Gigi and Poppy's Annual Baseball Trip #11
"The One in Florida"
June 17- 26, 2021
BEST TRIP EVER!
Every year Gigi Shirley and Poppy take us on a summer vacation to a new baseball stadium. This is Poppy's dream and he took mommy to all of the stadiums but California. Thus far I have been to 12 stadiums and now will add 2 more. We have never been to Florida so I am VERY excited. Here is what we did every day!
Thursday, June 17th
Mommy and Daddy dropped us off in Buffalo with Poppy. Then we drove to Gigi and Poppy's house in Arp. We stopped at the store in Tyler to get some food. Then Poppy fixed one of our favorite meals, Spaghetti! It was really good. We went to bed since we had to leave so early in the morning.
Packing the truck.
Friday, June 18th
We woke up early and left Gigi and Poppy's house at 5:30 exactly, at least that is what Luke says. It's crazy but Luke had a cosmic brownie for breakfast and we all had a croissant. We started the trip by playing on our iPads but we did try to fall asleep. We ate lunch somewhere in Mississippi Cracker Barrell. We love this place! Then we continued to go towards Tallahassee. Our hotel did not have a swimming pool but we didn't have a lot of time to swim anyway. Then we walked to IHOP for dinner. Then we went to bed.
Saturday, June 19th
We woke up and then drove to Tampa Bay. Luke says it felt like two minutes to get there but I thought it felt much longer. I just wanted to get to the beach. We went to the St. Pete's beach that mommy's friend Mrs. Rachel recommended. It was so pretty. The waves were high and choppy but we had so much fun swimming in the waves. We spent a long time there. I got a bit of sunburn and so did Luke. Then we drove to our hotel in Winter Haven, FL. This hotel did have a pool but we didn't swim since we had been at the beach. We had Culver for dinner and ate it in the truck. It was yummy! Then we went back to the hotel but the air conditioning was not working. IT WAS SO HOT. Gigi and Poppy talked to the guy at the front (Even Mommy called and complained) but we had to stay here. There were not any rooms. The next night, we got a new room and it was cooler.
This was my favorite beach EVER!
We ran straight to the water.
We wanted to bury each other.
Luke being a goof-ball!
Sunday, June 20th
We woke up and gave Poppy his Father's Day cards. WE LOVE YOU POPPY! Then we took a what Luke says is a "two minute drive" to Legoland. Mrs. Rachel was there and helped us get in. She is AWESOME and we appreciate her! The first thing we did is ride the "Great Lego Race". Then we rode the "Aquatic Center Ride". Luke liked this one. Gigi and I rode ALL the rides but Luke and Poppy didn't ride the rollercoasters. For lunch we had a VERY small chicken tender that was a kids meal but the fries were HUGE. It was weird. We spent the whole day here and it was AWESOME. I love LEGOLAND. After Legoland,
We loved Legoland!
BEST TRIP EVER!
Me and Poppy riding The Great Lego Race.
This was a really fun ride.
I love this one!
Me and Gigi rode this one too!
Me and Luke on the Dragon.
We liked this one!
Monday, June 21
We woke up and had the hotel breakfast. Then left early to get to Busch Garden's. Mommy's friend Mrs. Rachel was there again to help us get into the park. We looked at the zoo and rode a lot of rides. The very first one we rode was the Cheetah Hunt. Luke and Poppy did not ride this one but Mrs. Rachel did. We even got to ride in the front seat. This was my FAVORITE ride ever! While we were at BG we had the All You Can Eat dining deal. This was so cool. I was able to get pulled pork sandwiches, pizza, icee, water and so much more. This was so cool. Luke had pizza and chicken legs and so much more. He ate a lot. Luke's favorite part of Busch Gardens was the animals. He rode some rides like the "Air Grover" but since he doesn't like rollercoasters, he spent a lot of time with the animals. But he LOVED it. Gigi and I rode so many rides, including my first LOOP rollercoaster, The Scorpion! It was really cool and I am glad I rode it. We also did the Cheetah Hunt again but the line was long. It started to rain and they practically shut down the entire park. It was so annoying. But then they opened it again! We stayed until they closed the park and got to see fireworks too. It was so cool!
Me and Luke riding the Air Grover!
Luke's favorite part was the animals at Busch Garden!
We stayed so late that we "shut the park down" as Gigi said.
This was SO COOL! We were like the last to leave basically!
This was the Cheetah Hunt. Literally my favorite roller coaster EVER!
Thank you Mrs. Rachel for helping us get to Busch Garden!
I LOVE BUSCH GARDENS! It was my favorite part of trip.
Tuesday, June 22
We woke up and ate breakfast at the hotel. Then we drove to the Florida Aquarium in Tampa Bay. The aquarium was awesome and had a ton of sea animals. My favorite was the nurse shark. Luke's favorite was the seahorses (those were cool too). We spent the whole morning and a little of afternoon at the Aquarium. For lunch we went to Olive Garden. That is mine and Luke's favorite and mommy and daddy never take us unless it is our birthdays so this was AWESOME. Thanks Gigi and Poppy! After Olive Garden we went to the game at Tropicana Field. This stadium is a dome and is slightly slanted. We got there and were able to see and even pet the sting rays. Gigi and I got in and pet them and it was cool. The game went to extra innings, 12 actually, and it was cool. This was Luke's favorite part of the trip because it was so much baseball. After the game we went back to Winter Have to our hotel.
