Florida Trip

Julie planned a trip to Orlando, Florida to fulfill a family plan of hers and Sheldon's.  She invited everyone to go as well, and so Steve and I began to make our plans to be with her.  Melanie, Chad, Heather, Kyra, Skye, Dane, Trey, Lance, Des and her mom and stepdad, Ily, Olivia, Heather and Trent Jones and their two sons all went as well.  We stayed in different condos/townhouses, but our places were all in the same general area. 

Steve and I left on a Sunday and returned the following Sunday.  We enjoyed Disney World which included Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT on four different days plus we spent a day by the ocean at Kennedy Space Center and Cocoa Beach.  Of course, the main point of the trip was so Melanie, Julie, and Heather Jones could run in the marathon race sponsored at Disney World.  All three girls successfully finished the 26.2 mile race.  We were thrilled at their success and thrilled with our vacation in sunny Florida.

Outside our condo on Monday morning right
before our first day at Disney World

This is the condo we shared with
Melanie and Julie while in Orlando.

Our first day at Magic Kingdom with Trey, Chad, Dane,
Kyra, Skye, Heather, and Steve.

Tuesday morning ready to begin our
adventure in Animal Kingdom.
(Steve, Skye, Me, and Kyra)

Wednesday morning Steve and I spent the day
together at Kennedy Space Center and the beach.

Kennedy Space Center was
pretty amazing.

Here is Steve standing by an Apollo three-stage rocket.
It was huge!

After leaving the space center we headed for
Cocoa Beach located about 15 miles south of NASA.

This is the pier at Cocoa Beach.
The tide was in so we couldn't walk all
the way down the stairs.

Julie had to pick up her marathon packet
at the Wide World of Sports Center located
on Disney World property.  I couldn't believe
how big everything was, how hot it was,
and how many people seemed to be everywhere!

We spent the rest of Thursday at EPCOT which was
something I had wanted to do for years.  It was very
interesting and well worth our time.

This is at EPCOT next to the area where ten countries
are depicted through restaurants, stores, and
amazing architecture.  I could see how you could
spend a very long day just on this part of the park.

Friday we headed back to Magic Kingdom.  This
park seemed like Disneyland in Anaheim, California.

This is Chad, Heather, Kyra, Dane, and Skye Friday
evening as we left Magic Kingdom.  What a day it was!

I couldn't resist taking this picture showing the
back of the t-shirts that all of us wore in memory
of  Sheldon and Jace.  

Saturday morning we headed back to the Wide World
of Sports so Melanie could pick up her marathon packet.
Once again it was amazing how many runners were
doing the same thing.

We took a family picture outside our condo showing
our t-shirts that Sheldon's friend had printed for all of us.
Heather and family left for St. Louis
right after these pictures on Saturday.

Aren't they cute?
(Kyra, Julie, Dane, and Skye)

This is Sunday morning about an hour or so before the
marathon began.
(Heather, Julie, and Melanie)

Steve and I joined the ChEAR Squad so we
were able to enjoy bleachers to sit on which
were very close to the finish line plus during the race
there was a huge white tent set up where we
enjoyed a nice hot breakfast whiling away
the hours before the girls finished a very
long race.

Julie is crossing the finish line here.  She's in the
white t-shirt and black capris.

She deserved that medal!

Melanie deserved that medal too!
26.2 miles is a long race to say the least.

A final group picture after all three girls finished.