9-11 December

Man has it been a long few days!...

Thursday we slept in yet again. While I waited for the guys to wake up I finished The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker. After Jacob went to work Logan and I sat around talking with Susan (Mrs Lunsford) and sorted out some of our stuff. That night Suzanne, Telisha, Nathan, Logan and I headed down to St Augustine to a place which is done up in a Christmas fashion for November and December. We played carnival type games, went on a bouncy castle and an inflatable obstacle course, took a train ride, walked through an elf village (and tried to see how many people we could fit in an elf house), went down a long ice slide and went ice skating. Turns out I'm not very good at ice skating despite how entertaining I was to everyone watching. When I skated (and I use that word loosely) I did this windmill things with my arms and kind of rocked back and worth against my will. Needless to say I bailed three times rather hard. Logan and I also tried funnel cake for the first time there. It was literally deep fried batter covered in icing sugar. I wouldn't want it all the time but it was ok.

Early Friday morning (12.02am to be precise) everyone apart from Noel (Mr Lunsford) everyone went to see Voyage of the Dawn Trader in 3D. I was give or take on the 3D, which I suspect is due to trying to keep the 3D glasses on whilst wearing my normal pair, but the movie itself was just as good as the first two. For those of you who know the books a better Eustace couldn't have been found! It was well done. We got home late from that and decided to watch a few episodes of some TV programs and went to bed rather late. Friday was a horrible day so we didn't do a lot. Susan took Logan and I to the local Christian book shop which was rather exciting. If I wasn't flying and had the money I would have brought a lot of books because most are ones that aren't back home or are very hard to find. When we got home we all watched Letters to Juliet and waited for Jacob to come home from work so we could go out to dinner. Wjile we were waiting Logan and I decided to basically pack our bags to see how much room we had and how much they weighed. Susan kept on joking about how we were being really egar to leave but really Logan and I don't want to come home yet. We went to a place called Maggiano's Little Italy which was AMAZING! We each payed a set amount of money and ordered a family meal. Basically you got to order 2 appetizers, 4 mains and 2 desserts. Once you'd finished eating a dish they would bring out a whole new dish and if you didn't finish it they would package it up so you could take it home; it was literally free refills on the food as well as doggie bags.

Sadly during the middle of dinner we got a phone call saying Nathan was missing so long story short we spent the rest of the night with the police as they tried to locate him. Thankfully they found him around midnight. Logan and I got dropped off home as Jacob and his parents went to the hospital in Orange Park. We spent today at the hospital visiting Nathan, though it was in fits and starts as he was in CCU (like ICU) and he could only have two visitors at a time.

At the moment it's 12.50am and Logan has just gotten back from Walmart with an extra suitcase so we'll be spending the next wee while reorganising suitcases...

5-8 November

Sunday we woke up late (as normal) and spent some time watching a football game before heading up to Okefenokee (http://www.okefenokee.com/) in Georgia, just above the state boarder. We went on a guided motorboat tour where we saw lots of alligators and different types of birds; mainly cranes. Because it was a sunset tour we not only got to see the gators in the sun on the banks but got to spot them in the water in the dark. Half way long the river we got close to a mother gator and her four babies and man did she growl at us! We were so cold by the time we finished that we could barely move our fingers and toes!...

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Logan and I went exploring using the local bus system. Because it was rather cold (about 10 degrees Celsius but with a colder wind chill) we didn't get very far and went to malls. I ended up doing a fair bit of Christmas shopping. Lots of places still have sales on which is good. I nearly brought a giant eeyore yesterday but sadly I wouldn't have any room for it on the way home... Wednesday morning Jacob, Logan and I went to the shooting range. It was pretty rad getting to fire a 9mm even though it was nearly too big for my hands.

Monday night Logan and I went to Suzanne and Telisha's house and then went bowling. It was cool because the score board on the screens were all Christmasy. We had loads of fun! Tuesday and Wednesday night we sat inside in the warm and watched movies, mainly Christmas ones.

There isn't much else to report. Although I don't want to come home I'm looking forward to having food that isn't fried or grilled. Also having proper cheese as the cheese over here is making me feel really sick. Apart from that I have a cold and am having lots of fun!

1-4 December

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Logan and I went to local malls and went shopping. Places still had sales from Thanksgiving so we got some good deals. I was really happy to get 3 pairs of Levi's for the price of 1 in New Zealand! We didn't buy a lot but it was great just spending some time together. Thursday afternoon Susan (Mrs. Lunsford/Mum) took me to a place called Books-A-Million and man was it AWESOME! They had so many books, many of which are hard to find back home or are just plain expensive. Logan and I have decided that we are going to go just before we leave and we know how much weight we have spare. That place is like a book lovers paradise! Friday night Logan and I went to the movies with Katie and I enjoyed a Reeses sundae! Yum! Apart from that we just sat round reading, watching TV and hanging out with people.

