Florida Adventure, Part 2

Wednesday morning, bright and early, we drove over to Disney World (that is, after fueling up sufficiently at McDonald's and the grocery store). Isaac had been doing an in-depth study of our Disney World Touring Book for a whole year, so following in his father's tour guide footsteps, he knew just where to have us begin our day.

First stop was the Buzz Lightyear ride! The boys love this ride because they get to shoot little red, laser beams at targets as they go, in order to accumulate points. One of their favorites, for sure.

Next stop, and another one of their favorites, is the race-car driving ride. If there wasn't a line, I'm sure we would have done it five or six times in a row!

What a great race!

Here, Colby, Zane, and Grandma Balyo are getting ready to ride the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It is dark inside of this ride, with a thick mist at one point, a small waterfall, and lots of animatronics. It was NOT Colby's favorite.

We sure seem to have eaten a lot of ice-cream in Florida! :)

Ok, somewhere around this time, I was looking in a little shop that was selling all kinds of unique little instruments from different countries. Loved them! Shakers and rattles and rainsticks and drums...just the kind of thing that would have been really fun to use in our homeschool music class. So, I brought the boys over and this is what followed:
"Did you guys see all of these instruments? Look, bongos! Ooh, and look at these cool shakers! Look how you have to kind of flip it to make the music. Hey, wow, that looks like a bug in there. Is that a...Aaah, there's a cockroach in the shaker (shiver, shiver, shiver)!! Aaah, gross! Let's move on!" So, needless to say, the kids in homeschool music class will not be using a bunch of instruments from different countries, this spring! :)

This was by and far THE longest line that we stood in at Disney Word. We even had to wait through Tigger and Pooh's "honey break." But, the boys didn't want to leave the line and I'm glad, because it was sooo worth it. I really wish that we would have gotten Ian and Colby's reaction to Pooh and Tigger on Video. Colby had Tigger bouncing with him and Ian ran back for one more big hug.

Lots of love for Pooh and Tigger!

Daddy and Zane, being silly outside of Mickey and Minnie's houses.

A fun, but exhausting couple of days at Sea World and Disney World! Good-bye, Orlando! We sure have had fun! Now, to head South...

Now, just a helpful hint to anyone taking 4 young boys to Sea World and Disney World:
Make sure you take Sam's Club size bags of pretzel rods (because they'll probably each eat about 20- including the one who is not yet even two!). And, make sure you pack enough peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to feed a football team (because they'll probably each eat about six... and then ask what else is on the menu!). :)

Florida Adventure, Part 1

Florida!

Wonderful...sunny...rollerblade-friendly...rubber-nosed dolphins...lemons and oranges...I-can-hardly-stand-feeding-them-but-I-just-want-to-anyway-rays...ice-cream...looking for gators...it's-so-fun-to-meet-people...golf carts...HG-TV and morning cartoons...hot tubs and swimming pools...shells and mystery beach objects...lots of food...and naps!

One of the things that the boys were looking forward to the most was driving the golf cart! I don't think I could even put a guess on how many times Isaac talked about driving the golf cart since he' found out we were going to go to Florida in January.
You probably can't tell from this picture, but his excitement and nervousness is basically bursting out of his seams, here. And wow, I will never forget that first ride I had with Isaac driving (and I'm pretty sure Grandpa and Isaac won't either) He didn't quite make the 90 degree turn and almost put us into the lake! :) But, he was a trooper and got right back up on that horse (I did too, but I'll tell you what...my legs were shaking, terribly!!! ).
Ian's excitement is a little more visible, here (as are his untied shoes). He wasn't quite ready to tackle the whole neighborhood (and we weren't quite ready for any more near-lake experiences), but he sure loved driving around the cul-de-sac.

The first 2 days in Florida were chilly, but over the next few days, it started to warm up. On Tuesday morning, we drove up to Orlando so that we could go to wonderful, wonderful Sea World and Disney World the next day.
Sea World is just wonderful! What a privilege to be able to touch such smart, docile water mammals. God's creativity is so obvious when you are looking at all of these amazing water creatures.
I highly recommend studying the animals before visiting them, though. We've been using a fantastic science curriculum for elementary students, put out by Apologia, and the boys have learned so much. I really think they (and I) have been able to appreciate things so much more than if we'd gone with no scientific background.
Posing with a giant manatee.
Posing pinnipeds (flipper-feet). The boys were so excited when they saw that the name of the Seal and Sea Lion show had a ship that was called The Pinniped.
The Dolphin show is an absolute must-see!
I could watch this show over and over and over again and not grow tired of it, nor lose my amazement over the artistic, physical muscle as well as patience, that it takes from both the humans and animals to learn and perform all of the sequences.
You just don't want to blink your eyes...
...lest you miss something else spectacular!
A little break of ice-cream (The adults had wonderful soft-serve cones with hot chocolate fudge in the center- yummy!), a little playing on the climbing net at the playground, a few rides on both the Shamu rollercoaster and the Sea Carousel...and we are off to Shamu's show.
We almost didn't get to see the Shamu show because apparantly the orcas weren't interested in performing that night. But, Yay, they were eventually convinced somehow to do their show... and we were extremely grateful! What a wonderful experience!

Florida- Part 4

Friday, February 6

Such good friends...

Ian and Isaac wanted to take their Tiger shark and Orca for a swim. We were so glad that both boys had studied fish, oceans and sea mammals. They were able to share each other's excitement in a very unique way and are still discussing the things they saw and felt.

Wow! The Atlantic Ocean! Brisk...umm, refreshing!

Isaac didn't care if it was cold or not. Those waves were made for jumping!

Happy 1st birthday, Zane!

From this playground near the beach, you could see Cape Canaveral.

If you want to be a pirate, you have to say, "Aarrrgh"!

