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Annual Recap

Our 2022 Recap- All of our Adventures Wrapped Up Into One Post!

Welcome to the 2022 Recap!  In this post we’ll map out all of our adventures for the year!  We started the tradition of posting our recap early in the year, rather waiting until the end, last year and love the way it came together!  We had an absolute blast in 2021, and we’re excited to share with you our 2022 recap!

This year we’re adding a bit of spontaneity to our adventures.  For Christmas, we got a book called “Adventure Challenge: Family Edition“.  In it, there are 50 different mystery activities for us to complete this year.  We’ll be sharing that with you all, as well.  If you aren’t already doing so, follow us on Instagram so you don’t miss out on the fun.

January

[Sheffield Park] [Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park] [Silver Springs State Park] [Huguenot Park]

 

Apparently 2022 is going to be the year of parks for us because on January 2nd, we hit up yet another park (after visiting Sheffield Park the day before).  We took our lab, Lady Belle, to Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park for a hike.  One downside of Pumpkin Hill is that the trails aren’t well marked.  We’ve been lost in the park before and I was terrified that it was going to happen again.  We ended up on a trail that lead to an excellent launching site on the creek.  We’ll definitely have to come back with our paddle board or kayaks!

Each year we let the kids choose whether they want to have a birthday party or go on an “adventure” for their birthday.  Smiley selected an adventure.  She decided that she had so much fun at Legoland (where we celebrated the boys 4th birthday), that she wanted to celebrate hers there, as well.  Unfortunately, in January, the COVID numbers started to spike again.  We gave her the option to go to Legoland with one of us during the month of January, or wait until the numbers went down and all 5 of us could go together (since the twins aren’t old enough to be vaccinated).  Being the sweetheart that she is, she chose to wait.

We wanted to reward her for her selflessness with a day trip to celebrate her 8th birthday.  To celebrate, we headed down to Silver Springs State Park.  We hopped on a clear bottomed boat tour.

We got to see several different spring vents, at least 5 manatee, an alligator, turtles, birds, and countless fish.  We also saw a sunken 400 year old dug out canoe and learned about the history of the indigenous people that ones called this place home.  We also learned about all of the films that were shot at Silver Springs.  

After the boat tour, we spent a lot of time wandering around the park.  We hiked, strolled the boardwalks, ran around the large fields, and searched for the park’s famous monkeys.  Unfortunately, we didn’t spot any.  Before we even left the park, the kids were making plans to visit again soon so we could kayak and paddleboard.

In December of 2021, our home was burglarized and we had 2 cars and an ATV stolen.  After a ton of back and forth with insurance companies and mechanics, we were finally able to get a replacement.  Ashley has been wanting a Jeep Gladiator since they were first released and she was finally able to get one.  To break it in, we took the Jeep to our favorite beach, Huguenot, where she got to dip it in the water, take it out on the small 4WD path, and drive it on the beach.  We all had such a great time!

In the middle of January, the weather turned cold and wet causing most of our family to get sick which put a hold on our paddling trips to the springs.  And then, it finally happened.  One of us caught COVID which meant for 10 days we did virtually nothing.  

February

By the first weekend in February, we were all healthy enough to venture out on our first adventure of the month.  We asked our Instagram family to vote on where we should visit. It was a tie between the springs and Paynes Prairie.  Remarkably it was a tie!  Since the weather was in the 50s, we decided to head to Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park for a bit of hiking.  The Florida state park is known for its population of wild horses, bison, and alligator population.   Crazily, we didn’t see either of those animals! We did, however, see some deer, armadillos, and several different species of birds.  Next time, we’ll check out the northern entrance of the park in hopes of seeing the horses and bison!

Of course, we couldn’t be by Gainesville and NOT stop by the University of Florida.  On the home, we made a quick detour to drive through the campus and swing by Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

After our trip to Paynes Prairie, we had another round of sickness and a cold spell that caused us to stay home.  Once the weather warmed up a little bit (and the ear infections and sniffles cleared), we headed to the beach.  We’re very fortunate to be surrounded by several state parks within just miles of our home.

