Return to "Normal"

The last few weeks, things have seemed a bit out of kilter to me.  We've been going to so many different campgrounds and so many different tourist places, that it seems like I could never get settled.  In fact, the last few weeks have seemed more like a vacation and less like living in a camper.  I guess that's a good thing.  It makes living in a camper seem like less to be endured and more to be enjoyed.

We have been at the current campground for 3 days and considering we spent 28 days here the last time, it feels almost like we are home.  We've already gotten Chinese take out from a restaurant we found last time, we've gone grocery shopping, and the kids have even caught a lizard (which we've been feeding). 

We've also encountered some of the bad things of this campground (bad cell service, sporadic Internet, no cable, and early morning grounds maintenance), but for some reason I'm ok with it.  Perhaps it's because we know how things are going to be.  Perhaps it's because we know where everything is around here.  Perhaps it's because we've done just about all the touristy things we can, so now we can breathe and just get on with life. 

Whatever the case, the last 3 days have been very relaxing and I'm enjoying our return to the Manatee Hammock.

Life "On the Road"

We have been out of Virginia for a little over a week and it's strange; so far it feels more like a vacation than a change in our living situation.  Perhaps that's because we haven't done any school (this is a scheduled break for Mommy's sanity).  Perhaps it's because we've been doing so many fun things each day (swimming at the pool, flying kites, playing shuffleboard, etc).  Whatever the case, I'm kind of looking forward to when we settle into a more "normal" schedule.  At the end of each day, I feel so tired and yet I feel like there are so many things I wanted to get done inside the camper to make it more comfortable to live in long-term.

We have settled into a campground across the Indian River from Kennedy Space Center.  It's a local park and is absolutely beautiful.  It is shaded just enough that you don't roast or get too cold.  They also maintain it well and the staff is very helpful.  As of right now we are scheduled to stay for a couple more weeks (so hopefully the launch will actually happen before we leave).  Unfortunately they are already booked for Memorial Day weekend, so we are going to use that as our cue to head over to the west coast of Florida to visit family and friends there for a couple weeks.  We want to come back to this campground at some point, but the final shuttle launch is scheduled for the end of June and they are already booked, so we shall see.

Tomorrow we are off to Kennedy to take the tour and see the shuttle on the launch pad (we are camping 10 miles away which means it looks like a speck on the horizon).  I want the kids to see it up close to help them realize it's magnitude.

So far, life on the road has been relatively uneventful and relaxing.

Walt's place

Figured out the pictures problem. Enjoy!
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So, we got off the cruise ship and said to ourselves..."Do we really want to go back to Virginia?  Or would we rather look around Florida and enjoy the warmth and see if maybe we'd be interested in moving to Florida (we do intend to move South but haven't decided on exactly where)?  Guess what we picked?  Virginia.

NOT!  We decided to stay in Florida for a bit longer.  We drove to the west coast of Florida to Ft. Myers and visited with a friend of mine who I had not seen in years.  Then we drove up to Tampa and spent some time with my Grandmother and Aunt.  Then we decided to go to Walt's place (aka Disney World).  We ended up doing Epcot the first day, Animal Kingdom the second day, and Magic Kingdom the third (and final) day.

While at Epcot we learned that our daughter was not as fearless as we thought she was.  While on the "Test Track" she decided she didn't like fast rides anymore.  Keep in mine it went 60 mph for maybe 10 seconds and the rest was probably no faster than 35 mph.  After that, daughter and I ended up doing everything together and Daddy and son went off and did some of the fast rides together.  The day was ended with the fireworks and laser spectacular.

The Animal Kingdom was all about my daughter.  She LOVES all things animals.   The rides tended to be a bit more tame because they were designed to go through animal habitats so there was only one ride she didn't do that the guys did so it was a good day.  Animal Kingdom also closes earlier than the other parks which was good because of how long our day had been at Epcot.

Magic Kingdom was of course the favorite day for all of us.  We'd all gotten into a groove and had figured out the best rides for each kid.   It didn't hurt that they have many more rides to choose from (even with a few of them being closed for renovations - the downside of going "off season").  Mommy also got to ride a few of the bigger rides with son while daughter rode a tamer ride with Daddy.