Our Summer Vacation

This summer marked our 5th year of vacationing in The Villages, Florida. We love coming out here to visit Grandpa Jerry (Jeff's Dad), Grandma Cheryl, and Jeff's brothers Chris and Justin. The Villages is a golf-cart community for retired folks just north of Orlando, and we love visiting to experience the laid-back lifestyle of retirement. So relaxing!

I always have a hard time describing to others how much fun we have on our vacation during our week in The Villages. So this year, I decided to document our entire week and all the activities we cram into it. I also wanted to remember (and our kids to remember) how much fun we had here each summer. So here goes. (Extremely long post ahead. Consider yourself warned.)

Vacation Day 1

By the time we arrived in The Villages, it was dinnertime and Grandma Cheryl had made her yummy homemade spaghetti. We all enjoyed a family dinner and then decided to take the dogs out for a run. We hopped on the golf carts and headed out. There is just something about taking a golf cart ride that immediately relaxes you and slows your pace.

Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Cheryl have 1 dog, Gucci. Kaitlynn calls her "Ooo-chi". Justin's dog is named Shots and she is affectionately referred to as "Shotsy". They are sweet puppies and Kaitlynn is in LOVE with them!

Back at the house, Jeff and I devised and schemed for the perfect sleeping solution for our monster toddler. We rented a pack-n-play and wedged it into Grandma's closet, and then Jeff hung a sheet to buffer her bed from ours. It was perfect and we knew she'd sleep like a baby!

We put her to bed, and meanwhile we noticed a strange odor building throughout the house. It smelled like gas so we started to get a little nervous. After an hour of still smelling the gas, Justin called his firemen buddies to come check it out. Oh man, Connor was the most excited I've ever seen! To have a firetruck, lights signaling, right in front of the house...priceless!!

The gas smell was investigated and deemed to be harmless, thank goodness. Finally, time for bed. The kids were sleeping like a dream, and I even managed to snap these photos of them in their beds. When kids are asleep, they look SO sweet and innocent. (Did you catch that foreshadowing?)

(Kaitlynn's reading selection for the evening was Better Homes & Gardens, just in case you were wondering what that is in the picture.)

After Jeff and I went to bed, Kaitlynn decided she didn't want her own bed. She cried off and on all night, and I slept very little. Finally around 3 a.m. I got her up and put her in bed with us. I have no idea what I was thinking. We have NEVER had our kids sleep in bed with us. Kaitlynn decided it was playtime and was having great fun jumping around while we were trying to sleep. She finally fell asleep in between us, and thus began our revised sleeping arrangements for the week. Sigh.

One more thing about vacation day 1... I love to look at all the old family photos that Grandma Cheryl has on her wall. This one is my favorite of Jeff and his brother Chris when they were toddlers. How sweet are they?! P.S. Jeff is the older sibling, but only by 10 months.

Vacation Day 2

Early on Vacation Day 2, we loaded up in the SUV and headed for Orlando to visit Wet 'n Wild. We've been loving waterparks this summer so we thought it would be fun to try it out. It was a blast! Justin joined the 6 of us for a great day of sun and water rides.

One of our favorite activities at Wet 'n Wild was the lazy river. The whole family loved floating and splashing around in the river, and Kaitlynn was pooped and actually fell asleep for a quick nap.

The kids loved the play area. Well, until an unfortunate poop accident (not from our kids...at least this time) shut it down for the afternoon.

Here's Connor on the awesome rope swing.



Time for an ice cream break.

Unfortunately our kids are not classically trained in ice cream enjoyment, as evidenced by these photos of ice cream destruction.

By 4 p.m., the gang was ready to head home. We made the drive back to The Villages and my crazy kids never once fell asleep in the car. Where did I go wrong??

We made a stop for dinner at The Olive Garden and then went back to the house to drop off the SUV. Then, it was back on the golf carts (and scooters for the teenagers) for a drive to the town square for music and dancing.

One last picture from Vacation Day 2. Here's Collin at the waterpark. Notice anything different about him??

Vacation Day 3

Vacation Day 3 started off as a sleepy and lazy morning. The teenagers slept in and Kaitlynn woke up ready for some cuddles.

Then the family loaded up on the golf carts and scooters for a trip to Chick-fil-a for breakfast.

Next up, a trip to one of the community pools. We were all having a great time until yet another unfortunate poop incident. And that's all I want to say about that.

Back at the house, it was supposed to be naptime but the boss of the house decided she wasn't interested in that.

In the afternoon, I headed out with Grandma Cheryl for one of my favorite activities: lunch, massages, and pedicures! We always have such a nice visit away on our own.

The older boys went to see a movie and Jeff stayed back with the little ones while I was having my girls' afternoon. Kaitlynn has figured out that her Daddy is a pushover and will do whatever she wants when Mom isn't around. By the time I returned to the house all refreshed and relaxed, the guys had dinner almost ready (burgers and hotdogs on the grill).


Vacation Day 4

Vacation Day 4 started out with a round of golf for Grandpa Jerry and his 3 sons, Jeff, Chris, and Justin. I threatened Jeff within an inch of his life if he didn't get a photo of them together and he (luckily) obliged.

While the men were golfing, the rest of us hung back at the house and tried to keep ourselves occupied with DVDs and markers. Oh, and puppies.

Grandma Cheryl and some friends began some serious food preparation (which actually began the day before) for a gathering to celebrate Grandpa Jerry's birthday later in the evening. Cheryl and Justin spent ALL DAY smoking up about 33 pounds of meat for the occasion. Wow.

The guys returned from golfing and Jeff was proud to report he played the best 9 holes of his life (he shot a 37, just for the record). The 2nd 9 holes weren't as successful I guess.