We decided to hit up Little Talbot Island State Park.  The park is located about 3 miles from our usual beach (Huguenot Memorial Park).  However, unlike Huguenot, you cannot drive on the beaches at Little Talbot.  Admittedly, it was nice to not have to worry about cars while we searched for sharks teeth and shells.

When we got to the park, we chatted with the park ranger who gave us a handy picture guide that showed all of the different shells and sharks teeth that litter the beach.  Smiley enjoyed referring to the infographic while the boys splashed in the tide pools.  It felt so good to be back at the beach again!  

Later, we headed to our favorite swimming hole, at Sheffield Park, to take the paddleboard for a spin.  Man, have I missed paddling!

Oh!  And the biggest news of all in February… After having been stolen and be worked on at the shop for nearly 3 months we finally got our Ford Explorer back!  

March

In March we had our first BIG adventure of the year.   We took the kids on their very first cruise, and they left the country for the first time!  What was their first country, you might ask?  The Dominican Republic! The DR was gorgeous!  It reminded me a lot of St. Thomas.  We spent the day at the Playa Bachata Spa Resort in Maimon.  The resort has a beautiful palm tree lined beach with a ton of loungers.  The kids were a little annoyed with the seaweed, so we spent more time at the pool than in the beach.  The had such a great time splashing around with some of the local kids.

Puerto Plata, Amber Cove, Dominican Republic
Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos

Our second port was Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos.  This my third trip to Grand Turk, and I couldn’t wait for the kids to get to experience it.  The island itself isn’t very picturesque- there’s actually not much to do in Grand Turk aside from the beach.  Carnival has an absolutely stunning beach right next to the pier so we spent the morning relaxing at that beach.  Later in the day, we migrated over to the Margaritaville pool and Smiley tested out the FlowRider (and loved it!).  

The day we got back, we started looking at booking another cruise.  The kids had such a wonderful time, but both Ashley and I were a little disappointed by the cruising experience.  Between the 2 of us we’ve been on over 20 cruises with Carnival and this one was our least favorite experience.  There wasn’t a ton of stuff to do on the ship.  The last time we were on the ship (in 2019) there were a ton of kids activities.  Unfortunately, they got rid of almost every single one of them.  The kids didn’t know any different- but we certainly did.

April

[Huguenot Beach] [Legoland Florida] [Peppa Pig Theme Park]

April was pretty quiet for us.  I was battling some health issues which had me down for the count for nearly 2 weeks.  We spent a couple of weekends at our favorite beach, but other than that we didn’t get up to much…until our trip to Legoland and Peppa Pig Theme Park!

Earlier this year, Smiley chose to visit Legoland for her birthday.  Unfortunately, we had to put the trip on pause because of a spike in COVID numbers.  To reward her for her patience, we tacked on a day at Peppa Pig Theme Park AND invited some friends to join us.  

The kids at Legoland Florida
Smiley at Legoland Florida

As always, Legoland Florida DID NOT disappoint.  We had so much fun showing our friends one of our favorite theme parks.  We got to ride a few different rides this time, which was really cool!  

The Battle of Bricksburg water ride is my new favorite!  Smiley tried out new roller coasters- the wooden Coastersaurus and Legoland’s fastest roller coaster- the Lego Technic Coaster which has a  foot drop and hits speeds of 28 mph.  The boys enjoyed try out the Boat School ride and Stinky fell in love with the Beetle Bounce ride which features sudden drops down from a tower.  These kids are BRAVE!

The next day we spent the morning at Florida’s newest theme park, Peppa Pig Theme Park.  The park is quaint and super adorable.  It’s what we call a 1/2 day park- one that you can see and do everything in just 1/2 a day.  We arrived at the park just before it opened and were able to ride all of the rides, watch a show, do character meet and greets and have lunch in about 3 hours.

The park is well thought out and sensory-friendly.  We really enjoyed hanging out at Peppa Pig Theme Park, it’s perfect for little kids!