Three tired boys at the end of another fun-filled day!

Saturday morning, February 7

The last day was supposed to be absolutely beautiful...75 and sunny!

Unfortunately, we were only able to enjoy the early morning 60's at the pool. That wonderful hint of a warm sun finally beaming down on us was a bit bittersweet. We were glad to feel the sun, but disappointed that we were missing true Florida weather by about 3 hours!

Grandpa Balyo, Isaac and Ian

Colby and Zane just loved the gently inclined pool.

A little more of Zane's crabwalk.

Saturday afternoon, February 7

And, the plane ride home...

What a fun and special trip!

Florida - Part 2

Thursday, February 4

Ian, 6:15 am

The boys had had so much chilly, outdoor fun down at Great Grandma Balyo's, that rousting them out of bed was a bit more of a chore than usual...

Colby and Isaac, 6:15 am

...until they remembered where we were going!

7:55 am

Again, it LOOKS warm here, but I'm pretty sure we'd all have been much more comfortable wearing parkas, mittens and ski masks!

8:31 am

Welcome to Floroming! Welcom to Wyorida! Welcome to Cheylando! Welcome to Orlaska!

Just about to go into our first ride...

This was Isaac, Ian and Colby's very favorite ride. They thought that Tigger popping up all over the place was hilarious and they were thrilled to actually be "part of the movie"!

What a treat to meet the real!!! Mickey and Minnie, Goofy and Donald Duck. They also SAW Winnie-The-Pooh (who waved to them!) and Tigger close up and Chip 'n Dale from afar (on a parade float)!

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was the very first roller-coaster that Isaac and Ian had ever been on! Isaac was not so sure he liked it, but all Ian could say was, "Oh, wow! Oh, wow! Oh, wow!" He was sold!

It was so nice to wait in such short lines (or not at all) for all of the rides. In fact, we were actually happy (in retrospect :), to trade extremely long lines for a little "brisk" weather!

Zane, taking an afternoon snack break.

This was one of the last rides that we did for the day and the boys LOVED it! Ian and Colby were pleased as punch that each of their cars had red paint...phew!

It got REALLY cold toward the end of the day when the sun started to go down, but we had gotten to do so many fun things it was extremely worth it!

And the results are in:

Colby's favorites: The Winnie-the-Pooh Ride and the Carousel of Progress and the raceway. Colby is also still talking about the funny Goofy movie they watched while standing in line to meet Mickey and Minnie, so that was a high point, too!

Ian's favorites: The Winnie-the-Pooh Ride, The Toy Story Ride, Big Thunder Mountain...and the Carousel of Progress (Ian and Colby are still singing snippets from its theme-song "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow..."). Oh, and the raceway.

Isaac's favorites: The Winnie the Pooh Ride, The Toy Story Ride, The Peter Pan Ride, It's a Small World, the Carousel of Progress, The raceway and the monorail.

Erika's favorites: Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain.

Scott's favorites: Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain.

5:17 pm

Goodnight, Mickey!

To be continued...

Florida- Part 1

It's so hard to know where to begin!

Guess I'll use a little nugget of Maria's wisdom from the Sound of Music..."Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start..."

Sunday, February 1

On Sunday, February 1st, we drove down to the Denver airport, took in a few moments of the Super Bowl and flew a late (but great) flight into Orlando (we arrived shortly before midnight and didn't cozy up in our beds until almost 2:00 am).

Darth Vader enjoyed his first plane ride, as did Lightning McQueen.

Yeah, I know...disgusting (if you double click on this picture, you'll get an even better view! )! After a perfectly healthy week, this is what we woke up to with Zane. Perfect for traveling! You know, we love the draining sieve/drool combination as much as the next guy, but when it comes to the massive goober sneezes as well...well, that's where we draw the line! Thankfully, it really was only a one day-ish event! I'm sure our fellow passengers were glad to be in such close quarters with us on the plane!

Monday, February 2

In the morning we were greeted with Cold (yes, I'm capitalizing it!), rain, and wind...much like what we had just left...in Wyoming (except technically speaking, Cheyenne was slightly warmer that day!)! In fact, an Orlando resident just told Scott the other day, that the week we were in Florida was the coldest week they've had in 10 years! 10 years, mind you!

However and irregardless, the boys, Scott's parents, Scott and even me (who is rarely ever NOT cold) said "bah" to the "November-in-Wyoming-like-weather" and rushed undaunted to the almost completely empty swimming pool!

Rule #1: It's Florida! No one is ever cold in Florida!

Rule #2: When you are in Florida, it is a rule that you are supposed to go swimming, wear tropical smelling sunscreen and don shorts!)

Tuesday, February 3

Wish we could have saved the expression on Ian's face when he woke up to find the television already tuned in to a favorite cartoon! No need to even move a muscle! What a glorious start to a glorious vacation!

In the morning, we drove a couple hours south to slightly warmer Fort Myers to spend the day with Grandma Balyo in her retirement community. We've always enjoyed our times here and this day was no exception!

Seeing alligators and nesting birds on the way to the pool. What fun!

Looks warm and was absolutely beautiful, but...

Scott's mom, Lynn with water bugs Zane and Isaac

...Sunny, windy and 65 is still sunny, windy and 65!

Great Grandma Balyo used to read stories to children when she worked in a school library and the boys are happy to continue the tradition!

Zane, on his way to walking, loved this rolling chair!

Off to feed the turtles and fish!

The boys have been looking forward to this turtle feeding event for several years! And they loved it! Unfortunately, it was much colder than it looked and I had not brought their jackets with us, so it was a pretty chilly walk back to the house.

In the middle of this picture is a fish jumping out of the water in order to steal the bread from the much slower turtles. It was hilarious!

What a fun day at Great Grandma Balyo's house!

To be continued...