Family, one of life's greatest blessings..........: Back to Life, Back to Reality!

We're BACK!! I'll give you a re-cap of our vacation. We had an absolute ball and could not have asked for better weather. It was sunny and 85 the WHOLE vacation. It was WONDERFUL!! We went to Chicago last Thursday so we could be that much closer to the airport. We flew into Florida on Friday (we were in the air at this time).

Friday: We arrived at Aunt Jeannine's in the early afternoon and sat around the pool the whole rest of the day. All of the sudden I hear someone say "JOLENE" and I said "oh yeah right." Jolene & Danica flew down to surprise us, so Emma would have a playmate. The 2 girls were hysterical together and played really well, with only a few meltdowns.

Saturday: We packed up the cars and headed to St. Petersburg Beach (MY FAVORITE). We hung out on the beach the whole day and then went to a resturant/bar that was 3 stories up and overlooked the ocean. It was BEAUTIFUL!! That night we got the call that Miss Madeline Thiel had entered the world, more on that later.

Sunday: We loaded up the car again and headed to Clearwater Beach. We ate lunch at a resturant right on the beach. Michael & Aunt Jeannine both saw dolphins following a boat while the rest of us were going through the shops on the beach. This was the day when my camera decided to stop working, which just about sent me into heart failure!! My camera is like my cell phone, I can't live without it!! I had to resort to a disposable for the remainder of the trip, so those pictures aren't one here.

Monday: We went to Busch Gardens. The little girls had an area "Land of the Dragons" just for them and they were in heaven. There was a new roller coaster Sheikra. It had a 200 foot drop going straight down at 70 MPH! It was AWESOME!!!!!!! That night Michael, my dad, & cousin Nancy went to the Yankee's game. I think that was the highlight of Michael's trip (even though they lost.) They sat right behind home plate, thanks to Diane and the people she knows!

Tuesday: Happy 25th Mom & Dad!! We went to Citrus Park Mall for a couple hours. And believe it or not, Michael did WAY more shopping than me!! He bought 3 Yankee shirts, a Yankee hat, & a Yankee picture!! That night we all got dressed up and went to my all time favorite Italian Resturant Villagio's. It was WONDERFUL!! We had balloons and a guy even bought us a bottle of wine and toasted to my parents. Diane also gave her toast to them for 25 years! It was really nice.

Wednesday: We got up, packed up all of our stuff and headed to the airport. Our flight went really well and we even landed 15 minutes early. Colleen picked us up and we stopped at their house for a potty break. We said our goodbyes and got about 10 miles away and the van had completely overheated and my dad could barely accelerate. We took the next exit and thank the Lord for the angel watching over us because there was a Firestone. They looked at the van and told us the motor was blown. To make a LONG, STRESSFUL story short we had to have the van towed and Danny drove us to the Oasis and then Brandon picked us up with his parents Expedition. We got home around 11:30 PM. I had never felt so far away from home in my life. Besides that one dilemna (which could have been MUCH worse) we had a WONDERFUL time!!