Christmas 2023

This is us at church on Christmas Eve after getting home at 3am the night before. Our flights got delayed, cancelled and switched around trying to get back from our cruise in FL. By the grace of God, we found 12 seats on a direct flight back to Cincinnatti. Once we finally made it back, we were stuck on the tarmac because we had no staff to direct us into the airport. Once we finally did, our luggage was frozen inside the plane. Then we spent the next several hours waiting on luggage they lost, and then drove 30 mph home in an ice storm. BUT, we made it back! 

We made it back in time for Santa to come!! 

Christmas morning was so fun as it always is with kids. 

The excitement and joy is truly one of my most favorite moments ever. 


Christmas was a little different this year, so Mom and Dad came up to our house instead of us going to them. We missed Aunt Annies brunch Christmas Eve morning, because we were still sleeping. 

But we did make it to Gtown the next day for MUDBOWL! 

We celebrated at Joys and the kids had such a good time together. 

Parker loved his new Maverick suit. 

For New Years we headed to the lakehouse with the Burtons where we did not stay up until midnight, but rang in the new year around 11pm instead. 

Disney Cruise!

For Christmas this year, Mom and Dad took all of us on our first Disney Cruise! Since the kids are all into Harry Potter, we decided to go up a few days early and go to Universal's Harry Potter World before we boarded the cruise. We kept that part a surprise and told them at the airport with fun Hogwarts letters Rachel made the kids. 


The flights there were thankfully uneventful and our hotel was close enough that we were able to walk to Universal. 

We had so much fun riding the rides and doing all things HP. 

We got interactive wands, tasted butter beer, rode the Hogwarts Express, and got to meet up with Aunt Whitney! 





We boarded the ship with no problems and during the mandatory safety meeting, poor Millie got sick. Which did not make for the best start to the cruise but we all did our best to make the best of it. 

The ship was beautiful and had so much stuff for the kids to do. 

The bunk beds were a hit and so was the privacy dark out curtain between their beds and ours. 

The kids especially loved hanging out in the circular window. 

We took a pirate cruise ship that was fun. The kids got to assist in capturing the bad guy, singing songs and being on a real pirate ship. 


We got off the boat at Nassau and walked around the market. 

I randomly ran into a Lexington fire fighter and his family that were there on a different cruise. 


The meals were amazing! We rotated through different restaurants but kept the same waiter each time. He became to know my kids wanted "lots of noodles!" most every night lol. 

Our day at Castaway Cay was probably my favorite day. The Disney owned island was so fun and pretty. We swam with the stingrays, rented bikes, and played in the ocean all day. 



Pirate night on the boat was also fun. Everyone dresses up, even the characters. 


The water slides on the ship were "so fun" according to Parker. They also loved the multiple pools and the huge TV screen they could watch movies on while in the pool or eating on the pool deck. 

We would definitely go on another cruise. We loved it and had such a great time. Hopefully next time Anna Beth and Millie wont be sick. But we still made memories that will last a lifetime! 

One of those memories being the cluster that was trying to get home by Christmas Eve (which we did, at 3am). 

Fall Break : Marathon

I told Philip I missed the beach. I love the lake, and I love our house there, but I have always and will always love the ocean and the beach. When they decided we got a week off for fall break this year (usually we only get 2 days), we decided to take a trip just the 4 of us. We decided to go back to Tranquility Bay (see post from when we went last time HERE ). 

We used sky miles and companion tickets so we had to take what was available to us as far as flights went. And we were a little nervous considering Hurricane Ian barreled through the Keys the week before.  

But we made it with no issues! 

They upgraded us from a 2 bedroom beach front to a 3 bedroom (if you insist). So we could sit on the porch or even the living room couch and watch the kids in the sand. 

Parker loved searching for coconuts, iguanas, shells and treasure. 


Due to the amount of sand that the kids were covered in daily, they ate breakfast and lunch on the porch most days. 

We had a private little lagoon, where tons of seaweed was washed up from the hurricane. They even brought in a bulldozer one day to scoop it all away. 

We walked to the 7 mile bridge. 



We stopped at every playground we walked past, because hello energy burner. 

The kids dug HUGE holes and made serious sand creations. While I read so many books I lost track. 



My favorite thing we did was the Dolphin Research Center. It was so cool how they rescued dolphins, trained them and interacted them. We watched them expel milk from a pregnant dolphin, talk to several dolphins and get them to do tricks and stunts, and one dolphin in particular took a liking to Ainsley and just laid there looking at her and squeaked every time she tried to get up to leave. 



We took a chartered boat to the sandbar one day. In the middle of the ocean just this huge sandbar you could step out onto and play. 



We tried the paddle board. 

At night we would walk to dinner, where Philip and Ainsley would try new seafood and Parker and I would stick to American food :) 

One day we drove the hour drive to Key West and did all the things up and down Duval Street. 

We went to the Butterfly Conservatory, which was sooo neat. Ainsley was a bit freaked out by the amount of butterflies coming at her, but then she decided it was pretty cool. 



We went to the Mel Fisher Museum where Parker intently listened to every story about all the treasure. Him and Philip read a book about this before we went and he had seen lots of pictures. He was pumped to finally go to this museum and I was surprised how much he paid attention to everything. 


We stopped for lunch where the chickens tried to jump up and get the kids fries. Water guns were available to shoot them away. They also got to sign a dollar and staple it to the doorframe, which they thought was fun. 


, and of course: ice cream. 

Ainsley loved all of the rainbows all over the town. 


We visited the putting greens several times at our resort. 


We recreated a picture from Ainsley's first time at the beach. Same spot :) 






Ainsley ate more pretzels than should have been allowed, but hey, vacation. 

We had such a great time. The kids play so well together and they really enjoy each others company. Which in turn allows Philip and I to enjoy each other. 

The kids loved snorkeling. They saw so many cool things and Parker really got into it, and was good at it. 


Philip taught us all how to play chess. The kids got into it and even beat Philip and I one night, which they were super proud of, thus earning the right to pick dessert that night. 

We went to a very cool outdoor aquarium. 



The kids got to sift for shark teeth, which you know Parker was all about. 

Ainsley met a sting ray she thought was so cute. 


We walked to a light house at the end of a pier. 



We were so sad to leave our happy little home. 

But we packed up and spent the day in Key West before our late flight. We climbed up to the top of a light house where you could see all over Key West. 


Philip got his last fill of some oysters. 

And we said goodbye to the wonderful Florida Keys. 

We had such a relaxing, enjoyable trip. Its been a tough couple years for Philip and I think this was just what the doctor ordered.