Florida 2013

Day 1:  We left our house at 7:30am in a rental car (we dropped my car off at the shop for some 100k mile maintenance).  Thankfully the roads were dry and the trip to Grand Rapids was pretty uneventful.  Car drop off, checking bags and security were all a breeze - I LOVE flying out of smaller airports.  The favorite part of the flight was when the flight attendant told us that it was now time to put away electronic devices and no, that does not mean to just hide them from the crew.  The boys were great and satisfied with looking out the windows or playing on their kindles.  We landed at 2pm and visited the infamous site of where Austin puked all over last year (also known as Bobber Bear's final resting place) and high-fived that so far, so good with the puke issues.  We grabbed our luggage and a pimped out Ford Explorer.  I LOVE playing Pandora from my iphone with just the iphone card, awesome!  We drove down to Great Grandma & Grandpa's and settled into one of the two bedroom residences there.  We had a quick dinner then went for a swim in the indoor pool.  The boys were pretty good for the grandparents and gave out lots of hugs and kisses.  The older boys fell asleep great, but Austin woke up after about an hour and was inconsolable.  We let him sleep on the couch until we were ready for bed and then he and I slept in the Full bed in the master bedroom and Aaron slept on the floor in between the older boys because the couch wasn't long enough.  As if sleeping on the floor wasn't bad enough, Brody woke up in the night and walked over him to climb in bed with Jacob.  All in all though, a pretty good day!

Day 2:  We woke up and had breakfast then made our way to the ocean.   The beach wasn't crowded at all and we made our to a spot directly in front of the life guard tower.  That poor life guard went from relaxed to high alert as soon as we arrived.  Jacob and Brody LOVED splashing and chasing the waves but they both got knocked down pretty hard a couple of times.  At one point the wave knocked Brody down so hard he did the "alligator death roll" in the frothy surf and the lifeguard simultaneously changed the flag from green to yellow at that point.  Austin played mostly in the sand but got his toes wet every once in awhile.  We collected some shells and played in the sand and then headed back to the Grandparents for lunch.  After lunch we packed up the car and headed to Orlando.  We checked into our hotel for the week and have a pretty quiet unit on the 4th floor, end of the building on the 18th green.  I apologize to any folks who totally choked on their final putt due to any screams/squeals/shouts coming from our room.  I loaded up with some groceries while the boys got comfortable.  We had some pizza for dinner then went to the fabulous indoor play place that they have here.  Thankfully we all slept pretty good.  Austin did make his way out to the screened in porch around 3 in the morning (that was the last place he saw Aaron and I) but I scooped him up and brought him to bed with Aaron and I - thankfully the three of us fit ok with a king!

Day 3:  A pool day!  The best thing to come from this day was that I FINALLY have Aaron on board with making swim lessons a priority.  It's a big commitment because of the price for three kids and we have to travel like 50 miles (roundtrip) to get them done, so that is why he hasn't been really excited about it.  BUT, after watching our three kids who LOVE the water play cautiously around the steps while kids their ages are ALL OVER the place swimming, we (Aaron) realized it's time.  The boys have made lots of buddies and had a blast playing with the other kids in the pool and at the play place. 

Day 4:  We had some showers off and on today but we made a few (3?) trips to the pool during the dry spells.  I managed to get a nap in, a bath in and read my book on my new kindle (an early b-day present).  This may have been the best day of my life :)

Day 5:  SEAWORLD!  We originally were planning on going here Wednesday but decided to do it Thursday after looking at the forecast.  It was in the 60's all day and we all wore jeans and sweatshirts on/off throughout the day - which was PERFECT for walking around the park.  We got there right as it opened and I was surprised that it wasn't too crowded for this time of year.  The boys LOVED it, we all had a great time.  We saw the Shamu show "One World" which wasn't nearly as impressive as the last time I saw it since the trainers did not get into the water at all, but still pretty cool.  The dolphin show Aaron and I liked the best but was a little loud for Brody.  And the final show we saw was the Pirate one with the Sea Otter and Sea Lion - the boys loved it!  Good jokes for kids and adults and the main actor was excellent with flying off the cuff.  We walked through an "Atlantis" aquarium and saw a bunch of sting rays swimming above us in the ceiling.  We were about to move on when Austin shouted "HAMMERHEAD SHARK!!!!" - his favorite.  Aaron and I were like "ya, ya, they look like sharks, move along little guy..." when we looked up and sure enough, there was a hammerhead shark.  Austin was so thrilled, that moment right there was worth the price of admission.  We purchased $100 worth of shark stuffed animals (no joke) and then headed into Shark's Underwater grill where we purchased 3 shark sundaes and two slushy rum drinks while we watched the sharks swimming.  Then we headed home for a swim.  The temp was still low 70/high60, but the wind was blocked by the building so when you were in the sun it was perfect for a dip.  Then we did the usual dinner and play place.  The only other thing worth mentioning is that I did attempt to steal a car.  I went to pick up dinner and hopped into a vehicle the same shade of green as our rental.  When I sat down and shut the door I noticed a shopping bag on the seat that did not look familiar.  I started looking around the car and realized "Crap!  This isn't our car!"  I quickly jumped out and made my way two spots down to the Ford EXPLORER.  I don't know if that Ford ESCAPE was unlocked or if my keys just happened to work for it to.  Not sure if we'll ever know because I haven't seen it since!  Aaron joked that they parked the car at another building so I don't attempt to steal it again!

Day 6:  Another lazy day.  We had some family pics taken this morning.  I'm not super thrilled with any of the group shots, but she got some good individual ones of the boys so I bought the CD.  Now, I'm blogging on the screened in porch.  Brody is hanging out and Austin is napping.  Jacob and Aaron are out fishing in a fishing derby and I'm not sure if Aaron or Jacob was more excited about it!  More of the same is on the agenda.