Rest of Winter Break

Today is the last day of the greatest winter break of all time. What made it so wonderful? Well, first of all, Thomas, the kids and I were all off of work/school for an astounding 17 days in a row! It was amazing and it felt like it lasted forever (but in a good way!). That is probably because it was almost like it was split into 3 parts. The first was Christmas. The second was the visit from the Wills and the third was the final week.

The Wills left on New Year's Eve. I had a cold and took some Dayquil and was out by 9:30. Thomas and Kara were the only ones who stayed up to watch the ball drop. We had sent them to bed, but Jack and Kara were still awake when I went to bed. Thomas went up and Kara revealed their plan was for all the kids to come to her room at midnight for her to drop a ball from the top of her bunkbed. Thomas offered to let them come downstairs. Jack said he wasn't going to make it until midnight, but Kara took him up the offer. They played cards and passed the time until midnight.

My sister and her family came up on New Years Day. They had received a new game for Christmas--Unstable Unicorns and taught us to play. It was a lot of fun and we had a good visit.

On the 2nd, we went to Planet Obstacle in Lake Mary. We met up with my friend Holly, whom I've known since I was a teenager and her two younger kids (5 & 8). Planet Obstacle claims to be the "world's largest indoor obstacle course." Thomas and the kids all played and Holly and I chatted and took pictures. There was a rock climbing wall, ninja warrior course, trampolines, a ropes course and a zipline. The kids loved it! We had a hard time getting them out of there. But, after about 3 hours people were hungry. We went to lunch at Steak and Shake.

Luke, Kara, and Thomas all rang the bell (on different levels)

Jack on the ropes course

And Kara and Thomas. Luke did it too (a lower level)

the zipline. All the kids loved this!

This thing was entertaining. You have to try and hold on until you reach the top and then slide down. We only saw a couple of kids reach the top--but both Kara and Luke did. So funny!

On Friday, Marta and Elizabeth came up to visit. Unfortunately, Elizabeth had to head back to the island to continue vet school on Sunday, so it was our last visit with her. We had lunch and hung out, then went to the Florida Mall for a bit. I wanted to go to Hallmark and Bath and Body Works. The mall didn't have a Hallmark (crazy, right!?!?!) and the line for Bath and Body Works was insane. But, we did get some Rocky Mountain Chocolate and new Crocs, so it wasn't a total bust. We went to Menchi's (frozen yogurt place), played some games and had Chinese food for dinner. Another nice day!

Saturday and Sunday, we hung around at home, watched movies and took down our Christmas stuff. Even though there have been a few chilly days, Anna and Kara have still been testing out Anna's new mermaid tale in the pool. Now, Kara is determined to save up to buy one for herself. Unfortunately, I haven't thought to get a picture.

Today was our last day of break. Thomas isn't feeling well, so I took the kids to the Orlando Science Center. We had lunch at Subway, saw the exhibits and watched a movie on their giant screen about the oceans. We had a really good time.

Hurricane simulator--up to 78.8mph

Got to love a giant marble run

It is going to be so hard to go back to work tomorrow. After 17 days of sleeping in and doing whatever we want, no one is going to want to get up and resume our dull routine. At least the weather is good, while I generally appreciate the slower pace of January, I am so tired of the cold once Christmas is over.