Upgraded Jeep and waiting for the boys to arrive

After lots of research and investigating multiple sources for wheels and lift kits, Tom finally decided to go with the wheels and tires from Discount Tire, and a 2” leveling/lift kit installed by a shop in Daytona Beach – both could be installed prior to Christmas.

We got the tires and wheels first.

They looked pretty good, but it still needed something so the next day we headed up to Daytona Beach.  See how the front is down a little compared to the back?  There was about an inch difference, so that would be leveled out, and then the whole thing lifted another inch.

Getting to work . . .

and when he was done he checked the alignment.

Yes, we still had the old wheel and tire on the spare because Fedex lost one of our wheels and we were waiting for a replacement to arrive.  It got there the next day.

Looks pretty good!

Merry Christmas to us!

Overall,we’re up about 2-1/4” in the front from where we were before.  We’ll see what the effect on the towing setup will be – we might have to make a slight adjustment to level it out.

With that done, we finished up our Christmas shopping and mailed off the last of our packages to Michigan . . . and wrapped the presents for the boys.

We had some time to kill . . . and the days leading up to Christmas were beautiful . . . sunny and in the 80s!

Tom and I took a drive to Cocoa Beach on one of those beautiful afternoons . . . driving past Port Canaveral we spotted a cruise ship in port.

We continued to Cocoa Beach where we did a little shopping at Ron Jon, and walked along the beach to the pier.

It was a beautiful afternoon, and there were plenty of people out enjoying the sunshine and warm weather, especially down by the pier.

There were sunbathers and surfers.

Which way to go?

It looked like a nice pier and beach area – surf lessons, rental chairs and umbrellas, and several volleyball nets – lots of activity – just the kind of place the kids would like to hang out.

Back at the RV Resort, Tom and I enjoyed the holiday festivities – a happy hour party on Christmas Eve, followed by dinner of homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs with ravioli.

On Christmas Day, we had a potluck dinner with a large group of residents from the RV Resort.  It was a really nice event with lots of good food!

Bryce left Michigan on Dec 26th, travelling down to Florida with our camping friends (who also happen to be his girlfriend’s family), and Nicolas left Virginia on Dec 27th, travelling by himself.  They both ran into lots of traffic with all the snowbirds headed to Florida . . . and the trips took longer than expected, but they all eventually made it!

They were both pretty exhausted when they finally got here, but it was nice to have both of my boys under our roof for a while . . . although I’m not sure I recognize this guy who suddenly shows an interest in reading!

The gang was all together! Ready for a week of fun!