The "Every theme park BUT Disney (this time) Spring Break, family vacation, cheerleading competition tour!!! PTA" **Updated 5/24** COMPLETE About This Page:

[RobDVC]

You have a great itinerary laid out!

[nconover]

That sounds like a lot of fun! You may need that fun after the meet on Sunday. I hope you have a great trip! Congratulations to your daughter on all her accomplishments even with her disability! Amazing. Well have fun and tell us all about it when you get back. I enjoy ALL trip reports even if it isn't DISNEY.

[wayneava81]

Sounds fun! Hope your daughters team does well!

[mcc0313]

Have a wonderful trip....and everyone will be cheering for your daughter's team

[B.M.]

Wow, you will be very busy on your vacation! You must be so proud of your daughter, it sounds like she has overcame a lot! I hope that your son and daughter get some closure from meeting their father-my prayers will be with you that all goes well and that this is a positive meeting! I hope yall have a great time and I can't wait to hear all about it!

[Angileyze1]

Day 1

It was finally here! We set the alarm for 330am but it didn’t matter as I was wide awake at 2. All that kept going through my mind was that commercial where the kids say “we’re too excited to sleep!” I had packed the kids a morning snack which included a package of Pop-Tarts and an apple. This would be significant later in the trip report. Remember the apple.

We got to the airport at 4:50am and were initially worried about the warnings we read on the website that said parking was VERY limited. Luckily, we found a space with not too much trouble. Once inside, we saw that the line for security in our tiny little airport was longer than I had EVER seen it. It took an hour to go through. We started to see other cheerleading families from the gym who were also leaving a bit early. We said hello, snapped a few pictures, and all got on our own flights. By now, all the snacks were gone but DD’s apple. I told her to keep it and she could have it later.
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The flight to Baltimore was smooth and it was good that Airtran was running a little early because we were already going to have just 25 mins between flights. Luckily again, we got there a bit early, and we got to relax & stretch for 10 minutes before boarding to Tampa.

In Tampa, again, we arrived early. A fiull ½ hr early. I noticed the warmth already. Other people were freezing. I couldn’t understand this. It was 66 degrees! (In Maine when we left, there was still snow on the ground.)

The Enterprise rental counter man was nice, he even gave us our choice of vehicle. The sleek, sporty Dodge Avenger, or the boring hatchback. The Chevy HHR. I explained that we had 5 rather large pieces of luggage.


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And we’re off! DD abd DSS’ first reaction was WOW! REAL PALM TREES! Mind was of amazement that everything was so green & alive not dead & brown. We arrived in Ft Myers and it was a bit warmer there. DSIS was not home from work yet but her step-son who is just a year younger than DS was, and he showed us in and was very nice. They hit it off immediately. In fact, they got right into the pool. All but me. I was hoping for a nap on the swing. I couldn’t sleep however, due to the fact that I could NOT stop my face from smiling to the sounds of my Dh and kids laughing and squealing and having the best care-free day in a long time. We were all so happy.
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Soon, everyone was home and we had a spaghetti dinner and took a ride in the convertible. Ok. Girl from Maine Winter just last week, with sunglasses on and Florida wind whipping through my hair. Yeah, it was the best feeling ever. At this point, I want to move here and can’t help but staring at all the for sale signs. Hmmmm. The music was cranked and My DD who has Autism (mildly as it is) smiled more than I had remembered seeing in a while.

After the ride, DSIS made Apple-tinis and the adults hit the hot tub. What a night! We went to bed shortly after. This was only day 1. How can it possibly get any better? Remember this question. Meanwhile, the apple still lived.

[MickeyMAC]

Great update. Glad you had a good flight and enjoyed some pool time. Can't wait to read more.

[B.M.]

Great update..............waiting to hear what happens with the apple.

[Jookiba]

I'm liking the idea of the hot tub & appletini's!!

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

[Colexis Mom]

Great update!!! More please

[BelmontBelle]

Sounds like a great day! I'm just like you, every time I get to Florida, I don't want to leave and start checking out all the for sale signs! Maybe some day right?

I think it's awesome that your DD has found something to excel at like cheerleading! I can't wait to hear all about the competition and your trip!

[RobDVC]

The day started with an apple and ended with an appletini (and an apple).
Sounds like it was a great day!

[mcc0313]

Sounds like a great first day....even the traveling went well...

Can't wait to hear about this apple...

[DyanKJ130]

Great update! Add me to the list of people who are dying to know what happens with the apple!

[Angileyze1]

Day 2-

Today we got up around 7am. I have a small headache. First night in a new bed is always rough for me. Today we are off to Sanibal Island for a day of Sun and fun. Its about a 30 minute ride. I tell my daughter she might want to eat the apple with her breakfast. Nope. She’ll eat it later. Hmmm. Ok whatever right? We packed a lunch. No Apple.

We brought the wave runner that the DSIS owns with a tow rope and tube. I wonder if I’ll have the guts to finally do it. ( I had been wanting to go tubing for years.) DH wants nothing to do with it, he has a water thing going back to childhood and mean older brothers. But we take him anyway. It was beautiful. There are shells everywhere which makes DD very happy. They even found some dried up starfish and one of them formed a heart with his little “Hands” before he dried up and DS wants to bring it home to his girlfriend.

DSIS then took both kids on a wave runner ride in the Gulf and stopped at one point to watch dolphins swimming about! When they returned I jumped on with her wanting to see the dolphin myself! We watched a FEW and I got some shots with the waterproof cameras. (I love those!) DH didn’t like HIS ride all that much as it was a little choppy on the water. But, at least he went.
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We ate lunch, then it was time for tubing! Now, my children are like me, always wanted to go, but never did. We laughed hard as DSIS was told to try to get my DS to fall off. It took a lot! But he finally did. He loved it. My DD’s turn was a little less exciting. Then I was asked to go. Surprising I thought, well, it looked fun and it couldn’t be all that hard right? You would be surprised to learn that its harder than it looks. It takes LOTS of muscle power to hang on to that thing. I did fall off once, but boy was it worth it. I’m glad for the experience.

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Then the kids were given a chance to drive it. I asked the kids what their favorite part of the day was. I like doing this because on this trip I learned that they usually surprise me. I try tp predict what they will say and I’m never right. Try this with your kids and see if you can guess what they will say. My DD- I thought his favorite part would be driving the wave runner. He said it was seeing the dolphin in its natural environment. I agreed that that was MY favorite part too. I KNEW my DD would say the same thing. Nope, she liked tubing the best.

When we got done we were all a little sun-kissed so we packed it in for the day to do something else. Back at the house, we took showers, changed and did some laundry. Then left for fun pt 2. Ft Myers Beach. We stopped at a local store then I had told DSIS we wanted to eat at Cheeseburgers In Paradise. We had never been there and neither had DSIS. When we got there we were surprised to learn that a party was going on. The restaurant was celebrating a 1 yr anniversary! Cool! We filled out some entry forms to win stuff and ordered. Later my name was picked for a free t-shirt! I was SO enjoying my vacation so far! My DH rolled his eyes as good things tend to happen to me a lot. I call it Karma. The server even stole a shot glass for me.

Ft Myers Beach was cool, We saw a really cool street performer that uses marionettes. He was really good! It was during that time that we started to realize how sun-baked we all really were. OUCH! For the next few days we would be constantly bathing in ALOE. That night, we all slept better. But not without a great deal of pain.