The Kids Relaxing in Peppa Pig's house at Peppa Pig Theme Park- Florida

May

[Huguenot Beach] [Mudslinger Tours]

May brought along more days with salt in the air and our toes in the sand.  We also had our best shark tooth hunting expedition ever! Believe it or not, we actually had to leave the beach and head inland to Central Florida in order to find them!  For millions of years, Florida was underwater.  This means that the land that we walk on now was once the floor of the ocean.  Along the creek beds and rivers in the Sunshine State, there are millions of shark teeth and fossils just waiting to be discovered!  We booked a tour with Mudslinger Tours out of Gainesville.  After about 4 hours in the creek, we found more than 100 shark teeth! This is an absolute must-do if you find yourself in Central Florida!

June

 

 

[Main Beach] [Salt Springs] [Yogi’s Jellystone Park] [Jacksonville Zoo] [Play Factory & Cafe]

 

It’s Ashley’s birthday month!  Fun fact- Ashley hates birthdays.  We try to make the best of them by spending our time in the great outdoors.  On her birthday, we packed up the Jeep and spent the morning at the Main Beach in Fernandina Beach.  The next day, we headed to the Ocala National Forest to visit Salt Springs.

In case you couldn’t tell, we love exploring springs!  Salt Springs reminded me a lot of the nearby Alexander Springs.  A lot of the spring run was rather shallow, making it perfect for kids.  The only downsides were that there were lots of rocks (we totally recommend packing water shoes!) and you can’t paddle at the springs (however, you can paddle just beyond the park boundaries).  

As always, Smiley had a blast swimming, exploring, and living her best life.  The twins were a little apprehensive when we first got in (because it was cold and it is deep near the entrance), but once they got in the shallow waters they were perfectly fine.  

In the middle of the month, we took a trip to Jellystone in Golden Valley, NC.  This trip has become one of our favorite family traditions!  Rather than staying at an Air BNB when we go up to visit Ashley’s side of the family, we stay at Jellystone.  It costs about the same as we’d spend at an Air BNB, but it comes with a ton of amenities.

We spent 5 days splashing in the creek and splash pad and swimming in the lake in pool.  We played putt putt golf, did some mining, watched the sunset over the mountains, rode bikes and zoomed around in the golf cart. 

This year, they added a new inflatable obstacle course in the lake.  Boy was that fun!  

Last year, the boys would only go down the small 2-3 foot toddler waterslide at the water park.  This year they tackled the largest slides in the park…again, and again, and again!  It was definitely a trip to remember!

Later in the month, we checked out a new play place called Play Factory & Cafe, spent a few days at the zoo and hit up the park with our cousins.

July

[Huguenot Park] [Fort Caroline] [Ribault Monument] [Cade Museum] [Florida Museum of Natural History] [MOSH] [Hands on Children’s Museum] [Jacksonville Zoo]

It finally happened.   After four of us avoided COVID for two years, we finally caught it.  Honestly, once the twins tested positive, I knew Ashley and I would as well.  This meant we were down for the count for not just one week, but two since Ashley and I didn’t test positive until several days after the guys did.

Once we were clear to be around people again, we tried our very best to make up for being isolated for two weeks.  We went to our favorite beach where we played in tidal pools and let the current carry us on our boogie boards.

While Smiley was away at camp, the guys and I had fun exploring a bunch of kid-friendly sights here in town.  We went to the Hands on Children’s Museum, checked out the dinosaur exhibit at MOSH, walked the Southbank downtown, and hung out at our local zoo.

The boys LOVED the Hands on Children’s Museum, which is really more like a large play space rather than a museum.  They got to learn all about our community through hands-on exploration.

One of our goals this year was to spend more time in Gainesville.  So, we took a spontaneous trip down to The Swamp to check out two different museums.  First, we hit up the Florida Museum of Natural History.   The museum’s exhibits were focused on the animals and indigenous people that lived/live in Florida.  They had an impressive collection of fossils of animals that once called this area home.

We added on the Butterfly Garden and Fossil exhibits to maximize our visit.  The kids were huge fans of the butterflies and loved being surrounded by hundreds of friendly fluttering insects.  The fossil exhibit was also pretty cool, although it was a little over our kids heads.  It was neat being able to talk to a scientist as he cleaned up an old turtle shell fossil.   If you’re short on time, we suggest skipping the extra fossil exhibit as the museum has an impressive collection of fossils included with their normal exhibits.

