Sunday 10/5
We tried to sleep in but based on being 3 hours behind we were all up early after going to be early. We met Pops @ his hotel and picked him up for the day. we started by grabbing some grub at the local Denny's and then hit the grocery store for the breakfast items and snacks we knew we would need for the week at the condo...cookies, crackers, ice cream, juice, milk, soda, and any other junk we could find....oh we did buy a few Bananas but that was it for healthy....got to the condo checked in and were very pleased with the accommodations...3 bedrooms 3 baths and our master bath was mike a museum...had a Jacuzzi tub that could fit 3 adults...it was HUGE....We then took off to Universal Islands of Adventure to get in and have some fun at the park...Hit the Dr. Seuss land and the cat in the hat rides and then spent some time walking throughout the rest of the park to see what there was and what rides we would go on...
Monday 10/6-
Decided to do Wet N Wild today -- the water park over next to Universal...What a cool place! As you can see from the photos it was a beautiful Sunny day with large passing clouds from time to time. The water was cooler than we are used t here in AZ but it was refreshing and nice...Preston really enjoyed the water, and the rest of us enjoyed hopping back and forth to slides, wave pools, kiddie areas, lazy rivers and other rides that everyone enjoyed immensely. This was a full day and some got a little more sun than we wanted but overall it was a fantastic day in the water.
Tuesday 10/7 -
Wednesday 10/8 -
We started out to the mall to get some earrings for the girls as they had left theirs at home and we did not want their ears to close up, and at the same time we were able to meet Uncle Kirk and Vicky who had come in from SC the night before. We spent some time shopping and then headed back to the mall after letting Pop Pop go with
Uncle Kirk to pick up Madeline (my cousin from WV) at the airport and Grandma Matty who was also flying in. We took this as a down day since we had been going for 4 days straight and the girls were exhausted. Met Madeline at the condo once we all got back in the evening and then had pizza at a nearby Italian restuarant.
Thursday 10/9 -
Back to the parks again (Universal Islands of Adventure & Universal Studios) where we achieved some more rides and had some roller coaster fun with Uncle Kirk and Madeline. Then after half a day we decided to go back to Wet n Wild and have some more water time....What a great idea as we met up with Aunt Piper and Uncle Phil as well as Bria and eventually Drew. More slides, shoots, rivers, and wave pools around and more exhaustion by the end of the day. we all made it back to freshen up before having a huge family dinner for 15 at a local restuarant. We all chatted, caught up, goofed and had tons of fun -- and not to mention TONS of Ice Cream -- check out this Sundae.....WOW..
Friday 10/10 -
As if it were not enough time at the parks already we went back again -- more roller coasters, more rides, more getting wet and more exhaustion....This time everyone went along together and we enjoyed about half a day until we made the executive decision to call in on account of tiredness...at least we thought thats what we were going to do. natalie had split off with Pop Pop, Grandma Matty and Uncle Kirk, and the teenagers all went their own way as well. well by the time we got a hold of Natalie to give her the option of staying or going back to the condo to rest, Payton and Alexxis decided they wanted to do E.T. and some kids coasters in Universal....so off to those we went and ended up meeting Natalie, Pop Pop, and Grandma Matty outside E.T. where we all just hooked up again and finished another long day at the park...Off to Olive garden for a nother family dinner and then back for some sleep ---SLEEP -- whats that its Vacation....
Saturday 10/11 -
Well Pop Pop woke up with a migraine (Cant imagine why) and they had to pack as they were leaving for the Airport i a few hours to return to home (LV). we had said out goodbyes the evening before to Unlce Kirk and Vicky as they were driving home today as well to SC. So, after natalie pulled her loose tooth out (see picture) we headed off to Gatorland as just the core family. It was pricey for what you got but we can now say we did it and not have to do it again...Lots of Alligators, some Salty's (Croc's), enjoyed feeding an apple to some to get them to snap, and some Alligator wrestling to top it all off. Was a lot of fun. we headed back to the Condo once more and then had dinner with a colleague of mine who was up for the day from Tampa. We enjoyed a meal with him and his family and then back to bed for tomorrow is out last day of fun and we are going back to see teh Famous Carters and the Beach !!!! WOOHOO
Sunday 10/12 -
Got up early, picked up Madeline from Uncle Phil and off to Viera (Cocoa Beach area) we went. Got to the Carters around 9:20am and went to service with them at the church they have been attending in the Viera Area. Enjoyed ourselves at service, had some lunch and off to the beach we went....Was a little overcast and some storms were a brewing off the coast but nothing actually hit and all went around us as we played, frolicked, and battled the rip tides and waves as they came in.....It was quite a fun afternoon. After the beach fun we were back to Rich and Sheri's home for some pizza and cookies....Wish we could have stayed an additional week with them but had to get back to our hotel in Orlando as Madeline needed to be at the airport by 6:30am for her flight back to WV.
Moday 10/13 -
Got up, Got Madeline to the Airport on time and then back to try and sleep (but that would not happen). Preston wanted to be up so I played with him while cheryl tried to catch some more zzzz's....Packed up and off we went to the Airport, returned the car, boarded the plane and 5 1/2 hours later we were home with Pongo....
Whirlwind Blog entry I know -- no way to pack all of the fun and memories we had into a blog so I did not try -- just wanted to give you a flavor for the daily activities and fun we had....The pictures tell much more of a story....We were so very blessed by God to hav been able to go on this trip, see all of the family at the same time, and spend some really nice days in the beautiful Florida climate.....we will be abck again some day.
Praise you Father for our fun, for our family, friends, and the ability for us to have a little R&R....We Love you Jesus
Thanks to all of our family and friends for sacrificing their time, vacation, money and prayers while we were gone. All of our Love,
The Phillips Family.
This will be a very short post, but as time permits tomorrow I will update with pictures and other info from the first 2 days here in Littleton, CO. 1st -- Please pray for my Aunt Bonnie from West Virginia -- she is battling liver failure and the remnants of many chemical treatments over the years from Breast Cancer. She is being taken to Cleveland for a liver transplant and really could use all of our prayer. We Love her and are praying that God will completely heal her.
We are all very pleased and thankful to the Lord for guiding us in this new phase of life. Tomorrow 4 other candidates have final interviews and we ask for prayer for them..(Ann from Mesa, AZ. / Mike & Ghed from CO /Greg & Tori Finley from the UK / & Stella White from the Ukraine)....These folks are all very very special to us and we ask you to interced on their behalf for peace and clarity tomorrow and that they too would be appointed.
and proceeded to take flights from PHX to Oklahoma City, then St. Louis, then finally Orlando...Wasn't to thrilled with Southwest Airlines 1 stop description that meant you had 1 additional stop on top of the connection we were making in St. Louis to get to Orlando, but all went smooth and we arrive on time in sunny Orlando. 
We proceeded to get our rental van and took off for a bite to eat (McDonald's -- YUCK) and then off to the Hotel for the 1 night before we were allowed to check into our Condo for the week.