Luke loves Penguins!
This was an AWESOME aquarium!
Before we got into the park!
Selfie time!
This was right when we got into the park!
We got to actually pet stingrays. This is the coolest thing I have ever done at a baseball stadium.
I liked this part!
Stadium #13 for us... THANKS GIGI AND POPPY!
Mommy made us these shirts!
Luke being a goof-ball again!
Wednesday, June 23rd
We packed up and went to Miami. We were able to have a non-hotel breakfast. We ate at Whale Family Restaurant somewhere past Winter Haven. This was the best breakfast of the trip. Luke ate so much and felt so fat afterwards. Then we drove to Miami to Hollywood Beach. This beach was nicer, yet calmer. There were not very many waves and the water was more blue but not as clear. This beach was pretty and the sand was nice too. Gigi and I went to the shopping area around this beach and got souvenirs. I got a cool shirt to wear to school. Then we found a smoothie shop and got smoothie. Luke didn't like his but that is because he is weird about smoothies. I LOVED IT. Then we left the beach and went to our hotel and swam in the pool for a while. Then all of the sudden lightning happened and we had to get out. Then we had dinner at Lester's Diner. This place was really good. I liked the food. Then watched a baseball game on TV at the hotel and went to bed.
Luke ordered a HUGE plate of food!
And this is what he looked like after eating it... ALL!
I really liked this beach too but the water was not as blue.
Me and Gigi went shopping and it was awesome!
We loved this beach!
I really liked the boardwalk style of this beach.
We found a smoothie shop and it was awesome.
Back at the hotel playing on our iPads!
Thursday, June 24th
We woke up and ate breakfast at the hotel. It was raining a lot so we set in the hotel lounge for a while. Then we went to Monster Golf and played 18 holes of mini-golf. There was a big bus so we had to wait a bit. But we played in the arcade and got a LOT of tickets. Luke got this really cool magnet putty thing. I liked this place. Then we drove to the Marlin's game. We had the coolest tickets and seats ever. We were SO CLOSE. We even got to eat popcorn and hot dogs. It was awesome but the Marlins lost. Then we drove to our hotel in Port Charlotte.
This was a really cool putt-putt place!
I loved it!
And so did Luke haha!
There was an arcade there too!
We made it to our seats. They were SO CLOSE!
Selfie time again!
And now I am the goof-ball!
Luke loved these seats!
And stadium #14! This is so cool!
The back of our shirts!
We were so close we could go down to the field level and ask for baseballs.
We didn't get any but that is OK!
Friday, June 25th
We woke up and ate breakfast in the hotel and then drove to Foley, AL. Luke helped Poppy get there with the navigation. But sometimes they got lost. Then we ate at Lamberts. We were known as the "Luke party of 4". It was funny! This is our favorite restaurant EVER. We like the throwed rolls. I ate chicken and dumplings and Luke got meatloaf. And a LOT of rolls, of course. Then we drove to Mobile, AL to our hotel and swam in the hotel pool. There was a baseball team there for a tournament. There were lots of people. Then we went to bed.
Me wondering if we will ever get there with Luke's navigation!
We made it... We LOVE Lamberts!
Luke and Poppy looking at the menu!
Luke catching a roll!
Saturday, June 26
We got to swim in a hotel pool ONE MORE TIME! WE LOVE THIS! We woke up and got Dunkin Donuts for breakfast on our way back to Arp. I LOVE Dunkin Donuts. This trip was a little weird because we took a weird route and it took forever. But we finally got back and had dinner at the Butcher Shop in Longview. This was mommy's favorite in high school. We got cheeseburgers and accidentally got two orders of fries. But don't worry, we ate them all. Then we got a BIG, HUGE cookie. It was so yummy. Then we got to Gigi and Poppy's house in Arp. It felt so good to be "home". I love Gigi and Poppy's house.
Swimming in the hotel pool!
We love swimming.
We ate at Cracker Barrell somewhere in Mississippi!
I want one of these!
We still had to stop and get gas!
We made it to Texas! Home Sweet Home!
Dinner at Butcher Shop! This place was AMAZING!
I now want to eat there every time we go to Arp!
Sunday, June 27th
We went to church at Poppy's Church in Arp (AEBC). This was the first day of Vacation Bible School so the sanctuary was all decorated. It was neat. For lunch we had Chicken Cobbler at Poppy's house. Then we went to VBS. I was too old and was able to help Gigi and that meant I got to even eat the adult food. It was really neat. Then we had Poppy's pancakes for dinner... THIS IS MY FAVORITE! Then we packed up since we were going home tomorrow.
Vacation Bible School at Poppy's Church!
Monday, June 28th
We woke up and Poppy took us to Buffalo to meet my mom and dad. It felt so good to see them. It was almost 2 weeks. On our drive back to Conroe we talked nonstop about Florida.
This was the best vacation with Gigi and Poppy. I really liked Florida and the beaches. But my favorite thing was Busch Garden. This place so AMAZING. I also liked Legoland. Luke said his favorite was the Tampa Bay baseball game since it went extra innings. But he likes the Miami stadium better.
Thank you Gigi and Poppy for taking us on this trip. It is my favorite thus far! I love you so much! You're the best!
Until next year...
Written by Natalie Grace
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