In my last personal blog I shared about the first time my daughter, Evangelina, flew in an airplane across the country. Since I have a whole video series on my YouTube Channel from that trip, I thought it would be fun to keep going down memory lane!
When my older daughter, Shianna, was little – I had the blessing of getting to visit Florida with her several times. As a single mom I was able to save up during the year and travel there with my parents several times. They bought a time-share during our first visit in 2008, and we went back two more times before I married my second husband, Daryll. Like I’ve shared before, I have always loved traveling. And while Daryll and I did a lot of traveling with our kids while we were married, we could never afford a trip to Florida.
To say that I was excited to visit Florida with Eva is an understatement.
I had been wanting to take her there for years! Sure, we couldn’t afford to visit exciting places like Disney World or Universal Studios — can anyone afford going there these days? But that wasn’t going to stop us from having fun! We spent three nights in Florida at my parents’ timeshare before we boarded our Carnival Cruise. I spent our first day there getting as much of my work done as possible so that we had one full day to do something fun together.
Can I admit something crazy to you? We almost didn’t go.
Why? Because I was afraid to venture out into Florida as the only adult. Sometimes, even though I’m in my 40s, I forget that I’m an adult. Or I simply don’t feel adult enough and want someone else to go with me, haha! This was definitely one of those times. Let’s be honest, I have almost always traveled either with my parents or with my ex-husband. So it felt extremely intimidating to get into a rental car and drive around an unfamiliar place on my own with my daughter.
But I didn’t want to miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime experience with Eva just because I was scared to venture out on my own. So I took a deep breath, grabbed the keys, and we went for it. And I am so glad that we did! It was so much fun getting to explore together and to experience the world through her eyes.
Eva and I poured over those little pamphlets from the hotel lobby.
We were looking for something nearby that wasn’t too expensive. And what did we land on? WonderWorks in Orlando, Florida! If you’ve never been there, it’s basically like a really cool science center with a ton of fun activities to explore. On their website they describe it as, “an amusement park for the mind with 28,000 square feet of edu-tainment.” They combine education and entertainment with more than 100 hands-on exhibits to challenge your mind and spark your imagination.
The building itself looks like it’s been ripped out of the ground, flipped upside down, and thrown back down onto the earth — and they continue that theme inside, too. It’s so cool! There are so many fun activities that push you outside your comfort zone, like laying on a bed of nails. Words alone can’t describe how much fun it is. If you don’t believe me, we couldn’t convince my parents or Nana to come because they didn’t think it looked fun. But after they watched our video, they were visibly disappointed that they missed out! So if you’re ever looking for a fun activity on a budget, we definitely 1,000% recommend visiting WonderWorks. (No, this is not a paid advertisement, haha.)
Want to experience that day with us?
You can watch the second video in our Florida trip series here: Family Vacation Day 3 | We Visit WonderWorks in Orlando, Florida!
We definitely focused more on being present and on spending time together, so we didn’t record everything — but we did capture a lot. I will never forget the feeling of jumping into the rental van, pulling onto the road, and exploring an unfamiliar place with my daughter.
Sometimes I need a reminder that I can do hard things!
Moments like this remind me why I love being a mom so much. There is something incredibly powerful about being able to give your child a fun experience, and being able to say “yes” in a world that so often says no.
So this is a tiny shout-out to all my single moms who might need a little encouragement. I hope this blog — and this video — reminds you that you are stronger than you think. Don’t wait until someone else wants to go, or until you’re married, or until “one day” when things feel easier. Do the fun things and make the memories now! It’s true what they say: our kids are only young once, and we can never get these moments back.
Don’t miss out by waiting for the perfect settings.
Perfection is fake! Most of the time, it’s just holding us back. So get out there, be brave, and live your “one day” today.