to our suite and eat. We were able to eat, relax, and go to bed fairly early. It had been a lovely day, and we were so grateful to the Dindys for opening their home to us!
I love it when a plan works out just the way you want it to! After a beautiful drive to the west coast of Florida, we arrived at St. Pete Beach just before 10:00am. This was even after we made a 30 minute stop at Wal-mart looking for beach towels and toys (no luck!). We purchased some regular towels, and it didn't end up mattering to anyone about the beach toys . . . the kids had an absolute blast in the water and sand without anything extra!
The kids had a BLAST in the water. The beach stayed very shallow for a long way out into the water, and it was just perfect for novice beach goers. Time seemed to just fly by because we were having so much fun! And, as you can easily see in the photos, there were very few other people there with us!
Chris and Bren took quick showers and almost immediately left to meet Ross in our parking lot to drive back to Tampa (which we drove through on the way to and from the beach). Gabriel is a five star football recruit and was playing in Tampa that evening. The guys didn't want to miss the opportunity to see him play!
Meanwhile, back in Orlando, Tia brought her girls over to our suite to play for the evening. We ordered pizza and had a relaxing time. Or something, haha!
The weather was amazing, the water was gorgeous, and the sand was powder soft and white!
Watching the kids explore the water and sand was SO fun! They just stood there for a minute letting the water lap at their ankles, then they went in full steam ahead! This was their first experience at a warm sandy beach where they were able to get in the water.
Bren, Brooke, Brianna, and Brecklyn
Gorgeous sky, clear water, and happy kiddos!
I remembered the sunscreen this time :-)!
Since we had gotten there early, we pretty much had the place to ourselves for the first hour. It was incredible! As I was taking a photo of Chris with the kids, a lady who was out jogging asked if she could take a family photo for us and I was SO grateful! YES PLEASE!!!
The Nelson Family
St. Pete Beach, Florida
November 27, 2020
I knew with over a week left in Florida, I had to be really protective of my skin in the sun. I didn't want to be miserable with sun rash, so Chris rented a huge beach umbrella and chair for me. It was worth every penny! I could easily enjoy watching the kids explore and play and was fully protected from the sun at the same time.
Brianna, Brooke, Brecklyn, Brenson
I definitely didn't stay under the umbrella the whole time, though! Chris and I traded off being in the water with the kids, finding seashells, and playing in the sand. I even remembered to take photos of them individually!
Brooke
Brianna
Brenson
Brecklyn
Brianna, Brooke, Brecklyn, and Brenson
I always think that I'm not really a beach person, but then I go to a beach and remember how nice it is, haha!
We had packed snacks, but there was also a Chick-Fil-A within walking distance. Around noon, Chris placed a mobile order on his phone, then walked over to Chick-Fil-A to pick up food for us to eat on the beach. The kids all scarfed their food down so they could get back to the water. Unfortunately, after lunch the beach traffic (and nastiness) started to really pick up. Around 1:00pm, we packed up our little area and took a stroll down the beach.
We walked for a while, then decided to go souvenir shopping. The souvenir shops left a lot to be desired and everyone was pretty cranky by this point, so we finally purchased a few things and hit the road back toward Orlando. We ran into some bad traffic and were delayed over an hour, but finally made it back to our resort. When we got out of the van, I couldn't believe how much sand was on everything! Ahhhhh! We could've made our own beach in our suite with all that sand, lol!
Chris and Bren under the Friday night lights
Gabriel had a whole cheering section there to watch him, and Bren was soaking it allllll in!
The girls all played and colored nicely until fatigue from a big day started to wear on them.
They left about 9:00pm, and I put my crew to bed. The sun and sand earlier in the day had zapped my energy! It wasn't too long after 10:00pm that Chris and Bren got home from the game and crawled into bed, as well. We knew we needed our rest because we had our very first Disney park day planned for Saturday, and we wanted to get an early start!
No comments:
Post a Comment