Their favorite museum, however, was the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention.  They loved all of the hands-on exhibits.  The museum features lots of opportunities for kids to use their imagination, spark some creativity, and learn about topics such as space and innovation.  

Later in the month, we headed to one of our local National Park sites, Fort Caroline, where the kids got their very first Junior Ranger badge!  Although we’ve visited several NPS sites, this was the first time we did the activities required to collect the badge.  The questions the kids had to answer were pretty tough, but it added an interesting element to our visit.  While we were at Fort Caroline, we stopped by the nearby Ribault Monument, a replica of a column erected by Jean Ribault when he first arrived in Florida. 

We visited our local zoo at least 5 times this month.  We definitely make the most out of our annual pass every summer!  The kids love greeting each of the animals and spending time at the splash park.

August

[Anastasia State Park] [St. Mary’s Aquatic Center]

Like many families, August means back to school for the 5 Suitcases crew.  Before the twins started VPK, Smiley started 3rd grade, and Elle began her 9th year of teaching, we managed to squeeze a little more fun in.

We spent some time visiting some of our favorite parks- Pirate Playground (Fernandina) and Landon Park (Jax). 

We also met some friends down in St. Augustine and spent some quality time on the water.  Between fishing and swimming, we squeezed in a history lesson about Castillo de San Marcos and the Massacre at Matanzas.  The kids loved fishing and were stoked that they caught several fish.  My favorite part was dropping anchor at Conch Island (home of Anastasia State Park) and simply relaxing before heading back to work.

After the first week of school, Smiley and Ashley went up to North Carolina to visit family.  Meanwhile, the twins and I struck out on our own adventure!  We headed to Georgia to check out the St. Marys Aquatic Center.  The center had a lazy river, water slides, and a super-fun splash area.  They were in heaven!

September

[Ripley’s Believe it or Not!] [Beyond Van Gogh Immersive Exhibit]

In September, we took a day trip down to St. Augustine to visit our favorite donut shop, The Donut Experience, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, and to have lunch at Ford’s Garage.  

I haven’t been to Ripley’s in years, so it was pretty cool to see what the museum of oddities has evolved into.  The museum offered free admission to teachers and 50% off for their guests during the month of September, so we decided to check it out.  They had a cool collection of space things which was a hit with the boys.  Smiley was pretty intrigued at all of the unusual art work.  Ashley has decided she hates going to museums with us because we “rush through things”…she likes to take time to read EVERY THING where we’re more visual folks.

We were invited to an Influencer event to preview the traveling Beyond Van Gogh Immersive Exhibit.  Naturally, I took my favorite art lover- Smiley to check it out.  Before the event, we learned all about Vincent Van Gogh and his journey to becoming one of the most famous artists in history.  

The Immersive Exhibit was really cool, although I was expecting the space to be a little larger- perhaps more than one wrong.  As you stand in the middle of a large room, the walls and floors are illuminated with Van Gogh’s masterpieces.  The art work seems to dance and come to life.  The movement reminded me of the various brush strokes that Van Gogh utilized in his works.  

The exhibit has mixed reviews.  While it is impressive, the ticket price is a little steep for what you get in the experience.  If you’re able to find a discounted ticket- then perhaps it would be worth the cost.

 

 

Later in the month we were invited to a couple of more events- our favorite was Tacos  & Tequila Festival here in downtown Jacksonville. For once, we got a babysitter and hit up an event sans kids.  Ashley has decided she’s never attending another festival without VIP ever again.  We were spoiled by the crew at Visit Jax and had access to everything the event had to offer! We spent two days indulging in all the tequila we could drink and scrumptious tacos. We can’t wait to go again next year!

October

The desk Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence on-National American History Museum

The kids spent the summer learning about Washington, DC and our nation’s leaders.  In October, the time finally came to see all of these historic places in person.  The kids took their first flight (which may have been one of the highlights of their trip) and got to ride the Metro for the first time.

