Spring Break--Part Two

For the second part of Spring Break we went to Florida to go visit Jason's parents who live in Keystone Heights (approx. 20 minutes outside of Gainesville). We left on Thursday afternoon and arrived around 10 pm. The kids were so excited--they love to visit with their Nana and Papa! If you factor in the cats, dog, and swimming pool it is truly heaven to them. Thank goodness Jason doesn't mind driving because I get tired just driving a couple of hours on the road and it takes us usually about 6 1/2 hours to make the trip if the traffic isn't too bad. The only downside to Jason driving is that once he is on the road he doesn't like to stop. Heaven forbid someone has to go to the bathroom! We typically stop at the Chick-Fil-A in Tifton, GA long enough to go through the drive-through and then we are back on the road again. The kids usually do pretty good with the drive. I rented The Water Horse and Alvin and the Chipmunks for the kids to watch--two more movies that I can add to my list of "never have seen, but have heard at least once if not 10 times movies". We arrived at their house late Thursday night so we just visited for a little while and then went to bed. Friday, was a nice relaxing day. Jason's mom spoils us and gets up early in the morning with the kids and lets us sleep in. Tyler is always the first up and usually tries to get one of the other kids to go downstairs with him. His internal clock doesn't let him ever sleep much past 7:00 in the morning no matter what time he goes to bed. Chase, who used to be an early riser, is finally starting to sleep a little longer (if he can ignore Tyler's attempts to wake him). Megan usually wakes up fairly early and is the first to go on the never-ending hunt for the cats. There are 4 cats at Chip and Joyce's house who probably tremble in fear when we come to visit. Our kids would love to have any kind of pet at this point, so when we visit anyone who has a pet (especially a dog or cat) you can't keep them (mostly Megan and Tyler at this point) away. Megan hasn't quite learned how to be near the animals without being all over them. The poor things would be smothered if they ever stayed out in plain sight long enough. Their dog, Sam, is pretty good with all of the attention however. Well, the kids really had their hearts set on going swimming, but we weren't sure if the pool was going to be warm enough. Evidently, it was warm enough for the kids to go swimming in, but not quite warm enough to entice any of the adults to go in. The kids couldn't wait to get in and they really had a blast! It is so nice to have the swimming pool right there and the kids really get a work out. They are usually exhausted at the end of the day which is great.














Joyce made her wonderful spaghetti with homemade sauce (a family favorite) for dinner and we enjoyed just sitting around and talking. Saturday, the Gator clan was all revved up for the Orange and Blue spring football game. I'm not sure who is the biggest Gator fan in the family, but anything having to do with Gator football is a big event. Jason has been grooming Chase and Tyler for Gator football since birth. Chase has gotten the Gator fever, but Tyler still hasn't quite learned the game of football yet. He likes to sport his Gator colors though and will cheer them on. Everyone in our family knows the Gator fight song and all of the Gator cheers. Jason is so proud when Megan breaks out into "orange and blue let's go, Gators"! The spring game was pretty crowded. Fortunately, they were able to find some seats in the shade and had a good time seeing how the team is shaping up for the fall season. Megan and I didn't go to the game. Instead, we went to a few stores, had some lunch, and then washed the car. When we got back to the house, the kids went swimming again and then went to bed. We packed late Sunday morning and hit the road for home that afternoon. Everyone had a great time at Nana and Papa's and look forward to visiting again soon. Unfortunately, the interstate was packed on the way back up to Georgia. We were stop and go a good part of the way because of all of the "Spring Break" traffic. We got home much later than we had planned so we went right to bed. What a great Spring Break we had this year!