To Vaca or StayCa?

Though I know I would benefit hugely from taking 2 weeks off from work and taking some sort of vacation this summer we still aren't sure what we are doing. Mike is off for the summer from his job as a teacher, so it's just me that needs to take the time off.

Last year we made our way by car to both my dads' area in Michigan where we stayed at a cottage on a lake near to his home (where the photo of Jamie at the lake was taken above) and then proceeded to Mike's mom and brothers in North Carolina. (With a stop at a Presidential monument or two in between to satisfy my history buff husband).

It was very enjoyable, but also a very long and exhausting drive not to mention expensive. And my management team allowed me to take over 2 consecutive weeks off in a row last year, but probably won't allow it again.

So... what to do, what to do...

We would love to go to Maine and stay somewhere on the coast. But again, hugely expensive and very time consuming to drive that far. (Flying isn't an option for us as we 'need' too much stuff.)

So I started thinking about Florida, and maybe just Daytona which isn't too far, and also offers huge values in places to stay. But investigating the great rates I wandered over to a resort with a water play area including a Lazy River, (Just how long is 300 feet anyway?) and got my heart set on a week there for over $1000 - which isn't hugely expensive but not the value I started looking into. Some of the 'Value' places there are basically renovated motels that have been changed into 'Mini Suites' and rent for $500/week or so..(VRBO.com)


And then there is the Water Park. We bought 7 day Magic Your Way Disney tickets for ourselves and upgraded to the Water park option as well as the no Expire option. What that means is we have 7 additional days in the Water parks, but we have to use them before we use up the last "Big Park" day.

So we hope to use some of those days this summer somehow. I definitely don't want to go to the "Big" Disney parks during the hot Florida Summer. I just don't do the hot summers outside here in Florida unless I am wet from the pool or water of some sort. Yup that means I really don't wish to go to picnics or barbeques or any sort of outside event in the middle of the day in summer unless there is water of some sort to immerse myself in.

So Daytona would work, maybe go there for a few days, then to Orlando for a few days, then back home to rest.

That's what I am thinking..

But just how fast will that oil migrate?

My heart hurts.

And not just because it may inconvenience our family's travel plans...

This will probably devastate the economy in the Southeastern part of our country for a good long time.

My Sweet Girl

Jamie sure loves dance and her friends. The top photo is Jamie and Chayse right before the dress rehearsal. I just love this shot. She really loves to dance. Notice how she throws her throat back? I really think she may be a natural.

And there she is with her bestie Emmie (Or one of her besties) in the church parking lot. And the one with me was at the Mothers Day tea at her school. She took a bunch of photos of teh kids in her class and they really came out pretty good. Maybe I will create a slide show of them another night.

But now my clean sheets are calling. Nite!

My Little Dancer

Jamie did fabulous in her first real recital. They didn't allow photos during the actual event, in fact I got in trouble for taking the photos of the girls in the dressing room. THe ones on the big stage were during the rehearsal that morning, in which Jamie joked around and made noises and poked the other girls. She was perfect for the actual performance though. We ordered the dvd and haven't gotten it yet.

The other photos were at her daycare where they performed as part of their 'program' for graduating from preVPK. It gave them the chance to run through it the day before the big day, Mike and I were both able to be there as well as my mom.

Mike's folks didnt end up coming so it was just a few friends afterwards for cake and food at our house by the pool.

Oh she was an elephant, they were elephants all in a line, dancing, dancing (Such a cute song, but I can't find it anywhere)