Typically for Labor Day we go on the Parker Family Vacation. This year though we did that during the summer so our Labor Day was wide open! We had left the calendar empty thinking we’d be on the Alaska Cruise with some of the Aflac crew but it didn’t end up working out so we decided to have a LAZY vacation just the four of us.
We go on quite a few trips…but do you know I don’t think I’ve ever had any type of “lazy” trip??? We ALWAYS have plans. And I usually love it!!! However, I think life with more than one child has changed my outlook a little on vacationing. I was EXCITED to do NOTHING! We made up an agenda for the trip but it didn’t have much on it. We just planned to enjoy each other. And it was wonderful 🙂
I stumbled across an awesome deal to stay at a resort in Orlando. We got an entire week (7 nights!) for a STEAL. The deal we got is actually what inspired the vacation itself! Orlando is not a bad drive for us at all. I didn’t even attempt to talk Zach into a Disney visit since we were there…I know my limits haha
We headed down the Friday of Labor Day weekend! We waited until after naps so both kids would be well rested. Brittlynn is just not a fan of the car. She’s gotten a LOT better now that we take Kye to school and pick him back up so often but it still pushed her limits. She cried for almost 40 min straight and then she fell asleep. It wasn’t even her nap but she wore herself out!!
I’m also proud of us for switching some things up with our traveling. Usually we’d drive through somewhere to get us all dinner on the way down since we were traveling close to dinner time. I’m REALLY trying to be smarter with our spending so I made Kye’s dinner and brought it with us in a little cooler and Zach made a big batch of chili (using turkey meat instead of ground beef) and we brought it with us to eat our dinner once the kids were in bed 🙂 Saved us money and allowed us to eat healthier!
Luckily our car came with wireless headphones so Kye could still enjoy his movie 😉
Had to get a hotel room pic right away…
silly one first 😉
I watched the kids while Zach got things unloaded from the car and the sleeping situation rigged up. We’ve learned a big lesson from our 4th of July trip…we will not be attempting to stay in a single room situation again. The place we were staying was a condo (it was actually the same place we stayed when we took Kye to Disney last September but this time we just had a one bedroom unit). It had a separate bedroom from the rest of the living space! We ended up putting Kye in our room and Britt in the bathroom. It worked out great! Of course it would have been nice to be able to use the bathroom when she was sleeping but we got used to it 😉
While Zach was setting everything up the kids and I saw these HUGE birds outside of our back door!
Brittlynn is such an animal lover, She was PUMPED about the birds!
Here’s a video of her watching them..she kept saying “duck” too cute!
I have NO clue what kind of bird this is?!?!
Kye has gone through a growth spurt recently (it’s about time haha). All of his pjs are just SO little on him. Like his tummy sticks out. Not good. I do NOT understand how the size pjs? Kye is in a 3T with normal clothes (and still wears majority of his 2Ts as well) but his 5T pjs were too little?!?! I hunted and hunted and had to end up buying him a “big kid size” ones. These are a size 4! The best deal I could find was $10 per pair which is still expensive to me. But I decided to bring them on the trip and surprise him with them! He was crunk 🙂
The first night when the kids went to bed Zach went to Publix to get all the groceries we’d need for our stay. I like to pack stuff from home and he likes to go shopping once we arrive so we compromised 🙂 We planned to eat majority of our meals at the condo so we needed a good bit of stuff.
Zach couldn’t resist…a big reason why we ate at the room so much was not only to save money, but also because it was his LAST week of The 24 Day Challenge! Well he still couldn’t stop himself from having a little cheat night. I mean it was our first night of vacation 😉 We watched a bunch of The Office Season 7 to kick off the trip and enjoyed our “Moron” cookies!
Cookie time!
Saturday morning we got up and all enjoyed breakfast together as a family! It was WONDERFUL to just be lazy and take our time 🙂
Someone was super happy to be on vaca 🙂
Play time!
Kye said he was making his block tower to give to “the children who don’t have any blocks”
Our new friends came to visit again!
Britt takes after her brother…she was more interested in eating the bread than feeding it to the birds!
The place we stayed was SO awesome. I’m sure many of you knew this type of thing existed but it had never crossed my mind to go somewhere and just stay on the resort property the entire time. It really is th PERFECT type of vacationing when you have children!!! Brittlynn went down for her morning nap so Kye and I headed over to do a craft together! We got to make a journal…right up Kye’s alley since he’s always “taking notes”
He put SO much on it that it became 3-D!
Sidenote: the girl who helped us make it also has a son named Kye!
When we got back Kye and Zach went to the pool to swim then came back in time for us to get Brittlynn up from her nap. I nursed her and we headed to the water slide!!! We had played at this same water park last year during Kye’s Disney Trip but wow a lot changes in a year. He didn’t even hesitate to run off and play!
Like most moms…I’m not a mega fan of myself in a bathing suit but I wanted to post these anyway because I always want to remember Brittlynn at this age and how she CLINGS to me. When I hold her she wraps her legs around my waist and grabs onto me. She does NOT want me to let her go. She really, really loves her mama and I love it 😉
Girls!
I have to literally peel her off of me
Still not letting go haha
Big Boy was LOVING the slide!
We enjoyed watching 🙂
Big Splash from Daddy!
Look at her chubby cheeks!
Brittlynn and I were having a nice peaceful time sitting in the water watching the boys play. Then Zach comes along and has to make her be adventurous haha. Typical guy right??? So he took her exploring a bit around the splash park. And she (shocker) wasn’t a big fan!
MUCH happier!
Once she started splashing in the water she had a blast
🙂
Kye actually asked for a picture of them together
Modeling 🙂
It was great that the water was so shallow…perfect for a crawling baby
After a good hour of playing we headed back to the room for lunch. During lunch Brittlynn showed off her new skill/obsession. She now throws her arms up in the air and waits for us to say “so big!!!” She is def starting to crave attention and learned after a couple times of doing this that we always respond to it. So now she’ll do it like 50 times during a meal. It’s hilarious!!! Here’s a video!
She was in SUCH a silly mood…
awesome.
Both kids went down for their naps and I went to lay out by the pool. Such a sweet Daddy for letting me go (that and it happened to be college football Saturday…so I don’t think it was too much of a sacrifice for him to be “stuck” inside watching tv haha). After naps I nursed Britt and we headed back out for more splash park fun!
A rare moment of carrying both kids! They got heavy quick!
The Splash Park was HEAVEN for our child!
Brittlynn started to love it too…doesn’t she look SO OLD here?
(and thanks Robyn for her bathing suit!)
Splashing with Daddy
When I took the earlier pic I told Zach it was “the moment” I could see a BIG difference in him from the challenge!!! He’s looking GOOD!!!
We played for a little while then headed back to the room to get ready for the first FSU game of the season 🙂 Can’t you tell we were having such a great time??? Seriously, this trip was such a HUGE blessing to me. I just am so grateful for the amazing people God put in my life when he gave me Zach, Kye and Brittlynn!!!
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That video of the "ducks" is so hilarious! It's a keeper for sure. And, Caleb (same age as Brittlyn) is the same way about his mama! I don't remember my daughter being like that?! Maybe she wasn't or maybe I've forgotten. Caleb is definitely attached to his mama. Sometimes it drives me a little batty, but it is so sweet that I try to cherish it. We have the same problem with PJ's. Maybe it's because they are snug fitting most of the time? Some of Autumn's 2T clothes are too big on her, but 2T PJ's are too tight! Annoying!