Florida 2012 (#1)

In 2012, we surprised the kids (and ourselves) with a trip to Florida.  I planned this trip 3 weeks before we left for a week.  Who does that?  I do that...I do that more often than you would think is possible. :)  *just a note...we live in California--so a last minute trip across the country is a tad bit crazy.

Prior to leaving, I packed a bag with a SMASH book, pens, scraps of paper, my Polaroid PoGo, and adhesive.  I totally thought I was going to scrapbook while vacationing...I was so wrong ha ha ha...it only added to the weight of my carry-on. :/

I actually "finished" the book in March 2013, but I never journaled inside...so that is the part I am currently working on.

Here is the cover...I tried to capture the things we did...caught a Marlin's game (against our beloved Giants), went to DisneyWorld and Universal Orlando...We also went to the beach and the boys went to a Tampa Bay Ray's game. (I just realized I forgot to add those last two elements to my cover!  I may go back now...we will see.)

This was my first SMASH book and the concept is great, but I didn't really care for it...it doesn't really allow too much extras to be placed inside.  (I suppose it is more for thoughts and doodlings than to use instead of a Scrapbook like I used it for.)

Luckily, most of the pages just worked out right for each of my layouts...but when it didn't, I would just add paper over it...adding to the bulkiness of the book.

Here is the inside of the front cover...I like keeping and adding our plane tickets...I don't know why.

The first layout is our itinerary for the week.  I actually completed this before we left...I'll pat myself on the back--hahaha. 

The printable cards are from Cathy Zielske.  Unfortunately, I cannot find the post that she shared these with the world.

A funny (but not so funny) story...our plane from San Jose to Los Angeles was on the tiniest plane I have ever been on...and since I booked the flight so late, we were in the back of the plane and not seated next to each other.  There were 2 seats on one side of the plane and 1 seat on the other side of the plane...so tiny!!  Anyway, we were right above the landing gear.  As we were descending, the landing gear (of course) was opening up, but the noise scared me...I almost jumped out of my seat!  I thought we were going down!!!  I might have let out a little "Ah!"--hahaha...I'm sure my seat mate wasn't thrilled to be seated next to me. :D

Our first stop in Florida was in Miami...we got in early enough to drive to our hotel downtown, check out the pool, and walk to grab a bite to eat.

It was the first time we had all eaten Columbian food--it was ok, but it was no Mexican food.  

I usually opt for the cheapest (but clean) hotels.  The Hampton Inn did not disappoint.  My daughter was the only one to get into the pool, but she wasn't thrilled...it was so hot outside and in the pool that it just felt like a hot tub...she said it wasn't refreshing at all.  

Well that was day 1 of our trip.  Thank you for looking!