We didn’t pack a ton into our itinerary because I didn’t want to rush the Smithsonian museums and I didn’t want to over-do it with the kids.  Even with us taking it “easy”, we managed to walk more than 25 miles during our long weekend in DC!

We arrived in DC mid-afternoon on Friday.  We walked from our hotel to the National Mall.  Along the way, I managed to get us lost and we went about 2.5 miles out of our way.  Oops!  

Because of this, we didn’t get to see as much of the National Mall as I wanted us to.  We managed to see the Washington Monument and spend some time in the National Museum of American History.

On Saturday, we started off our morning with a visit to the White House Visitor Center.  We walked around The President’s Park, and snapped photos of Ben Franklin and A. Ham’s statues before queueing up for our White House Tour.  The White House tour was an amazing experience.  This was my 4th trip to the nation’s capital and my first time inside the White House.  It was really neat to see the relics that decorate the White House and the portraits and statues of the people who helped to shape our nation.  I’m so glad that we had this opportunity!

Dude...they actually let US inside the White House!
Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History

Our next stop was Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.  The boys thought all of the dinosaur skeletons were “super awesome” and Smiley was super impressed with all of the gemstones.  We even got to touch actual space rocks, which was really rad.  

We capped off the day with a tour of the Library of Congress.  Here we saw Thomas Jefferson’s Library, scoped out the children’s library, and marveled at the world’s largest library.

On Sunday, we began our day with a tour of Ford’s Theater.  We did the total experience which included the museum, the theater, the Petersen House where Abraham Lincoln died, and the Aftermath Museum.

Since we had such an emotionally heavy morning, we switched up our plans a little bit.  Instead of going to the National Archives, we lightened things up a bit with lunch at the Hardrock Cafe and a spontaneous trip to the National Children’s Museum.  This place was such a great find!  The kids spent a couple of hours climbing and sliding, creating, and building, and checking out all of the STEM activities in the museum.  I’m so glad we added this to the itinerary.  The kids had so much fun here!

Innovation Sandbox exhibit at the National Children's Museum
Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum

After being closed for renovations, the National Air and Space Museum had its grand re-opening the weekend we were in DC.  Man was this place packed!  At this point (October 2022), only 40% of the museum is open however it is super impressive.  The museum has a remarkable collection of airplanes, sports cars, spacecrafts, and memorabilia.  I wish we had more time to explore this incredible museum.  We had just under 2 hours to explore and could have easily spent more time there (and would have had it not been closing time).  I can’t wait to see how this museum evolves once it is completely re-opened.

We ended our day with dinner at an Italian restaurant in Chinatown and an evening stroll past the National Mall.  The kids like seeing the monuments lit up at night.  It was a wonderful way to cap off our trip.

We saw and learned so much in DC, I hope that the memories of this weekend will stay with the kids for a lifetime.

November

Man, November was ROUGH!  We spent the first three weekends battling sicknesses.  Between asthma flareups, the flu and allergies, 3/5 of us were down for the count.   Unfortunately, this cut into our November plans.  

Fortunately, the twins were well enough for us to venture off to Green Cove Springs for their birthday adventure.  This year, their gift was VIP tickets to the Monster Truck Show.

Kids with Monster Truck

First, we got to ride in the Redneck Road Trip Monster Truck (pictured above).  Holy crap, did they thrash us around!  Smiley loved it, and the boys were sure if they wanted to laugh or cry.  By the end of the ride, they decided it was “kinda fun, kinda scary.”  I agree with this assessment!

Next, we got to meet all of the drivers, get their autographs, and check out their trucks during the Pit Party. At the Pit Party we made friends with one of the drivers.  Before the Monster Truck Show, she stopped by our seats to give high fives and say hello before hopping in her truck.

The kids loved the monster truck show.  Thank goodness we had ear protectors because it was loud!  The kids enjoyed watching the trucks perform their super awesome tricks, but were perhaps more impressed by the freestyle Motocross riders.

