Vacation Recap

We had an absolutely amazing time! What a gift! Here is a very quick rundown:

The kids were so well behaved during the super long drive.

Heading out - Indiana

Heading home - Florida

Here is our Ohio picture at our favorite park in Dayton...

Then we stopped to see my bestest and her new babe!

Followed by me being superhuman and driving the 12-4am shift.

Here is our Florida picture...

We found a park near the resort and felt like it was sooo hot at 74 degrees!

The resort was incredible. We had our own suite so we didn't have to all stuff into one room! That's always nice. And there were so many different pools and places to walk. We spent basically the whole week swimming! And the kids finally started making strides toward actually swimming.

First Day

Last Day

Kempton has always loved to swim!

In the middle of the week, Honeygram, Marie, and I went to Magic Kingdom! Worth every penny!

Meanwhile, the boys went to Gatorland which was much more interesting to them than Disney World would have been. Jack still talks about it.

The week flew by much too fast. We were so blessed to spend quality time with family in the sun. Does it get any better?

Here is our Georgia picture...

Here is what I'm calling our Kentucky picture (even though it was technically just inside Ohio)...

We never got a Tennessee picture even though we stopped to sleep there down and back.

Here is Marie's map she worked on on our way down.

She really seemed to understand what we were doing, and now she recognizes the word "Florida." She also has plans of going back to see the princesses "next week."

We didn't have a little bit of fun. We had a "BIG FUN!"

Last week we had a super busy week of spring cleaning, appointments, and playdates. This week we are back to real life! And I'm definitely ready for it.

Hope you all had a wonderful spring break and Easter!

Adding a little education to our vacation

We are heading to Florida! Woohoo! I'm not telling you this so you will be jealous, but I would understand if you are. I mean, I would be.

What's a road trip without some preschool and kindergarten level education involved??

Here are my ideas for the drive down to the sunshine state (and possibly back if they happen to... hopefully!... sleep through a state).

• Each noodle will be provided with a map of the United States that they are free to color (HERE and HERE are good sources).

• As we enter a new state, they will put a star sticker on that state.
• At some point we will stop and take a picture of the 3 kids in each state.
• For Marie (Kindergarten), I will have a page for each state (found HERE) along with a fact sheet I put together (Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, template). She will either draw or write the information from the fact sheet onto her coloring page. 

I also found a Scavenger Hunt page HERE if the littles are interested!

It's very simple stuff but an excellent way to help them realize what's going on as we drive. We'll see how it goes! I'll have an update when we return.

What are some ways you like to teach your kids while on a long drive?

((Check out THESE ideas, too!))