Florida, December -- 2007

Our family was recently able to enjoy a 12 day trip (including driving) to Leesberg located in the heart of Florida. We were able to stay at my Grandparents winter home which is located on a resort with all the amenities and more. It is a perfect spot to kick back and relax. We took a few small trips, but spent the majority of our time in the resort. We are thankful to God for giving us safety as we travelled many miles, for letting our van get us there and back (I was worried), for beautiful weather, for the many kind people we met, and for the wonderful opportunity to spend time together as a family in such a relaxed setting. We all had a great time and have wished ourselves back many times since arriving home. At least we have the memories!


We arrived in Florida on Friday afternoon (the 21st). We drove through most of the night, stopping for about an hour and a half. The kids did really well on the drive, and squabbling was kept to a minimum. We borrowed a portable DVD player which probably helped. Adventures in Odyssey was also a favorite.

We all enjoyed a few rounds of minigolf. Kade got a hole in one on his very first shot. (obviously not on the shot pictured:) His abilities rapidly declined after that.

The kids loved the water, and swam every day. We spent almost every afternoon at the pool. It didn't take Kevin long to graduate from his lifejacket. He wished I would have taken a picture of him without his lifejacket, but I only brought the camera to the pool the first day. Kade wore waterwings and was probably the one who spent the most time in the water. Kylie also enjoyed the water for short times. (the pool was heated which helped).

Below is some of the wildlife we got to see. The pictures of the large alligator are not the clearest due to the fact that they are on extreme zoom. (somewhat comforting)!

We spent Christmas morning at Rogers Park/ Venetian Gardens in Leesburg. Rogers Park has a wonderful playground which we all had some fun on. It made for a great game of tag. We then walked through the gardens which are very scenic. We came back later in the week for another trip at night. It was decorated with thousands of Christmas lights, and was very NICE!

Some of Grandpa and Grandma's friends from church invited us for Christmas dinner with about 20 people, so we still got to enjoy the turkey, potatoes, stuffing, veggies, desserts, and much more. The people there are very gracious and very friendly. We really enjoyed chatting with them.

We took one day to visit the ocean. We had decided that we would like to see the Gulf side this time as we had already been to Daytona Beach the last time we went. It took us a lot of driving to find a beach. We found a lot of harbours, but this was the first beach with sand on it. The place was called Dunedin and led to Honeymoon Island. We did not swim because it was a pretty cool day, but we stopped for about an hour and a half and picked shells, and enjoyed the sunshine.

Grandpa and Grandma's neighbours in Florida took us out on the lake in their boat. The kids were very excited about that. He even let them each take a turn driving. Kevin did quite well aiming for where he was supposed to go. Kade preferred to go in a half circle one way, and then back in a half circle the other way. (he just liked turning the wheel)

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That brings me to the end of my first blog entry. Jonathan thought it would be a good idea for me to set one up. He's not so keen on all the time i've spent doing it. It's been a learning experience, but its been fun. I'm sure I'll get smarter and quicker:)