And we're off!

At 2 a.m. this morning we loaded up a rented 15 passenger van with my family and my friend Southern Blessings' family. Unfortunately, Hubby was unable to go due to commitments at work, but at least he will enjoy a week of peace and quiet at home!

We are in Orlando, and will return home next Sunday. We have rented a vacation home and will spend the week at Disney World and Sea World.

The total drive from the North Carolina/South Carolina state line to Orlando is about eight or nine hours. Eight hours with four kids in one vehicle is not what I would call a fun time, so we left in the middle of the night in the hopes that the kids would sleep. For the most part it worked. My 5-year-old and Nancy's 14-month slept most of the way.

We made a pit stop in Jacksonville, Fla. so the kids would have the opportunity to see the ocean. Adam, 5, just loved it! This was his first look at the ocean and he wasn't intimidated at all.

He immediately pulled off his shoes and socks and ran into the cold ocean water. Before I realized what was happening, a wave had knocked him down. Since he was already soaked by that time, I let him continue playing. Again and again the tide would come in on choppy waters and knock him off balance. He would get up grinning.

The older boys had fun wading in the water and play fighting.

The kids had a ball, but we only stayed for about 20 minutes or so because a sudden, heavy storm came up. By the time we made it back to the van, we were all soaked! Most of us at least had dry shirts under our jackets, but Adam was soaked through. I had no choice but to strip him down to his underwear and let him ride like that until we were able to make a rain-free pit stop so he could put dry clothes on. As you can see, he wasn't fazed.


When we got to Orlando, we went straight to the Epcot Center. We only stayed for about three hours, but Adam got to see several Nemo attractions and did some hands-on activities.

Because we ended up leaving a day earlier than planned, we left Disney to check into a hotel at about 4 p.m. We will rest for a couple of hours before returning to Epcot for more Disney fun!

We will stay at the hotel for only one night before moving into the vacation home. We are all dog-tired, but happy.