On The Road Again - "Our" Business Trip

 Sometimes...Daddy has to go on business trips.  (Though - thankfully - it is not very often.)


And sometimes...we get to go with him!

Three weeks and one day after we arrived home from our cross-country road trip, we hit the road again.  But this trip was only about 4.5 hours long.  (We all laughed at how this used to be a "long" trip to us...but no longer!)

We have been to Orlando with daddy several times before, so the children knew exactly what they wanted to do while we were there: Downtown Disney (which is FREE), IKEA, Target...and - of course - swim as much as possible!  When the children were younger, we stayed at the hotel all day, and only ventured out after daddy was done and could go with us.  But now that I have so many good, big helpers, the world Orlando is our oyster!


While daddy was in meetings learning about all sorts of really important bank stuff...


...we headed to Downtown Disney.  First stop (where else?): The Lego Store!

Whenever you see pics without G and A it is because I had them corralled in the Ergo (A)  and stroller (G) - my strategy for how to manage 6 children by myself.

 We had fun eating at the T-Rex restaurant.

Well, I say "we had fun"...but G did have to keep an eye on the dinosaurs....

...who put on a "show" every 20 minutes, complete with movements and loud roaring and thunder noises. 

This year Daddy's conference was at a hotel we'd never stayed at before, but we checked it out online ahead of time and thought it sounded neat.  

We enjoyed the zero-entry "Family" Pool...

G was in HEAVEN with this "bassetball" goal!

With his -5% body fat, N was a little chilly

I have to include both of these...

...because D is just slap crazy!

...and the slide...

I just barely caught E in this pic

But I do believe the children's favorite attraction was the Lazy River!

Because D can't do anything normal...or easy.

  

Noah kept accidentally calling it the Lazy Susan...it was so cute!

Abigail and I went around the Lazy River one time together...but never again....because.... 

 ....random "cannons" and squirters shot you as you went around, and I'd spent too long on her hair before we left home to have it ruined.  Her whole-head protective style was supposed to last quite a few days (at least 5) and it wouldn't have if it had gotten soaked!

Thankfully, Daddy got to come down and swim with us after his classes one night.

 This was Abigail's first time in a swimming pool...

...and she liked it!

Gratuitous picture of the back of her sweet little head.

You may not can tell it, but Abby-girl is quite healthy.  At nine-months old, this is the first bathing suit she's ever worn...

...and it's a 4T.

LOVE this pic!  She is napping right now, but this pic makes me want to go give her a big hug!

The straps are rigged together in the back to make their length correct, but the suit is none too big!

She didn't get in the water very much (the pool was cold!), but she liked splashing around a bit.

Everything is just so much more fun when Daddy is around!

We also really enjoyed the hot tub:

I'm including this because of G.  No, he wasn't hurt...just being crazy.

 I wouldn't step foot in the cold pool...but all of us LOVED the hot tub!

 

She is so beautiful it takes my breath away.

The two youngest didn't sleep well on the trip.  At all.  A had the pack-n-play (which she sleeps in fulltime at home now) but wasn't content at all.  (We realized this morning that she has two more teeth (#7 and #8) peeking through, so this may have contributed).  And G was so wound up with all the fun of a big slumber party (WOOHOO!) and had trouble going to sleep every night.  Jas and I shared our queen with at least one (and sometimes two) cuties for at least part of every night.

I'm going to close with our requisite Pool-Side Line-Up Pic:

April 2015 - E(11), A(9mos), D(10), LK(9), N(11), G(3)...I apparently need a wide-angle lens

The last time we came was two years ago, and it was a (much appreciated) mini-vacation right in the middle of the house remodeling:

April 2013: LK(7), D(8), N(9), E(9), G(14mos)

And the time before that was five (!) years ago, when LK had only been home about 3 months:

May 2010: E(6), N(6), D(5), LK(4)

I got to go on this trip with Jas back in 2007, just a few weeks before we went to bring Daniel home (E and N stayed with my mom).  

And then the first time I remember us getting to go with Jas, there were three kiddos: E was 5, N was 4 and D was 3...and I don't have any pictures to show because I think I just concentrated on keeping us all safe!

I love doing posts like this and looking back at old pics and posts because...

1.  Superficially, it is such a sweet blessing from the Lord that we get to take trips like this!

...and more importantly..

2.  Seeing the way He has changed and grown our family.  It blows my mind...and I want to cry in amazement and thankfulness!