I have spent a lot of time in Florida where I spent a year in college when I was a lot younger. It has always been a favorite destination for me and over the years I have gone back on numerous occasions. Of course, one of the main attractions is the weather, which is pretty good all year round. But I have also found lots of great Christian retreats that I have gone to regularly.

So, this year I decided to go on a vacation to Florida and I managed to convince the entire family including kids, brothers and grandparents. It was a lot more like a family reunion with just a little bit of a twist. We went to Panama City Beach and we had a fantastic time.

The trip started on a Saturday morning where the entire family met at the airport 4 hours before take off. Yes that’s right, 4 hours. Because of the large group and all the kids and babies we had to allow a lot of time for any delays. And just as well that we did. For all of us to get through security took over an hour and that was after spending 45 minutes getting the entire luggage checked in.

At that stage I was actually thinking whether it would have been easier to just rent a bus for the week and drive, but things did get better. The flight was not delayed and we all arrived safely with no luggage lost or damaged. Thankfully the Laguna Beach Christian Retreat resort was able to arrange for airport transfer, as we really wanted to avoid renting cars or a bus.

By Saturday afternoon we were all checked in at the resort and had managed to get organized in our accommodation. The kids immediately went off to explore the pools and all the other sports facilities. To my delight there was a basketball court as well where I was able to challenge my brothers just like when we were children.

There was of course a church on the grounds as well and we went to meet the minister as soon as we got there. We were delighted with the arrangements for the church services and also that there were loads of educational activities for the children.

The location of the resort was ideal as we also had access to a fabulous white sandy beach where we spent a lot of our family time and activities. But we also wanted to make sure that the kids got to see some local attractions as well, and of course us adults wanted to make sure we didn’t just lock ourselves away in the resort.

So on two of our days we decided to do some day trips. The first went to a Ripley’s Believe It Or Not and the second was to Zoo World. I hadn’t been to a zoo since I was a young boy and I’m not sure what I found more entertaining, the animals or the kid’s reactions.

Overall it was a fantastic trip and the 7 days went just to plan. Adults and children had so much fun and it was great to spend so much time with the entire family.