Back in Tremont!

We arrived home about 10:00 pm Saturday night after a long day's drive. I think Beverly was pretty happy to see the highway sign that showed Tremont was the next exit! It is a very long time to be in the car.

We woke this morning to several inches of snow, which is kind of unusual for early spring season but does happen. Beverly is still sleeping so she has not seen it yet. Maybe the kids will get a chance to go out and do a little sledding before it all melts away!

Final Day in Destin

The rain continues to fall, but we are finding ways to have fun on vacation anyway!

Today we went bowling with the other Tremont family here in Destin, and Beverly had a good time.We will leave Florida early in the morning for the long drive home, the weather forecast for Destin is rain again tomorrow!

Looks like we will be heading back home to several inches of snow for Saturday night. That is kind of unusual for us for late March, but it happens!

We will post again Sunday and let you know we have arrived home safely!

Visiting Gator Beach

We had another good day in Destin!

The kids did swim in the morning on Wednesday, but it was a cloudy day and not many people were around the pool.

We went out for lunch and the restaurant has an area with small alligators, so the kid enjoyed looking at them and taking a few pictures.

Beverly is having a really good time and enjoying lots of different seafood. At lunch she had squid, and for dinner she had shrimp and scallops!

Great Day for Jumping Waves

Beverly wanted me to be sure and upload this video of her playing in the waves today. The waves were very big and they had fun ... can you tell she is having fun? ha ha ha



We laughed so hard tonight while watching this video and her attempts to get up. I told her that maybe I shouldn't load it and make her family think we have taken her to the most dangerous beach in the world, but she was sure that you would all get a good laugh!

It was a very beautiful day, and we are looking forward to more!

Sunday in Destin

We had a beautiful day at the pool and beach. Beverly had a very good time swimming and playing in the Gulf of Mexico! The building in the second photo is our condo complex.

We had a great seafood dinner again tonight and Beverly said it was probably her favorite meal yet of all the months she has been in the US!

Hello from Florida!

We arrived safely in Destin, Florida a little over 24 hours ago and have been relaxing and enjoying this beautiful part of the US!

We were pretty tired after making the long, long overnight drive (we made it here in 14 hours instead of the normal 15 hours it can take since we didn't have any delays due to road construction or heavy traffic in the larger cities). We walked into our condo about 5:30 am and everyone laid down for a few hours of more restful sleep than the car can offer. And Mitch had been up all night driving, so he really needed the rest!

Then it was up and off to the pool. We came back to the condo for a quick lunch and headed to the beach. It was a beautiful day, and Beverly really enjoyed the white sand and the pretty turquoise colored water. She said it was much prettier than what she had imagined it would be.

We came back to get everyone in the shower and dressed for dinner. We had dinner with another family from Tremont who is here with their 2 children. Their son is TJ's best friend and we will spend our days with them as well, so you will see their kids in some of our pictures this week too.

We had dinner at a neat seafood restaurant that is on the beach and offers a great sunset view. The picture is of all the kids right before the sun was about to set. We'll take some good beach pictures today and share them so you can see the beauty of this place and why we love it so much!

It's Sunday morning now and Mitch and Beverly are out on a walk/run. She is trying to keep up with some physical activity this week so that she won't be too out of shape for track practice when she returns.

Heading to Florida!

As soon as the kids get out of school this afternoon, it is time to hit the road for our spring break trip to Destin, Florida!

Here is a map of our 1,000 mile driving route! If you click on "View Larger Map" under the map picture, you can see the route in better relation to the entire U.S. map:


View Larger Map

It takes about 15 hours of driving to make the trip. After we leave Illinois, we travel through the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and into Florida. Destin is located on the Gulf of Mexico, and a beautiful combination of turquoise waters and white sand!

We will stay in a 3 bedroom condo, so the kids all have plenty of space to relax. We will have lots of great pictures on this blog and our family blog this coming week, so keep watching! We will arrive in Destin the morning of Saturday, March 21 and head for home in the afternoon of Saturday, March 28!

Congratulations, Beverly!!

After weeks of writing essays and filling out application forms and waiting, waiting, waiting for news ... Beverly received her first acceptance letter for one of the boarding schools she has applied to for next year!

We are still waiting to hear on a couple other school decisions, but she has been accepted at a school near Chicago and would be close enough to Tremont for an occasional visit! Hopefully we can get her to campus soon for a tour and look at what life on campus would be like there!