Back from Vacation!

These are all seashells on the beach as the tide went out, it was really cool!

Love this picture of us...you can see Rachel and Clay holding the camera in the reflection of his glasses! I also like that I am behind him and I look smaller! LOL The closest anyone will see of my bathing suit!

Wheh! So glad to be home! This apartment never looked better than when we walked in the door from driving for 2 days! I had a blast, and am so glad we went. I just don't sleep well away from home especially in a queen bed when we are used to our huge king bed (I like lots of space when I sleep!) and then a night in a double bed with Noah....he is a horrible sleeper and literally was knocking me out in his sleep!! Rachel was in the bed with Clay, and he said she was just as bad! Leah is the good sleeper, and she was in the floor! On the way home we stayed in a town, don't even know the name, at a brand new Comfort Inn and Suites, and I said, "I must have a king size bed!!" Then I also asked the lady if the room had a bathtub and she looked at me like I was stupid, but the other 2 hotels we were in were handicap rooms with showers, not an easy task with small children!!! There was a fold out couch for the kids, and it was the best night I slept the whole trip!

So, our original plan had been to go to San Antonio, but we realized it was going to be cold and rainy, so changed plans at the last minute and went to Orlando. Now, we are very spur of the moment people, and it wasn't until Thursday morning that we decided to switch locations, and then Clay said, lets just leave tonight at bedtime so the kids will sleep in the car, so we did! Now, switching to Orlando, also meant we would be going to the beach as well, and more days, so I was frantically packing and washing clothes, as Clay was planning the drive on the computer....(which ironically seemed to take just about the time it took me to pack.....Hmmmmm) He did thankfully clean the kitchen before we left so we wouldn't be greeted with a stench when we got home!

So we droved all night, and watched the sun rise as we drove into Atlanta....with over 7 lanes of traffic going one way, it was WILD! A couple of hours after that, Clay was exhausted, so we pulled into a cheap $30 hotel, took a shower and a quick nap, then headed on to Cocoa Beach, FL. We thought we would never get there! By then it was dark, so we didn't get to see the beach until the next morning. I have only seen the real ocean (we've been to the gulf a few times) once, and Clay never, so this was a real treat!! Like a dummy, I sunburned the first day, so that added to the nonsleep factor. We spent 2 days on the beach then drove about an hour to Orlando go to Sea World. That was so much fun, the next day we just packed up and went back to Orlando to go to Sea World again.

The sand there was much darker than the sand on the Gulf, and Noah wollered all in it and looked like he had been playing in the mud! Rachel was my little photo model when we were on the beach, it was hard to get the other 2 to smile. The picture of The Draper's in the sand is the extent of our family photo session on the beach. We got down there ready to do it, as we do every year, and nobody would cooperate, and I just gave up! Then by the next day my sunburn had showed up, and I had begun to swell....(I always swell when I travel, by the time I got home, I had gained 15lbs!!! Luckily it has all come back off now, but I was miserable!) so I did not want my picture taken!

I am really glad we went! We thought that this time of year would be after Spring Break and before Summer, but there were a bunch of people everywhere, even after the Easter weekend was over.

So, I have written so much, I will do a new post later about Sea World. It was my dream, so it deserves a post all in itself!!