VACAY!!

The first day of school was just around the corner. Our summer was quickly coming to an end. As Heath and I talked about all the events and activities that would soon be filling our schedules, we decided we needed a vacation. We hadn't really done a whole lot over the summer and felt we should try to get away, at least for a couple days.

So, we took a last minute trip to Florida. We woke up Thursday morning not knowing where we wanted to go. After searching the internet for the best hotel bargains, we found a deal too good to pass up. We got ready, packed the car, and headed to Orlando.

Orlando is a fun city...even if you don't go to Disney World. We got our hotel through Expedia and it was one of those deals where you don't know where you'll be staying until you accept the price and pay for your entire stay up front. We lucked out. Our hotel ended up being a resort, complete with several pools, a playground, kids activities, etc... It was wonderful!

So, what is there do do in Orlando besides Disney World? Well......

We spent one full day at the resort pool. The kids hadn't been to a pool all summer, so we thought our time was well spent. I think we made some headway in helping Jacob overcome his fear of water. He loves to play at the beach or in a shallow pool, but put him in water above his waist, and he usually freaks out. It took a while, but he made progress that day. Annabelle enjoyed herself too. That afternoon, after naps, we went to Downtown Disney. This gave us the "Disney feel" without actually going to Disney World. The kids (and grown ups) had a blast.

The highlight of the trip for Jacob? The LEGO store. Oh. Boy. He was in heaven.

Heath and Jacob admired the LEGO construction of this Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs display.

More LEGO creations.

...and still more....

Yep, made entirely of LEGOs.

Just outside the store, Jacob spotted the LEGO building stations. He could have spent an entire day there. LEGOs are even cooler when you're AT the LEGO store!

Annabelle likes to everything her big brother does. She immediately went to work creating her LEGO masterpiece. They also had LEGO Duplo (the bigger blocks for younger kids) building stations.













The store even had a ramp to race LEGO cars. Jacob built a car and was pleasantly surprised when it didn't fall apart at the finish line. (We saw that happen to several other cars.)

Then, it was Annabelle's turn. Right across from LEGO heaven, she found princess heaven.

Our little princess spotted the Disney princesses right away and couldn't wait to stand next to them.

We walked into this HUGE Disney store, an entire section filled with nothing but princess and Minnie Mouse items and she...went...crazy. Disney princesses from floor to ceiling. Minnie Mouse clothes, purses, dolls, shoes, playsets, etc... Annabelle gasped at every turn, grabbing items as she ran through the store.

I'll take one of everything, please!

I am quite certain she would have loved to take home every item she grabbed as she made her way to the back of the store, but we helped her narrow it down to one thing -- A Belle doll.

In another area of the HUGE Disney store, we found Boba Fett, who apparently had also been shopping at the LEGO store. :)

Dinner was tons of fun. We ate at T-Rex, which was like having dinner in Jurassic Park. We were surrounded by dinosaurs and a meteor shower occurred every 25 minutes. During the meteor shower, all the dinosaurs roared, the restaurant got darker, and lights flashed all around us. It was a little scary the first time. Both kids jumped into our laps, but they got used to it and by the time we left, they loved the meteor showers. Not only was the experience great, the food was fantastic. I'm so happy we decided to eat there.

Hmmmm....I don't know if I like this meteor shower stuff.

The dinosaur behind him made noises throughout the evening. Annabelle said he sounded like a cow. "Dat dinosaw says 'mooooooo'," she yelled.

The next day, we went to Aquatica -- Sea World's water park. The kids L-O-V-E-D it. They had a terrific play area for younger kids with water slides and other water play activities. Annabelle slid down the water slides about a million times. One of them required her to be with an adult, so, I ended up riding that slide a million times as well.

I was really proud of Jacob. He slid down all the kids' slides several times. Each slide sent him plunging into the water. I was afraid he might freak out, but instead, he popped up out of the water, wiped his face and got back in line to do it again. Hooray!! He was also able to ride several of the adult slides. He rode them all twice -- once with Heath, then again with me.

On the slide pictured above, Jacob and I sat in a round float. I faced forward and Jacob was facing me. He had already been down the slide once with Heath. As we got closer to the top of the stairs, I asked him if he was sure this was the slide he rode with Daddy. "Yes, this is it," he said emphatically. "Okay, was it fun?" I asked. "YES! It was really fun, " he yelled. We hopped in the round float, situated ourselves and down we went. Judging from Jacob's expression, he was not having fun. He looked terrified. In fact, as we flew down that slide, I have never seen him look more pitiful. I felt awful that I had made him ride it with me. But, when we got to the bottom, he shouted, "See, Mommy! Wasn't that FUN?!?!?!?" That made me feel much better about the whole thing.

I wish I had more pictures of the day, but carrying around a camera at a water park isn't the best idea. I took this picture right as we were about to leave. We ended up spending the entire day at the park -- 8:30 AM to 7:00 PM. Can you believe that? Annabelle took an afternoon nap on a lounge chair. If she hadn't taken a nap, we definitely wouldn't have stayed all day.

We finished off our Orlando mini vacation with a breakfast buffet. Jacob and Annabelle were being silly at the table. There was chocolate cake on this buffet...and chocolate chip pancakes, fruit loops, pudding...all kinds of sweet stuff. Would you believe my kids just wanted to eat oranges? A proud parent moment. :) But...please don't ask me what was on my plate.

We hit the road and made one more stop to visit Aunt Betty and Uncle Bing. We had a nice visit, even though the kids were a little tired and cranky.

On our way home, we saw a full rainbow stretching across the sky. We saw one on our way down to Florida, too. A perfect start and a perfect ending to a very fun trip.