On Saturday we slept in and then went to a Chicago pizza place for lunch. When Nathan gave me a piece of the pizza I had a string of cheese about 50cm long! The pizza was delicious but sadly it made me feel really sick when we got home. Because of that we didn't head to St Augustine until later. On the way we went to this crazy restaurant which had stuffed animals (some real and some fake) of all kinds like bears, big cats, birds, African animals, monkeys etc etc around the place and was literally in a swamp. Kind of creped me out... Lots! At dinner we had fried gator tails. They tasted like.... gator? They had a weird texture, got really chewy in the middle. After dinner we walked around St Augustine looking at all the lights in the trees and on the buildings etc. It was really pretty and kinda romantic. When we got ice cream I got this one with peanut butter in it and it was literally frozen! Isn't it funny how the small things stand out?

27-30 November

Because we had had a late night on Friday and everyone was really tired we all slept in late on the Saturday. When everyone had gathered and eaten we went to a place called Adventure Landing, which has a water park in the summer, an arcade, mini golf, laser tag and alligators. While we were waiting for Jacob to arrive with their friend Brian I decided that it'd be fun to feed the baby gators. Turns out that they were in a really lazy mood so that was a let down... Not to mention the broom handle, cord and bobby pin we had to use to feed them. We spent most of our time in the arcade, with the boys mainly playing shooting games. Courtney, Amber and I found this basketball game we were good at so spent most of our time playing that. We also played other standard arcade games, with Amber playing against me on one of those dance games. I'd never been on one before and learnt that you need to tie your shoe laces up properly! One of my shoe laces came undone so while I was trying to dance I had to flick my shoe off and dance in my sock. Needless to say I got some strange looks! After we'd used all of our tokens in the arcade we played laser tag. It was an all for one type game in a room that felt like a multi-leveled maze.

When we got home the bonfire was nearly in full swing so we settled down on deck chairs and cooked wieners (frankfurters) and smores. After everyone had eaten Jacob and another friend of theirs called Bryan got out their guitar and drum and sung some worship songs. It was pretty amazing being out under the stairs, in front of a bonfire singing worship songs. As people started to leave Amber, Courtney and I snuck into Jacob's room (the one I'm sleeping in) and watched Extreme Days before heading to their hotel room and staying up talking then crashing.

Sunday we woke up early and checked out then went back to the house. We mainly sat round watching TV and playing PS2 until we met up with Katie (a friend) at a local mall. Katie, Amber and I fun going to different clothing stores and trying on funny hats etc while Courtney, Bethany and the boys went exploring. It was there that I tried a Reeces sundae, and Logan tried pink lemonade, for the first time. Sadly it soon became time to take the girls to the airport and say goodbye to them. Things got really quiet once they left and everyone missed them. After that Jacob dropped me home (where I slept for 15 hours!) while him and Logan met up with some other friends.

Monday and Tuesday we pretty much just blobbed because we were all so tired from having a previously busy week. Nathan turned 20 on Tuesday and Jacob gave him a new PS2 game so the boys were entertained with that while I watched TV in Jacobs bedroom and sorted out my stuff because it was getting messy and crowded having three peoples gear in a bedroom that didn't have much floor space to start with! Logan and I went for a walk round the neighborhood on Tuesday and then joined Jacob for a trip to what we'd call a dairy. It was there that he brought some boiled peanuts for Logan and I to try. They're literally peanuts in their shells that have been boiled in salted water. Logan and I weren't keen to try them but since they're a Southern thing we decided we may as well. Lets just say that they were very salty and very mushy... Logan and I discovered lots of different chocolate bars, ice creams etc that we hadn't tried so we got a selection. Those coupled with the chocolate frappe that I got from Starbucks meant that it was a much needed chocolate overload!

Not long after we arrived home after our wee trip Nathan, Suzie and Talisha arrived. While dinner finished cooking we watched a movie, and then had a rich black forest cake for desert. Nathan, Jacob and Suzie all wanted to go to this fancy arcade so we all went after dinner. Man was it fancy! It was literally like a casino but for teenagers. You put how ever many token on a swipe card and away we went. Because Logan and I shared a card and he was better at those kind of games than I was he used up our tokens. While we were waiting for the others to use theirs I got about 10 free games and over 60 free tokens from people who hadn't paid attention and had just walked away from their games.

