Spring Break to The Villages

Family RV trip down south!

We have had our safety briefing. We have a new pilot at the wheel! 

Although KY is where we stopped the first night, it is fun to see all of the state signs.

Final destination - The Sunshine State!

 

Pretty much how the kids travel. Lounged in the bunk beds, surfacing for snacks!

Some of you may be already be aware that KY is bourbon country. But what you don't know is that Blanton's bourbon is particularly hard to find. We couldn't even get it at their own distillery when we were there in October. In addition, there are 7 unique bottle toppers. And you guessed it, it is very important for us to have one of each. The first night's campground stop was conveniently located within a Mexican restaurant and a liquor store. After dinner the boy strolled over and hit the jackpot when they were able to purchase, not one but ONE EACH bottle of Blanton's. They quickly informed us that the ladies were going to need to make a trip over. The felt we may need a story to convince them to sell us an additional two bottles. After much discussion, I announced that Mom and I had this under control. Pops escorted us next door and within 5 minutes we had procured an additional two bottles - plus a package of straws (bc my mom felt bad and felt like she should buy something else!). One might think the boys would be happy, but they sensed they were leaving something on the table. A quick phone call to Four Star Liquor and an Uber ride later and more bourbon was added to the collection. It was a perfect night!

On the way to GA the next day, Elizabeth lost a tooth in the RV! 

We felt so lucky to be able to stay at David and Sara's and spend time with the kids.  

A quick game of PIG with a light up basketball and Uncle David

And David joined us for the next few days! MJ, I am sorry I don't have any pictures of you, but EB and Grant loved playing with you!

On to The Villages!!

The family trail ride was actually on the last day...but this is way they loaded!

Alison on Sugar 

Pops on Goose 

Beautiful grounds 

RV Mode - shirts off. It's FL, we are hot!

Horses at the Grand Oaks Equestrian Center

Scooting and Hovering around the campground. I did tell Grant he had to have a shirt on after this picture was taken.

Elizabeth's first riding lesson with Julio, a polo player from Chile. He said she looked awesome in the saddle and "is going to be one hell of a rider. She just needs a horse and to ride 3 times a week" Thank you Julio.

Hosing the horse down after the lesson - something we don't do in the frozen tundra of Illinois!

Larry the gator has since been relocated to Gatorville. However, this guy, Hank I believe came out to see us!

Pool party at Uncle Jerry's and Aunt Rhonda's.

We have to have a little piece of education on vacation. The Eisenhower museum. 

Pickle Ball. We all love to play pickle ball, but it was pretty hard to get on a court. The Village residents
get priority and they pretty much play all day! The heat of the day was our best chance to get a court! Sunscreen up baby!

It's vacation, there is always ice cream! 

Golf carts...preferred mode of transportation at The Villages. Also, scary according to Brandon and David. 

I think they won that point!

They might be brothers :)

Indoor pickle ball at the campground - climate controlled. No sunscreen needed!

 

We took a day for the kid and trekked over to Legoland. We had cooler temperatures and a fantastic day. 

Ima loves rides!

Ima and Pops were troopers!

We were all so excited to be on the carousel together. It only took 20 minutes  for everyone to mount their horses, put away their bags, buckle in so they could start the 60 second ride. And once it started, Elizabeth discovered she had picked a stationary horse! We all had good laugh!

It was just our luck that the new Lego Movie land had it's grand opening the day we were there. We bypassed the area in the morning but went over at the end of the day and waited an hour for the new big ride. Masters of Flight. I thought it was totally worth it! Everything was awesome! 

This was a favorite ride. Brandon and I only did it once with them, but the kids did it 4 times! Their faces say it all!



Aunt Marcy was an awesome hostess and we had an all around good time. Reliving Ozark vacation memories and making new ones! 

Grant only had an entire outfit (top and bottoms) on for half of the trip! The last two days we travelled home, he never had a shirt on! 

We were all pretty tuckered out. The boys did an awesome job driving and the women and children rode with smiles! In this tech savvy world, we got to watch all of the Cardinal baseball and NCAA basketball tournament games that we wanted to, all while rolling down the road!

A family that vacations together, and still loves each other at the end (maybe even more!) = Win Win