Orlando Vacation

Sunday November 23, 2014

It’s the simplest things……that innocent wonder……..really it was just a lot of flashing neon lights, but you would have thought it was an entire fireworks display by the loud exclamations of wonder coming from the back seat of our van. Even after 11+ hours of travel today the kids were so excited by the lights of Downtown Disney as we drove past on our way to our condo. I love that sense of wonder, even from my big kids!! We had a pretty easy trip down to Orlando, at least until the last hour when we encountered a huge traffic jam that made our 11 hour trip a 13 hour trip 😦

But I guess I’m not much different than the kids…..imagine my giddy delight upon finding Blue Bell ice cream at the Publix! I just LOVE Blue Bell and although it has a hefty price tag, I splurged and got a gallon. BEST ICE CREAM EVER!!

We were sad to miss the Thanksgiving dinner at church tonight, but really excited about this special winter vacation. We’ve never been away during a major holiday, so that feels a bit strange and we’ve never taken a vacation in the winter time.

Monday November 24, 2014

The big day!! Seaworld!! When I was a little girl we went to Seaworld and I still have great memories of that visit, so for as long as we’ve had kids I’ve wanted to take them. And today was the DAY! And what a great day it was!! We completely enjoyed the 85 degree weather, the animals and rides. Jadyn was super excited to ride her very first roller coaster……Shamu’s Express…….that is until we went down the first hill. Poor baby started yelling, “too ‘garwy, get me off, too ‘garwy get me off.” A little late for that sweet girl! When we were done I asked her if she wanted to ride again and she very quickly said, “no mommy!!” Guess her coaster days were short lived! But Ben, my coaster man, wanted to ride over and over……and since the lines weren’t too bad, we did!!

Jadyn BEFORE riding her first roller coaster

We watched the Orca show……really, really good! It is amazing how those huge animals can propel themselves out of the water. All of the kids sat mesmerized the entire time. Jeremiah is really my water creature boy. He has checked out probably every single book on whales in our entire library system…….and sharks are a close second. So the shark encounter exhibit was perfect for him. Actually it was really awesome. The shark tank was on both sides and above us as we went through. It was really fascinating to look up and see fish and sharks swimming above you.

We had not planned to stay until closing, but we were having such a great time that we decided to stay. The last show we watched was amazing! So good in fact that we will come back and watch it again! It was an icescapes production with fireworks and lights after. The fireworks/light show was amazing!! It was put to music and done beautifully.

 

 

Tuesday November 25, 2014

Not a picture of rain, but aren’t they cute girls!?!?

We should have remembered Florida rain, especially after spending 3+ years going to college in Florida! Wow, talk about rain!! And rain! And rain! All.day.long! It was a nice day for a nap, so that’s what I did while the kids watch TV. We don’t watch actual TV very often. Don’t think my kids are deprived, we watch plenty of movies and TV shows on DVD or Netflix! But I did get a chuckle over the kids asking if I could please make the TV stop showing “all those previews”. Haha, sorry kids, those are actually called commercials! And yes, I’m not a fan either…..that’s why we do Netflix or library DVDs!

 

 

Wednesday November 26, 2014

So after a restful day yesterday, we were ready to hit Busch Gardens. The weather was much cooler, but the sun was shining and we were ready for some fun rides. The Cheetah Hunt was first on the list, especially since the wait time was only 5 minutes. Stephen took Sam, Carlos and Natalie and the rest of us watched the track to get a glimpse of the roller-riders before they went shooting off. The Cheetah Hunt was voted #1 ride by all who were tall enough to ride. Though I must admit, I LOVE the Sand Serpent. The first time I went on a ride like the Sand Serpent (it was called the Mouse Trap) was on our honeymoon. I LOVE this ride! It is hysterical to me. Stephen hates it. I had no idea! He never said one word on our honeymoon or any of the anniversaries after when we visited other amusement parks!! Thankfully for Stephen, I found a new partner……Ben! We would have ridden that one 20 times if the line hadn’t been so long. But boy did we have fun.

We enjoyed seeing all the animals, especially from the cable cars. And even though I personally dislike Hippos, everyone else really enjoyed the close up view we had!!

Thursday November 27, 2014

It felt strange celebrating Thanksgiving by going to Busch Gardens! But that’s what we did today! It was a full fun day! We went on rides, checked out animals and had a great time. The younger kids and I went on the train and had a really good time. We got to see a lot of animals. Natalie was sad because there are only a couple of roller-coaters that she can ride here and one of them was closed today, but she did get to go on the Cheetah Hunt again so that made her happier. Jadyn was pretty happy to just ride circle rides…….could not get her close to the Elmo Coaster today! Stephen and the big kids went on the log flume, but it was too chilly for me and Jade, so we just watched.

We decided to leave Busch Gardens early enough to head back to Sea World to watch the ice-skating and fireworks show again since we planned to leave around lunch time on Friday. It was quite a bit colder tonight than Monday night, but we had some extra towels and wrapped them around our little cold selves and enjoyed the show.

Friday November 28, 2014

We spent a quick morning at Sea World (we watched the dolphin show and got to see the penguins and went on our favorite rides) and then headed home. It was a long drive, but we decided to do the trip all in one day! The kids did great (love electronics!!) and we got home about 3 A.M.

 

We had a great vacation! It’s really awesome having kids who are old enough not to melt down because their schedule is completely ruined and naps are not possible. We ate dinner at 10 PM or later almost every night and most days we only had snacks…….no real lunch, but the kids did amazingly well.

It was very odd being away from home for a major holiday……and after talking it over Stephen and I both agreed we like spending holidays with extended family!