25-26 November (Thanksgiving and Black Friday)

Thanksgiving we woke up late and watched football until lunch was ready (lunch at 3pm, great huh?). We had smoked and fried turkey, beans with bacon, sweet potato, gravy (though it's WAY different from gravy back home), the best mashed potato I've ever tasted, cranberry sauce, curried eggs and this sweet potato desert mixed with brown sugar with marshmallows on top. Lunch was great because we sat around eating and talking. That day we met Nathan and Jacob's sister Suzanne and her girlfriend Talisha, and had some great laughs with everyone (I'll put some videos up later but pictures are on FaceBook)! We then sat around watching football until we went out and tried to play football with 6 of us. Unfortunately we were very full so it didn't go so well. After that we had to go to the airport to pick up Amber and Courtney. When Nathan and I got there we looked at the board and realised that there were no flights coming from Orlando which is where they said they were flying in from. Turns out they were flying in from Chicago. When they arrived Nathan embarrassed Amber by presenting her with an eggplant (her nickname). We went home (after Nathan got lost) and played Apples to Apples. Logan and I gave out the presents we'd taken with us so it was a bit like Christmas. Everyone loved the Pineapple Lumps, Jaffas, Minties and especially the Crunchies we'd brought over with us.

Friday came and we didn't sleep. Instead we headed out at about 2am to WalMart where Courtney brought me a Nerf gun (EXCITING stuff!) and we got a few other little bits and pieces. Nathan headed off and joined the other guys while we went to Kholes. I got some good deals and saved nearly $50! While Courtney and Amber napped in the car I joined the guys in waiting outside a sports shop much like Rebel Sports. The doors opened at 5am and we got paintball games and some other wee bits and bobs. We finally got home at 6am and crashed.

When we woke up we sat around talking and watching more football. Just before dinner was ready Courtney and Amber helped me to make a pavlova. It turned out really good apart from the small part that collapsed because the oven got bumped. Because we had no kiwifruit or chocolate chips we put cream on it and Hershey's chocolate sauce. Everyone loved it which was awesome! When the boys came home from work Charlie arrived and we sat around talking before heading out to the woods in the early hours of the morning to play paintball. It was weird playing in the dark and somewhere where you didn't know but it was lots of fun!

22-24 November

On Monday we drove to Orlando and on the way went to the Kennedy Space Centre. It was pretty rad seeing all the different rockets and how they have changed over time. Had fun watching the boys climb in and out of the pods, trying to push the buttons and things. We went on a simulator that basically showed what it is like when a rocket took off. We also played these loading and docking games on computers in the children's area; who's too old for computer games? Not these boys! Hehe. After the Space Centre we went to the Astronaut Hall of Fame where there was a whole lot of hands on games and displays teaching people about space. We then left and traveled to where we were staying in Orlando. For dinner we went to Golden Corral which is like a massive buffet with all sorts of different food, way better than any in New Zealand. Loved the free refills! After dinner we then went home and watched Community (which I now love) and went to bed. Gave the guys a nice fright in the night by screaming more than once!

Tuesday, we went to DisneyWorld (about lunch time because the boys wouldn't get out of bed!). Because it was Thanksgiving week the lines were longer than normal so we didn't go on many rides. Space Mountain was my favourite! So many twists and turns in the dark, and I only screamed once! We also went on a Stitch ride and a Buzz Lightyear one. We watched the Dream Come True parade and explored the castle. Because I didn't get to see Ariel at DisneyLand I wanted to see her here. I waited an hour in line and when I was about 7 people from the front they said she needed to take a 15 minute break. Because we had to get to Cirque du Soleil I couldn't wait... So gutted! Nathan and Jacob dropped us off at Cirque du Soleil where we saw La Nouba. It was AMAZING! Acrabats, jugglers, tightrope walkers, trampalinests, bikers etc etc. We sat in awe, so good! It was there we had our first giant pretzel. It was good though very salty! When we got home we had pizza and watched Toy Story 3. Here is the link to La Nouba: http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/lanouba/default.aspx

Wednesday morning we woke up about half an hour before check out so it was a rushed morning but we got away on time. We traveled to Tampa where we were meant to meet up with Mel but unfortunately she got stuck at work on her day off. We decided that we'd go and see Tangled at the movies but unfortunately Nathan and I got seperated from Logan and Jacob and lost so we didn't catch the movie in time. So while they were in the movie we wandered around the mall chatting. It's a good way to get to know someone more. When they came out of the movie we took a trip to Walgreens to fill in more time. A guy who works there laughed at me because I got excited over Milk duds. Jacob, Logan and I then went to a hockey game. The Tampa Bay Lightning played the New York Rangers and won! It was a close and exciting game... Love watching ice hockey! After the game we watched MC Hammer perform live (!) and then grabbed Wendy's and headed home. We got home about 2am and crashed.

Had a great few days!

21 November

Sunday we went to a football game; the Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Cleveland Browns. The stadium was HUGE! So many people there even though it was a 'small crowd' according to Jacob. At the start of the game after the national anthem a B52 flew over and they reunited a soldier with his family who they hadn't seen for ages. We felt right at home in our Jaguars t-shirts and hats, even though we didn't understand the game. The game was insanely close and was really good to watch! The Jaguars ended up winning 23-20! And man do Americans get irate with sports!

When we got home Nathan and I had a great Nerf war while everyone gave me strange looks. Stayed up late playing play station then crashed because we were so tired.