On our way to Disney!!!

Every year the family loads up the car and hits the road to some awesome location. Chase’s birthday is next week so what better way to celebrate than a trip to the most magical place on earth. We’ve been planning this trip for quite some time and the day has finally come!

This morning we got up “early” and headed out. First stop was to get some zombie bisuits* and snacks. I mean you can’t have a road trip w/o proper snackage. So that’s where we’re at. We are on the road, I’m blogging from my new iPad, thanks to my amazing wife! Stay tuned for more updates,

20110610-093037.jpg

Update:
We are making good time and are about to cross the state line. After a lil’ pitstop for some food we are back on the road. Just a few more hours and we’ll be there!

Oh, and Jess decided to give us all a little Mariah to kick the second leg of the trip off.

Update 2:
So, this is the second time I’ve typed this update so it probably won’t have the same effect as it did the first time. Yay for WordPress on the iPad crashing when i was saving my post.

Anyway, so we finally made it to our hotel and it was pretty much perfect. When I think of family vacations, this place is what I think of. We got all settled in then hit up the Publix for some food to snack on and eat throughout the week. Once we were all unpacked we headed on down to Downtown Disney. I made us some reservations at Rainforest Cafe, which leaves much to be desired for the adults and we were all set. We explored around for a bit then had dinner. Chase really enjoyed the place and had fun during the “storms”. After dinner we were all ready to head back to the room and get rested up for the adventure that would be Universal Studios tomorrow!

This trip has already proven to be thoe best one I have ever been on. At dinner I had the realization that in the past few months I have gotten a promotion at work, gotten married, gotten my wife pregnant, and taken my family on a Disney vacation! This, to me, is what it’s like to be a father. I am able to provide for my family and give them the things that make them happy. My son and wife make me so happy and fulfilled in life.

If today was any indication as to the rest of this trip, I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Road Trip – NC (Day 2)

Day 2 of NC was a perfect way to wrap up our family road trip!  The boys and I, along with the Bateman’s, headed off to play in the Atlantic for a few hours! After a quick stop at the “Shark Store” for a boogie board, a kite, and sand toys, we arrived at the beautiful beach! As a child, my family typically went to the Gulf for our vacations and the beaches there are gawgeous! I have to admit I was surprised to see how nice the Atlantic was how big and beautiful the waves were. Perfect for boogie boarding and body surfing. 🙂 Chase had the best time playing in the waves. I was a nervous wreck as usual…thinking he was going out too far…worried about the under toe…etc., but everybody had a safe, fun time. We wrapped up the day with some fresh seafood and a great dinner. By the end of the day we were full, tired, sunburned, and happy. We had such an amazing time on our trip, but we all agreed we were ready to be home. One final night in NC and we were heading home to sweet ol’ Georgia. The ride home was nice and quiet for the most part. Chase amazed me as a road tripper and really was an awesome car rider. As we crossed into the Georgia state line we found a Randy Travis station on Pandora that brought me right back to road trips I’ve taken in my life and the trips  I took as a child in my dad’s ‘big truck’. As we listened and sang along I laughed and cried and smiled and shared stories and memories that the old country songs brought back to me. I felt lucky to have had the ‘abnormal childhood’ that I often joke about and to have such great memories connected to song…and even more lucky that my son will have his own road trip stories to tell now. This trip was my favorite part of my summer vacation…and little did I know it would soon be tied with another favorite part of the summer…just a few weeks later…

The Pics:
[flickr-gallery mode=”photoset” photoset=”72157624444793464″]

Road Trip – NC (Day 1)

I am an avid list maker…which inspired to me to change it up a bit make a list of all the fabulous things we did on our first day in NC.

  • Survived horrible traffic on 95South, but made it to the Camp Lejeune Inn. Nice and economical!
  • Visited the “mall” on base for last minute must haves.
  • Had a cookout at the Bateman’s!
  • Watched the kids play in the water all day!
  • Listened to Marines talk about things and acronyms I pretended to understand.
  • Watched Marines grill meat!
  • Met new friends. 🙂
  • Drank beer and ate delicious food!
  • Fashioned a homemade fly trap!
  • Ate MORE delicious food. (Hey..it’s vacation!?)
  • Played RockBand
  • Watched three kids wrestle and tackle a Marine for about an hour.
  • Sat with friends and family to watch one of the best fireworks shows ever!
  • Celebrated the fourth with my two loves, and awesome friends we don’t see enough.
  • Prepared for day 2! BEACH DAY!!

The Pics:
[flickr-gallery mode=”photoset” photoset=”72157624320160317″]

Road Trip – Philly

Pool time!

Despite a bit of construction traffic we arrived in Philly a little after lunch time on Wednesday. Everyone was awaiting our arrival and it felt so good to be there! I love the constant flow of visitors and family through the house and MAN did we eat! The first night my Grandmom made us the most delicious meal: Ham, beans, potatoes, rolls. It was so nice to take a break from eating out or grabbing fast food on the road. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and learning how to play pinochle. It’s a family tradition and SniperBen fell into place so perfectly. Everyone seemed to love him and he even got in some guy time with one of my uncles!
Continue reading “Road Trip – Philly”

Road Trip – DC

Start of a road trip
Sunrise on the start of the road trip

Every summer needs a summer vacation. This year our summer vacation was an epic road trip. Since Jess has family in Philly and I have some friends in NC that we hadn’t seen in a while, we figured it would be the perfect time to see them both all while visiting our nation’s capitol, especially since Jess and Chase had never been there and the last time I was there was when I was a kid.

As with every great road trip we planned it all out, got all our ducks in a row and headed out early. Our first stop was DC, approximately 10 hours away. The trip was a lot of fun. We played the usual car games of I Spy and how many different state license plates can we find (nearly 40 during the entire trip) and did some singing and all that. We made great time and arrived just in time for dinner. I had scoped out places to eat prior to getting there so we wouldn’t have to spend our time looking. First up was Matchbox DC – Vintage Pizza Bistro. The food and atmosphere were great!
Continue reading “Road Trip – DC”