Tag Archives: trauger

Trauger Family Vacation 2016, Part 3

Uncategorized, , , ,

Other than getting together as a family, the other thing we wanted to do was to treat my parents to family pictures, similar to what we did in Ohio on our last Trauger family vacation. I did my research and found a fantastic and affordable photographer to come out to our rental property to photograph our gang. This was no small task since our group of ten included a five, three, and one year old plus an infant. 


Having two toddlers of her own, Brittany at Eighteenth Hour Photography didn’t even blink when one of the kids didn’t want to smile, and another wanted to roam free away from the group. We received a variety of photos, including the whole group, smaller family portraits, grandkids and grandparents, and sibling shots. Despite the extreme heat, we all look great, and I’m so happy to have the photos of all of us together.

Trauger Summer Vacation 2016, Part 2

Uncategorized, , , , , , ,

Although we spent the majority of our time at our awesome rental house, we took a special trip to Silver Springs State Park, Florida’s first tourist attraction and one of the largest artesian springs on the planet. It’s located on the edge of the Ocala National Forest, and has been habituated since at least the early 1500s when Hernando de Soto explored Florida (a dugout canoe dating back to that time period can be seen underwater). 
Since people are not allowed to swim in these particular springs (Florida has many other state parks where you can swim in the chilly water), the park offers 30-minute Glass Bottom Boat tours of the springs ($11 adults, $10 seniors and youth, under 5 is free), and it is totally worth it. We could easily see fish and turtles swimming underneath our boat, spotted an alligator sunning himself nearby, and spied one of sources of the springs. There’s not really anything like it, and it is amazing. The short trip was perfect for traveling with tired toddlers, but if you want a longer voyage the park offers extended boat tours during the season.


There are plenty of hiking trails throughout the park. We walked a short boardwalk path through the forest and along the water. It was an lovely, easy trek, and I wish we had more time to check out some of the other ones. The kids really liked seeing animals inside small, air conditioned (yay!) space outside the boat docks. We didn’t make it to Wild Waters, the water park at the Springs, but I remember always having fun when going as a kid with my swim team (FCC forever!) We will have to plan a return trip soon. I love the Florida State Park system, and want to try to visit all the parks in my lifetime.

Trauger Summer Vacation 2016, Part 1

Uncategorized, , ,

My parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary last January, and in honor of their relationship, the whole extended family was supposed to take a Disney cruise (read more about how that didn’t happen thanks to an ill-timed first migraine here.) Since we didn’t all celebrate together as planned, Scott, Amanda, Keith, and I decided we needed to try again and do a mini summer trip. We told our parents we wanted to keep it relatively close geographically since Scott had recently started his new job at Animal Kingdom and Elliot was a newborn. They selected a super sweet home in Ocala, Florida as the place to vacation.


Now I know what you’re thinking (because we thought it, too): Ocala, really?! A small town in the center of the state where there are no breezes in the heat of a Florida July. Although it was brutally hot, we had a relaxing time just being present together. Our house had 5 bedrooms in the main building, a pool table in the living room, and a separate guest house that we didn’t even use. There were a couple of screened in porches, a gigantic Southern-style front porch with rocking chairs, a playground area for the kids, and plenty of room to run around outside. We had so much space, totally worth it with four kids aged five and under.


The kids loved playing games, running in sprinklers, splashing in a little pool, and swinging in Keith’s hammock. We were able to cook meals together and hang out as a family without much distraction from the outside world. The adults re-discovered we all suck at pool, and giggled over celebration victory dances and drinky-drinks. The vacation was both loud and peaceful at the same time, and perfect for honoring the first 40 years together of our parents. I can’t wait to travel with everyone again in the future…maybe getting back to my dad’s roots in the Philadelphia area? Or to San Diego to see Amanda’s project at Sea World? Who knows?