Time Travel Tuesday (Vacations)

Today for our Time Travel Tuesday, Annie has us traveling back to a favorite or memorable vacation..
Well now we are talking, Vacations are always favorite times and memorable time for my family.. Not only as a kid growing up, but also now that I have kids of my own. My family LOVES there vacations. So Sit back relax, grab your bag of popcorn(another thing my family loves LOL) and get ready to do alot of time traveling with me and my family this week.
Our 1st stops will be way back when I was a little kid growing up. The 1st year we will visit is 1977. I was 4 1/2 years old(because you know you ALWAYS have to add that 1/2 year in there) my little sister was 2 1/2 years old and my parents had planned to take a 2nd honeymoon and leave us with our grandma, ONLY when the time came they figured they would have more fun with us then missing us.. So we all got to go with them.
Niagara Falls 1977


This is a shot of me(with the blue umbrella) my mom and my sister(with the pink) they bought us these while at the falls because it kept raining.

In the summer of 1977 we took a camping trip with my parents and with my dad parents, we had a little pop up camper that one of the people from my grandpa's church let him use(Grandpa was there Pastor so they figured they could trust him LOL) I really don't remember where we went as far as which state we were in.. I think it was New Jersey but I don't know why I think that.. but I remember we stay at a Yogi Bear Park or was it called Jellystone park.. don't remember that either LOL, BUT I do remember they had this guy dressed in a Yogi Bear costume drive around to say hi to the kids and my sister loved him sat by him and got a picture but NOT me NO THANK YOU.. I was so afraid of that bear driving a golf cart.
Yogi Bear Park July 1977



me and my sister








On this camping trip I caught my 1st fish.
The next summer we did our vacationing in MI. I was 5 1/2 and my sister was 3 1/2. This year we had another person added to our vacation plans.. My little brother who was only a month or two old.
The Sand Dunes 1978


Me, my dad, and my sister












me and my sister







Mackinac Island 1978



me and my sister on the boat to the Island, I'm in the blue

Here we are on the Island.


Me, my mom, my new little brother, and my sister.
Lets travel a few years to the summer of 1980, we took another trip to Niagara Falls Canada. This trip I'll never forget, besides thinking I was so grown up all of 7 1/2 years old, and loving my brown sandals.. We played a trick on my mom. I'll save that story for another post.
here is my family. My sister who was 5 1/2, me at 7 1/2(though my sister is just as tall as me) my mom, my dad and my brother 2 years old.

my sister, my brother, my mom and me.
In 1982 we went to Florida for our summer vacation. We all loved Florida so much that we started after that 1st trip of going there every summer for vacation . Even after I got married that 1st summer I left DH at home and went with my parents to the beach. that was summer of 1995 after that I became a mom and never made it back to Florida until this past April.
In TN on our way to Florida 1982
me 9 1/2 years old, my sister 7 1/2 and my brother 4 years old
Florida 1982
my sister, me, my mom, and my brother on the beach
Florida 1990

my sister 15 1/2, at the top


Me 17 1/2 years old in the middle
my brother 12 years old down in the front.

That's it for the photos of memorable vacations for me while growing up.. I could fill 100's of blog post with them but I'll stop there..
Now.. for a more resent vacation that meant the world to me. It was the one vacation I needed more then anything in the world. In April 2004 I was 13 weeks pregnant and lost the baby. I was dealing and going on with life but I was so extremely sad and found myself crying just about every hour when the kids weren't needing me to be a mom. DH came home one day in May and told me to start packing we were taking a mini vacation, we were going to spend mothers day in TN. He knew this mothers day was going to be a killer for me and wanted to help get my mind off of the baby I would never get to get a mothers day card from. Traveling the 8 hours in the van was a little hard, because TN had become our yearly vacation spot with his parents and I kept thinking about how I thought the next time we went down there I was going to have Alyssa with us.. So I just kept looking out the window while we were driving along and crying but trying not to let anyone know I was crying.
When we got to TN and started doing vacation stuff, swimming and letting the kids ride rides.. I was starting to feel a little better but still sad.. Then it happened. Princess wanted to ride bummer boats, and so did Mr Man but he was only 4 1/2 years old and couldn't ride them without an adult so I went on with him.. THAT is when it Happened.. I Smiled and was truly having fun for the very 1st time since losing the baby.. I remember getting off those boats thinking.. oh my goodness, I can smile again.. I can find happiness again.. (funny though I'm talking about happiness but still tearing up as I type this.. )
But that vacation will always have a spot as one of my favorite vacations because it was the first time I could smile after losing our baby. I have two albums of photos online from that vacation Here is the 1st and here is the 2nd just click the link to view them. Princess was 8 years old, Mr Man 4 1/2 years old and Sweet Pea 2 years old.
Now to end this Trip though time. I'll leave you with one of the most fun vacations ever. April 2007 spring break vacation to Florida.