Preparations for Grandpa Jerry's birthday celebration were in full swing and we needed to head out to pick up some last minute additions. Thank goodness, because I really needed to get out of the house!

Once we were back at the house, I was bound and determined to get the non-sleeping toddler of mine down for a nap. It's not an easy task because A. She's crazy and won't sleep this week, and B. There is a house full of people consuming an inordinate amount of alcohol in celebration of Grandpa's birthday. I was hoping a sign might help.

It didn't help. Kaitlynn stayed in her crib alternating between talking to herself and then screaming for about 2 hours. Good times.

I finally gave in and went to get her out of her crib. I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked in and she was OUT. Score 1 for Mom. Oh wait, it's almost 5:00 p.m. and I don't want her to be asleep this late because then she won't sleep tonight. Ugh. I go back in there and wake her up. Score 1 for Kaitlynn. Guess we're even.

About that time the whole gang comes over to enjoy a feast for Grandpa's birthday. Justin's efforts with the smoker really paid off because the food was YUMMY!

Connor and Kaitlynn loved the Cars 2 birthday cupcakes.

After we all gorged ourselves on smoked meat, Uncle Chris (Jeff's brother) wanted to take Collin and Kevin out to fish in a nearby lake. We tagged along with the little kids to get some pictures and go for another ride.

Within 60 seconds Uncle Chris had caught a large bass. And less than 2 minutes after that, he caught another one.

Jeff and I took the little ones back to the house and relaxed with a movie before bed.


Vacation Day 5

Vacation Day 5 marked the "peak" of vacation fun for Jeff and the teenagers. For the 5th straight year, they joined Grandpa Jerry, Uncle Chris, and Uncle Justin to embark on the annual Courtright fishing trip with Cap'n Dan in Cedar Cove. They always have SO much fun on this trip! Somehow over the years, the trip has evolved into a "No Filter" expedition. This means that the filters come off and the cuss-words come out. I can only imagine the number of F-bombs dropped during the day. This year we made all the guys t-shirts to commemorate the occasion. Here they are before heading out for the trip.

Jeff and Chris managed to catch the 2 largest fish, both redfish I think.

Here's the entire gang. Look at those smiles!

While the guys were on their fishing trip, Grandma and I tried to keep Connor and Kaitlynn entertained. Kaitlynn chose this day to show her true colors, and by that I mean her stubborn defiant streak. We made a golf cart trip to the grocery store, and then we came home to get ready for the pool. It took a good hour or so to get everyone dressed, lathered with sunscreen, packed, and loaded into the car. We finally made it to the pool and were able to swim. 10 minutes later, we were out of the pool due to thunder. Typical. No problem, because I came prepared with snacks.

After a 10-minute snack break, the clouds seemed to be building so we called it a morning and came back to the house for lunch and rest time.

Apparently 10 minutes of swimming did Connor in. He caught a rare nap.

While Connor snoozed, Kaitlynn enjoyed some quality time with Shots the pitbull. This dog is amazing. I've never been a big fan of dogs, and admittedly pitbulls seem menacing to me. But Shots is quite the protector of kids. A few times during the week, Jeff was playing rough with Connor or raising his voice and Shots would jump up and give a warning bark. She did NOT want us to harm the kids. So sweet.



After the guys returned from their fishing trip, we caught a quick picture of the entire group.

Chris and Justin had to return to the Orlando area for work the following morning, and the rest of us headed back up to the town square for a little music and fun. Then we came back, showered, and watched a little TV before bed.

Vacation Day 6

Vacation Day 6 was a lazy day. We got up and headed out for a quick breakfast in the morning.

Then Jeff had to do some work (boo) while the rest of us relaxed in the house.

Kaitlynn enjoyed a snack with Grandpa and then it was time for rest time.



When the little ones were down, Jeff and I took the teenagers out for lunch and ice cream.

When we got back to the house, Kaitlynn was awake and had a new look. Apparently during her "nap" she got into Grandma's makeup and had a great ol' time. Her sheets and clothes will never again be the same.

We cleaned up Kaitlynn a little bit and then they had a snack followed by more relaxing.

Then we headed out for a golf cart ride to the square to break up the evening. We had BIG plans later that night and needed to be home before dark.

What were the BIG plans, you ask? Watching the preseason Houston Texans game on TV!! There is a certain 5-year-old that hadn't stopped asking when the game would start ever since we arrived in Florida.

And that picture really tells the wrong story. Connor was up and shouting and high-fiving the entire 1st half of the game. There just couldn't be a bigger fan than this guy!


Vacation Day 7

Finally, we made it to Vacation Day 7 - our last day in The Villages. We slept in a little and then headed out. On the agenda for the day was a trip to Rainbow River in Ocala, FL. We rented tubes and floated down the river for about 2 hours. It was so peaceful and relaxing that Kaitlynn even fell asleep while floating with me in my tube! And sorry, no pictures from that adventure because I didn't want to risk getting the camera wet.

After our river float trip, we headed back to the house. We rested and had some down time.

After we were all cleaned up we headed out on the golf cars for a Mexican food dinner. But not before a final Courtright family pic. All 3 boys and even Jeff were ready to kill me and wishing they had thrown my camera into the river by this point.

Kaitlynn REALLY enjoyed her Mexican beans and rice at dinner. This one was a 5-wipe mess.

After dinner we went up to the town square for a final night of music and dancing. But we were all so worn out from our past 7 days of fun that we called it a night early and went home to bed.

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So there you go. We had an incredible 7 days of fun during our annual summer vacation in The Villages, FL. We are so grateful to Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Cheryl for graciously opening their home to our big family every summer. It was an awesome vacation, and now that I've written it all down, maybe I'll actually remember it in the future! :-)