Hello friends!

This last post in the vacation series is going to be more of a travel diary, documenting memories throughout the whole trip rather than being a collection of pretty photos from one or two days. Read on for Sully’s mushroom shirt, a beach family photoshoot, an erupting volcano, donuts and grape juice, and a tale of The Great Plague.

cover photo credits: Jackie Watson

The first two days we stayed at a hotel in Orlando while we waited for various people to arrive from their various places. I love the beachy colors and palm trees in this picture.

Sully wearing his mushroom shirt from Megan’s thrift business, @goldenrodthrift on Instagram. 😀

We helped pick up the Hammers from the airport, and Sully and I joined the older kids in lip-syncing and dance parties before bed. Fun times!

On Monday morning, we packed up and made our way to Vero Beach. Sully and I made a quick run to Sam’s Club for the traditional Alexander pizza, and some treats they told us to get for ourselves since we made the trip.

I love the Vero Beach resort’s location! You can literally see the ocean from some of the rooms. This was the view from I think Oliver, Michelle, Bethany, and Elliott’s condo while we were there for supper one night. AHHH SO GORGEOUS. I makes me want to go back.

I already shared plenty of camera ocean photos in my last post, but I couldn’t resist adding in this shot of the intrepid Cole paddling out to sea.

The Hammer kids and I found lots of shells right where the waves met the shore. Seashell hunting is one of my favorite things. I brought some home and filled a jar with them for our bedroom.

Of course I had to get a selfie with my buddy Caroline. ❤

I didn’t hold Ellanie much but she was so sweet when I did!

People have started asking if Jensen and Jonas are twins because they look so much alike now that Jonas is getting bigger. I think this was taken after we’d all gotten ready for a family photoshoot and then it got cancelled by the rain. 😦

We did, however, have a successful family photoshoot the next morning! Well, mostly successful. Some of the little kids had a rough time. But Jackie Watson, our photographer, still got some great shots. 🙂

Each individual family or couple got a few pictures for themselves as well. I chose this one to share because it’s cute and it looks like I only have one leg. Ha!

Okay, back to my phone pictures. I got this shot after Sully and I visited the beach at night. The bushes arch into a sort of arbor leading from the beach to yellow pool lights.

Before we left Vero Beach on Sunday morning, we had to take a selfie since we’d taken one on our honeymoon at this very place with these very same shirts a year ago! Click here to see that post.

This view behind us deserved its own picture. Look how sparkly and sunny the water is!

We all drove to a different Airbnb place for the second half of the trip on Sunday afternoon. Our car contained Sully and I, Harrison and Sheridan, and Anna, Bethany’s sister and an honorary Alexander. We stopped at Disney Springs and walked around a bit, but not too long because it was extraordinarily hot. This is the view from the top of the Coca-Cola building.

I love this shot of the volcano! You could actually feel the fire’s heat while walking by when it “erupted.”

Of course we had to stop in at Basin, which Sully and Harrison LOVE, much to my amusement. We all enjoyed their fancy bath bombs and lotion/scrub testers.

And then we made it to the next house! I don’t have a lot of pictures of the actual place we stayed, but it was perfect for the 23 people who stayed there. Lots of bedrooms, arcade games and a movie theater, and other great stuff. So much fun! There was a small pool out back so we rarely visited the community pool, but here’s that area.

Everything was beautifully landscaped. These blue flowers were one of my favorite bits of Florida nature. The color is lovely! (Also isn’t this a surprisingly good photo for just a phone?)

Credits to Sully for this picture. Some of the girls played a game of Dutch Blitz when Michelle’s sister Shanna came to visit one day. I love Dutch Blitz!

Bubbles were a popular poolside toy – even we older kids enjoyed them. Sometimes the tube of bubbles was too special to be taken away from a small child without protestations, even if the said child wasn’t actually blowing the bubbles. XD

Henry got really cold one day and had to be wrapped in Megan’s beloved yellow blanket to warm up. I brought a quilt and Megan brought a blanket and my goodness, they were both much used by all. Especially this one.

Running errands to Dunkin Donuts and Maggiano’s to use up some gift cards and get supper! This was the day before it all started going downhill…

And now we’re at Wednesday. *ominous music* William had thrown up a couple days before and no one else got it, but about halfway through this day, people started dropping like flies with the stomach virus. Those of us who remained well all drank some fancy grape juice Elliott ran out to get for us because Bethany said it would help our immune system or something. Spoiler alert: she was not correct.

As more and more people retired to their bedrooms with a bucket in hand, Sheridan and I went outside for fresh air and to see a rainbow! A sign of promise and hope!

Later that evening the sky went up in flames with a stunning sunset. I posted more about that in the last post. But then we stopped caring about the sky because almost EVERYONE went down. I think 17/23 people got the stomach virus altogether. The night was filled with passing ghostly people going to and from the bathroom, comparing symptoms, drinking gingerale, and hearing unpleasant sounds from upstairs. I passed out twice because I got dehydrated (that was super scary); Sully had a panic attack; other people passed out or got awfully sick; and Bethany, Meredith, and Sheridan stayed up all night caring for literally everyone. They were our heroes.

Poor Megan was sick for most of the vacation she stayed for. However, as Sully likes to say, at least she got to spend a romantic evening with Harrison throwing up into the same bucket, in the middle of all the other sick people. :’D Thankfully no one was throwing up by the time we all had to leave, although some people got it even after they returned home. Good grief. Anyway, sorry if that was a little TMI, but I couldn’t make this post without documenting what became one of the most memorable parts of the trip for all of us. It was awful but also weirdly bonding, oh deeear. XD

And there you go, the final post in this vacation series! If for some reason you’re still interested in hearing more about it, check out Sheridan’s excellent and amusing vacation vlogs on her channel here. She’s waiting to post until the whole family sees them so it might be a few more days yet. Subscribe if you’re interested so you don’t miss them. 🙂

What is one of your funniest or most memorable vacation memories?

Thanks so much for reading, my friends, and have a lovely day!

***Allison***