November 28 - 986 Miles [Stage 1, Houston to Tampa]

Stage 1: Houston to Tampa
Left: 3am CT
Arrived: 7:30pm ET
Stops: 2 (breakfast and lunch)
Total Hours of Travel: 15.5 hours
Miles Driven: 986 miles

Our Florida vacation extravaganza was so fun filled I'm splitting it up into multiple posts. We traveled a total of 3 days and spent 9 days on vacation-I have A LOT of photos to share with you all. 

The first leg of our journey took us from Houston to Tampa. We left promptly at 3am (as planned) and we were hoping the kids would sleep in the car for a few hours. Julia was in and out until 6am but Luke was awake from 3am until around 2pm (at which point he took a short nap). The girls (Julia and Amelia) were great in the car the entire trip. Luke was pretty difficult. We only stopped twice though and it was great to finally arrive in Tampa Wednesday evening!

The kids had an amazing time at Grammie's house. They especially loved all of her cats (feeding them treats was a huge hit), watering plants in the backyard and playing with Uncle Chad. We happened to be in town for Uncle Greg's birthday (yay!) and we had a nice birthday lunch together. Julia and Grammie made a delicious ice cream cake together before the fiesta and the kids had fun with their cousin Leah. 

While we were in Tampa, Julia went to visit one of Grammie's friend's and neighbor's, Ms. Miller. Julia took an instant liking to Ms. Miller, even coloring a picture for her. Ms. Miller was super sweet and got Julia a cute little purse and dog. Julia actually wrote her a thank you note, her first time ever writing so many words. I know it's small, but as a mommy, I was so proud of her! 

Grammie and her grandbabies

Aunt Nicole and Leah

Happy Birthday Uncle Greg!! 

Bottle Fun (Luke LOVED playing with the spray bottles)

Luke really wanted those fruit snacks

Feeding the cats

Uncle Chad makes the coolest living room tents

Fun with Uncle Greg

Julia and Ms. Miller

Grammie and Julia made a delicious ice cream cake, yum! (layer ice cream sandwiches, cool whip and chocolate topping...mmm)

Next up: Stage 2 to Disney World!!