Florida part 3...An eventful day at the beach..

We decided it would be fun to swim in the Gulf of Mexico so we packed up picnic lunches and headed out for the 2 hour trip. Thankfully, the Lord prompted us to bring 2 vehicles. We decided at the last minute not to all cram into the 'bus' but to take Mimi and Pop-Pop's van as well. You'll see after reading below why this was such a blessing!

The girls were not happy to read this sign in the bathroom before we headed to the beach!! They had already read the sign about rattlesnakes on the way in to the park!! I have to admit, I was a bit apprehensive in the water too~

Mimi and Pop-Pop-what fun we have with them :)!!

Me and my man!!

The boys were convinced that they discovered rocks with remnants of the oil spill on them!

What a handsome crew :)!! I can't believe how much these boys have grown up!

Daddy with our 'yummy little boys'!!

You can't tell from this picture but there was a sandbar out pretty far which made the water really shallow once you swam out to it. The route out to it though was extremely rocky so we had to scoot on our bottoms until it was deep enough to swim...it was pretty funny to watch everyone negotiate ! The younger crew pretty much kept a monkey grip on one of us due to the sting ray poster!!

Another shot of the sandbar...you can see how far out it was~

All 8 of us after a swim in the Gulf of Mexico~

All 6 kids had fun making a very cool message out of tiny rocks/shells. I could not get a picture to capture it all ...this was just a small part of it~

All 10 of us :)

Capturing the moment :) Too bad the sun was in our eyes!

After our day at the beach,my mom and I had the girls in her van and we were following my hubby and the rest of the gang in the big van. A few times he pulled off the highway only to pull right back on. At the next exit, he put his flashers on and coasted to a gas station that just happened to be at the end of the ramp. The battery died so my Mom pulled her van up alongside, we jumped it and were on our way again...

This time alongside the highway where my mom was able to pull up on the grass next to our van and M once again jumped the battery. We made it one more exit where M lost all power including the steering...he was able to pull right into a parking spot in this truck stop.

A tired but thankful duo finally eating dinner at 9:30pm!

How grateful I was that I was not driving, that the Lord had us break down all 3 times in safe spots and the final time in a truck stop where we were out of harm's way. Also, we were on our way home and closer to our timeshare. Thankfully, we have friends in the area so we called them to get the name of a reputable garage to have the van towed to which is always a help to make sure you are not taken advantage of when you are out of town! We called AAA and our van was towed away. My hubby and Doyle rode with the very fast tow truck driver who we learned was quite the character!... 45 minutes or so later we arrived at the garage where we left the van. Then all 10 of us squished into Mom and Doyle's 8 seater for the 45 min trip back to our timeshare. Had we not brought their van, we would have been stranded! The van's alternator went causing the battery to fail. It was fixed by the next morning when M and I went to retrieve it. How thankful we are for the Lord's faithful provision for us...this could have happened in the middle of the night on our drive to Florida , I could have been driving when the steering and power went out, we could have all been squished into one van and stranded. The list could go on and on...suffice it to say: Great is His faithfulness!!

Florida: Part 2-Our Day in the Magic Kingdom...

We started out early to beat the crowds and managed to make it to the ticket window before there was a line. We showed them our certificates from the Volunteer program with identification and were issued free tickets for a day in the park :) Friends from home even gave us a free parking voucher....sweet!!!!

Some of the kiddos on the boat ride over to the Magic Kingdom~

Mimi had the great idea to choose buddies...I could not have planned it any better...it just so happened that all the buddies were wearing similar colors...even my hubby and I :)

One of the best things we did was spend $15 to rent this stroller. I was shocked at how lenient the WDW staff is regarding bringing in outside food and drink. We were stocked with waters, juices, and snacks to keep us going for most of the day. It was a HOT day so in spite of our preparation, we still needed to buy drinks and a quick meal later in the day~

So here I am ready to capture a Kodak moment in front of the famous castle and there was this crane in the way!!!! They did move it somehow but we were never in the right place to get another picture~

The 3D show was pretty amazing. It was fun to watch all the kids reaching out to catch the images that seemed to be jumping at them from the screen!

I was glad to see that our older boys did not outgrow the Teacups!

or Pooh!?!

Mimi and Pop-Pop treated the gang to some refreshing ice cream in the middle of the day~

The crowds were dense and it was sweet to see both sets of boys walking with their little brothers this way~

Sweet Surprise!!

After coming out of the Peter Pan Ride, C tells me that he saw our dear family friends, the C's...there they were taking a break sitting in the shade waiting for their friends~I still can't believe that we bumped into them in the midst of all those people-- we had no idea they were in Florida and had not seen them for over a year!!

Tuckered out.... some of the kiddos chose to 'fast pass' another ride while these 2 chose to take a break~

Scary, isn't he??

Scarier???

The castle at night :)

Mimi donning her lovely glow bracelet earrings while waiting for the fireworks to begin :)

I am so grateful the Lord made a way for us to make it to WDW... I truly never thought this would be a possibility due to the expense. Lavished yet again!!!