Gearing up for our trip.

So we leave for Florida in 4 days. I'm off Fri and Sat, but I'm going to work Sunday night since I don't have enough PTO built up for the whole trip. Then we're leaving Monday after I get up.  We don't have room in our vehicle for the five of us plus my mother in law.  We've always had a minivan in the past and she's come with us, but now we just have the Explorer.  So, she's taking her own car, and asked if one of the older girls wanted to travel with her. Rhiannon jumped at the chance, so she wouldn't be squished in the back seat with her sisters for 12 hours.  My MIL was going to pick her up Saturday and they were going to drive down Sunday.

Today however, MIL called and said since she's going to be in FL in time for the Webster flea market she really wants to go, and if Rhiannon wanted to go and make some spending money then she'd come pick her up today so she could do some odd jobs around her grandparents' house for cash. So, she's already gone there, and took my camera with her since she's taking photos of the artwork she's done so she has digital copies. (Wish we had a scanner).

So, I can't take pics of the new master bedroom/office.  I even vacuumed!  I am really thankful though that we'll have a nice clean uncluttered oasis to come home to after the long trip.  This weekend since Christopher is off work, we're going to get as much house cleaning done as we can. I want to come home to a clean house.

Actually coming home to a clean house will be dependent on my oldest daughter Corina. She and her fiancee are supposed to come over here once a day while we're gone to let the dogs out and feed and water all the animals. I'll have to put a big note somewhere to remind her to take care of Gerald the Guinea Pig.  She wants to buy the pickup truck off of us, and I've offered to take $50 off the price if she cleans up any piles the animals make and clean up after herself and make sure the counters get wiped down etc.  I'm paranoid I'm going to come home to an insect swarm.  I'm fighting those damn fruit flies daily and the army of ants is ridiculous.  I wish I could just call Orkin and have them come get rid of everything, but there's just no room in the budget yet.

Anyway, on this trip, we're mainly going to spend time with my husband's grandparents. They helped raise him after his folks got divorced. They retired and moved from Michigan to FL not long after my husband's mom got remarried and moved here to Tennessee. They used to drive up and see us a few times a year in their motorhome.  It was always so much fund going to the Davy Crockett campground and spending time with them there.  Eventually they stopped being able to drive up here to see us at all, even in their car.  Grandpa has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's as well as a bad heart condition, and Grandma is very frail with several ailments. So, now we drive down to see them.  I wish we were better off financially so these trips weren't so few and far between and that we could do more fun things while we visit.  They are only 90 minutes from Orlando. It's one of the things I dream about, being able to go visit and also have a real vacation... maybe by this time next year.  Just got to get out from under the debt cloud. Working on it!!

I do have a few things planned.  I found a beach on the Gulf Coast an hour west of them. It's a public park with a snack bar that play music onto the beach, and there's nice showers, and tons of sandy beach - well ok not like Myrtle Beach or anything, but for the Gulf coast where it's mostly swamp, it's not bad. There's a little homemade video someone had taken of it. I don't normally like getting into ocean water, but when you're in Florida in late June... it'll feel good. At least we're used to going to our local lake (well it's an hour away from us) so we have stuff already in bags that we normally take like floaties, sunblock, hats etc. I even splurged and got myself a new straw beach hat for the trip.  It'll be great at the lake and the park for the 4th of July too.

So, anyway, we'll be leaving Monday and get in late Monday/early Tuesday.  Then Tuesday we'll visit with them and just hang out.  Wednesday we'll go to the beach. Thursday we'll visit some more and have Zoe's birthday party. Her birthday is the 7th, but since we'll be with a lot of family there, we'll have a party with them. We know we want to get her a DSi and would love to have it for the party there so she can play it on the trip back home. But we can't afford it yet.  We get paid while we're down there by direct deposit, so we'll have to find a store there that carries what we want and not cost an arm and a leg.  I also have no idea what kind of birthday cake I'll be able to get her.  They have such weird dietary strictures.  Maybe we'll get two cakes heh.  Do they make sugarfree cake? I hope they're not also gluten free.  I don't think that's come up yet. I gotta say if I'm that old and in that sort of health, I'm going to damn well eat birthday cake.

So, then Friday, we're heading back. I know it's a short trip, but we really want to be back in time for the 4th of July celebration in my hometown which they're doing on the 2nd this year. The Band Perry is from my town where I live now actually, and my original hometown managed to get them to agree to play for the 4th Celebration but they were only free on the 2nd, so that when they're doing it. Works for me.  I'm off work, and my husband managed to get it off with the vacation too.  We both go back to work Sunday. So no real time to rest AFTER the vacation which isn't too great.  Vacations seems to wear us out. Hopefully the one we take in October for our 20th wedding anniversary will be more relaxing.