A week ago Thursday we left for a quick trip to Orlando. Shockingly, we did not visit any Disney parks this trip. It was hard, but we survived :-). We figured that since we had just been there in October, that we didn't really need to go again and could then try out Sea World. Plus, our family was only there until Monday, so we wouldn't have had much time for parks anyway. We flew down with AJ, my dad's mentee, and AJ also flew home with us. My dad and Joyce went down a few days before us and stayed until the end of the week. Em and Mike and their fam flew down with us and then came home the day after us. It was great having AJ with us--he had never been there before `and loved it. He went with my dad and Joyce to the Magic Kingdom on Sunday and loved that too!
I sat by the girls on the plane...
We took Greta's car seat along on the plane which worked great. She colored a bit, ate lunch and then napped for awhile until the baby behind her squealed so loud that it woke her up :-).
All of our gear just for a long weekend...2 suitcases, 3 carseats, 4 backpacks and a stroller that fits all 3 kids.
We enjoyed our day at Sea World on Friday. We kept busy going on rides and going to a couple of shows. I don't know that we'd need to go back, but it was nice to go since I hadn't been there since I was a kid and our kids love animals.
They have a new penguin ride that at the end of the ride, there are real penguins--and going on the ride is the only way to see the penguins. They said Greta could go, we just had to choose the "mild" experience instead of "wild". She was SO scared the whole ride. She had to buckle into her own seat (I thought she'd probably just be able to go on my lap) and was shaking like I've never seen her shake before. Poor thing. And the ride was really cold and then as soon as the ride was done it was FREEZING. Literally because of the penguins. And it had warmed up in the afternoon so we didn't have fleeces on. We should have thought of that before going on the ride that it would be cold, but we didn't. They should warn you! Once we got off the ride she started screaming, so we left quite quickly, glancing at all the penguins as we passed them by. We posed with this penguin earlier in the day.
I thought it was funny that at the dolphin show that's pictured below, when this the yellow and orange things popped up, Gibs and Layla both right away noticed the "hidden Mickey's" on the banners. They just can't get Disney out of their minds :). We told them countless times before our trip how this was not a Disney trip and we weren't going to Disney World. It was a little confusing then when we went to Disney World to go to Downtown Disney or to visit my dad and Joyce who were staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. They didn't see why we couldn't go to the parks. Even while in Sea World, Gibs mentioned a couple of different times how he wanted to go on Big Thunder Mountain...sorry bud, wrong park :). But they really did enjoy their day at Sea World.
Ready for the show to begin!
The whole group!
Ahhh!
Watching Shamu with Daddy (well, Shamu's relative :-) )...
The kids liked the Shamu rollercoaster. And Mike, Joe and I got to enjoy an adult roller coaster.
Nap time...
Preparing the kids for Tower of Terror in the future :-)...
Saturday morning we went to the Polynesian for a character breakfast. It was family style which, in my opinion, was great! I love the character buffets and while this didn't have as great of a selection as a buffet, it still offered a lot of options and I didn't have to keep getting up to get myself or the kids food. It thankfully had Mickey waffles--one of my (and my kids') favorite Disney foods.
Pluto was the first character to come by our table. Gibs LOVES him and Mickey probably the most of any Disney characters. And the Lion King guys but you can't ever meet them I don't think. Greta is still not a fan of getting too close to the characters.
Lilo!
Mickey!
Stitch!
After breakfast, we took a monorail ride around.
Goofy Gibs with his grumpy face...
After breakfast we stopped at Ikea and a mall quick to go to a Disney Store. Then in the late afternoon we enjoyed a delicious meal at Chevy's, a Mexican restaurant we like to visit right outside of WDW. We then went to the Animal Kingdom to visit my dad and Joyce and see the animals (which by the time we got there, we only saw a zebra via night vision binoculars).
Nice and cozy in our rental car :-).
Sunday we went to Downtown Disney to shop/walk around and eat lunch.
Racing their Lego cars they made...
And then in the afternoon it was JUST warm enough to swim. Our hotel had a huge pool, but we hardly got to use it as the weather was not very warm. Better than snow though :-). Our hotel was right next to a big outlet mall which was handy. Em and I could go shop after the kids went to sleep :-).
Cuties in their matching suits :-)...
The hot tub felt nice after the chilly pool!
Playing at the hotel's playground...
Sunday night we went to Disney's Art of Animation Resort to check that out. The kids thought the decorations were awesome!
The Cars section is super cute...
Gibs wanted his picture by Sebastian. He loves The Little Mermaid :-).
And Layla thought the girls should then have a pic by Ariel...
Gibs loves lots of movies, but especially loves The Lion King...
We had a great trip. Last January we got lucky with temps in the 80s every day. I figured that wouldn't happen again :-). Even though it was chilly, it was still sunny and warmer than here and it's always nice to get away from everyday life. We had a fun trip and like always, it was hard to come home. Makes me long for another vacation :-). And it doesn't help that we've had TONS of snow since we returned. This has been a LONG winter and January isn't even over with yet!!