Later in the month, our daughter ran her first 5k with her cousin, my brother, and our friend down in St. Augustine at the World Golf Village.  It was such a fun, uplifting event!  She’s planning on doing another 5k after Easter, hopefully we’ll be able to squeeze in a few St. Auggie activities next time!

December

[Great Wolf Lodge- Williamsburg] [Colonial Williamsburg]

In December, we covered a ton of Christmas events!  We did everything from Dazzling Nights at the Jacksonville Arboretum to Deck the Chairs out at Jax Beach.  We caught the Broadway Musical “Elf the Musical” and the Cirque Musica Winter Wonderland performance.  We saw all of the best lights in the city and marveled at the Gingerbread Extravaganza downtown!

We kept our road trips and jaunts to a minimum during November and December as we geared up for our big Christmas trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, Virginia.

The day after Christmas we packed up the Explorer and drove all the way from Florida up to Virginia.  It was the kids and Ashley’s first time ever visiting Virginia.  As part of the kids Christmas gift, we spent 4 nights at the Great Wolf Lodge.  We played MagiQuest, bowling, laser tag, and played in the massive indoor waterpark.  

While we were in Virginia, we made a pitstop at Colonial Williamsburg.  In a word, it was incredible!  In my head, it was going to be like St. Augustine- a row of historic buildings surrounded by bars and restaurants.  I was totally wrong! 

It was an entire re-constructed/preserved town of Colonial-period homes and shops.  It was super charming and stunning!  The town was filled with costumed period actors that taught us about the history of Williamsburg and the trades the skilled workers performed.  

Our kids had lots of questions for the tradespeople and learned quite a bit.  It was a very cool, interactive, learning experience for them.  I wish we had planned better and spent more time in Colonial Williamsburg.

Sites Visited in 2022

Florida

Florida

Florida

Caribbean

Washington, DC

Virginia

  • Great Wolf Lodge
  • Colonial Williamsburg

2022 Recap Numbers

Number of Juice Boxes Consumed on Adventures:  55

Number of PBJs Devoured on Adventures:  40

Number of Charcuterie Boxes Eaten:  13

Numbers of Miles Traveled for Adventures: 7515 miles

Silver Springs State Park

Our Progress Towards Our 2022 Goals

This year we set goals for our lives, travels, and website.  Check out our progress so far…

Goal

Progress

  • ✔ Visit Legoland
  • We finally made it back to Legoland!  This time, we took a few friends with us.  We also tacked on a day at Florida’s newest theme park: Peppa Pig Theme Park!
  • ✔ Hit the High Seas
  • In March we took a 6 day cruise to the Dominican Republic and Turks and Caicos.
  • ✔ Visit the Mountains
  • Visit at least 3 new springs
  • ✔ Spend Some Time in Gainesville
  • ✔ Visit 2 National Park Sites
  • This July we spent some time at the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve.  We visited Fort Caroline and the Ribault Monument.  The kids also collected their first Junior Ranger badges!  In October we took the kids to Washington, DC where we explore the National Mall, Presidential Park and more!
  • ✔ Add a New State to our List of Places We’ve Been
  • The day after Christmas we packed up the Explorer and drove from Florida to Virginia for our Christmas Trip.
  • ✔ Plan Our Christmas Trip
  • Our 2nd annual Christmas Trip took us to Great Wolf Lodge in Virginia.  While we were in the area, we spent 1/2 a day at Colonial Williamsburg.
  • Visit Somewhere New Each Month.

The 2022 Recap for The Blog

Top 5 Posts

Nerdy Numbers

Annual Focus

New Pages

And Now on To 2023!

We hope you’ve enjoyed our 2022 recap as much as we have enjoyed writing it!  It’s been a fun way to look back and reflect on all of the fun we had. 

So…now it’s on to 2023.  What will the future hold?  What are our goals, resolutions, dreams, and plans for 5 Suitcases?  Check out our goals post to see what we have in store for 2023.

Ripley's Believe It or Not- St. Augustine, FL

We look forward to sharing our adventures with you in 2023!   Be sure to give us a like on Facebook or follow us on Instagram and Twitter so you don’t miss out on the fun!  

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