Sitting by fire in style

Leaving the state that encompasses my heart was rather tough. Adjusting to being back into the “much too cool for my liking” weather again was a much bigger challenge than I anticipated. Mr. R is obviously brilliant. He knew right away just what to do. Summer projects! The first project we chose to tackle from our list was the fire pit remodeling. A close second runner-up to sitting by the calming and completely soothing rippling ocean is sitting by a toasty warm crackling fire. Knowing our time outdoors in this beloved (and WAY too short) season will pass too quickly, we decided the best use of this precious time would be to build our much desired fire pit. First we measured. Mr. R likes to measure twice just like they say…or 5 or 6 times I guess since you can’t be too sure… We had GREAT fun buying the super cool supplies! Then we dug just the right size (we know because we measured a lot)… Sand helps keep things even and is fun to play in too… That very important weed stopping paper stuff is critical to use. Giggles found her skills were best used in the supervising of tasks…Supervisors take lots of breaks. Something Joy also loves to do… Joy was good to come back and help promptly when the exciting brick-laying part came around… Once we stomped the stones in just right, we added the all important fire pit MUCH to our delight… Though it looked like the project could be complete, it didn’t yet seem quite right to me. The corners were a little too empty you see.

One small element may have been overlooked when Mr. R sent me (who is deeply missing the Florida greenery) to the store to buy a plant or two… do you think this will do? I can’t deny I was relieved when it all fit in the car… I guess I also randomly added “landscaping” to our project list. I’m certain the plants I picked to finish off the fire pit turned out just right… Here’s a great surprise, our new fire pit actually worked for real live fire at once when it was lit! We know this for sure because after all the fun was finished, we sat back and enjoyed staring into a job well done…

Swimming and Dining

Our last day in Orlando was also a celebration of Sheldon’s birthday. The excitement of seeing the ocean drew everyone out so quickly that sunscreen was a passing thought (something they’ll all regret a few short days later)… We swam like professionals… and laughed even more… Memories were made as well as many pictures we adore… We cleaned up and headed to supper to a place very dear… Sheldon got to check out the horses very close and personal. I don’t think he’ll forget this birthday too soon… We met the horse related to the original black stallion. The one from all the stories most of us know so well… There were flips… …and more flips… …even some fire… We splurged for VIP seating and felted like real royalty… The view was perfect and the food was pretty great too… It was our last night in Orlando so it was fun to feel like kings and queens. What a great finale to a most spectacular week we had. It was rather sad when the evening came to its final close. I really do love living in America. The land of freedom, dreams and so much more…

The Magic of a Mouse

We safely arrived at the beloved castle that encases so many dreams and bucket-loads of happiness. First things first, we just HAD to wake the princesses to greet them with a friendly “hello”… Once that task was behind us, it was time to take a little spin in the historical tea cups… Isn’t it fun how everyone stops and “oohs and awes” when Mickey arrives? He’s the star of the show you know. It seems he’s held that title strong and loud for his whole entire life! We rode some super fun rides. Mr. R liked this one better than all the rest… We played with fire (Sort of) and made things go “Boom”… I can’t seem to go anywhere without stopping for a little dance… We had some fun in lines. What else would we do? Speaking of lines, we found some music along the way too. I couldn’t resist the urge to dance a little jig once again…
Mr. R loved the Jungle Cruise. He was sure we’d see snakes (which we really truly did)… The parades encompassed me from the inside all the way out. I couldn’t hold back my excitement or glee even if some of the stars were chuckling at me… Giggles did what she loves too. It included some shopping. It is one of the many things she likes to do… The castle at night is so breath-taking it really is hard not to stare… I’m always thankful for the freedom we all have to enjoy it and for all the memories we get to create as well as share… We stopped to see Mickey – he is the star you know. Pictures with him are ALWAYS a must before you have to go… We were blessed with yet ANOTHER surprise for our week of delight. The park was staying open an extra hour this special night. The incredible news brought smiles and leaps of joy. This meant Sheldon would turn 15 at Magic Kingdom. How exciting is that for our amazing boy!?!? Another great day came to an end. We made more great memories we’ll cherish forever but it’s always sad when such awesome days come to a close. Though Mr. R appears ready to doze…

Under the sea is the place to be

Water. It’s so addicting. Especially when there’s so much around to see and do while you are in it. We slid, splashed and floated like professionals. I know we were the coolest looking bunch on the coast… at least when it mattered the most… The view above water wasn’t too bad either… Giggles loved all the water slides… Actually, we all sincerely loved it. I mean, what’s not to love? Is it possible for our smiles to get any bigger? We had so much fun at the water park being goofy, silly and random which is what we always do best… We explored, touched, and took in all we could see and do while we had the chance… Time spent with such amazing creatures should be completely enjoyed and we really did enjoy every last second of it to the extreme… We became enchanted with all that was around us while exploring under the sea. It truly is the absolute and most perfect place to be…

Surprises by Sundown

We started our fourth day out just right. When both kiddos are heavily involved in and absolutely love theater, I knew we couldn’t go wrong in a visit to Universal Studios. There’s a great deal of excitement brewing over the new Transformers ride that is in process of being finished. Mr. R was GREATLY disappointed when he learned the ride would not yet be ready while we were visiting… Sheldon and Giggles completely enjoyed learning the movie-making process (we enjoyed it just as much) We got to meet Shrek! That Donkey is so funny… We saw stars of stars and parades along the way… … and we put our faces in faces… Sheldon and I rode this super fun jaw dropping rip tide rockin’ roller coaster… Hey, did you know this guy was still around? Seriously, who DOESN’T love Lucy? She’s simply astonishing. Even on her sign… Sheldon displayed how to truly “grab life by the horns” and highly recommends staying out of the electric chair while Giggles perfected her knowledge of how to be a Minion… We may have had a wee bit too much fun visiting the Simpson’s but they are so exciting and fun to see! How can you possible resist the temptation of the greatest enjoyment you could possibly have in one single place? We were rather surprised and quite thrilled to meet some star animals and their personal trainer. Some of our favorite celebrity pets included the dog from “Hotel for Dogs”, Marley from “Marley and Me”, Beethoven from, well, obviously “Beethoven” and of course the adorable Pug that starred in “Men in Black”… This completely amazing place really stole our breath away. It’s shocking how they can fit so much incredibleness into one single park… Their night show of lights, movie clips and fireworks was awe striking and extraordinarily spectacular… Thankfully, I got much of it on video clips for Mr. R since he had a huge surprise of his own gifted to him. That certain ride that everyone has been anticipating opened up for a “soft” trial the evening we were there. He was one of the VERY lucky individuals to be among the VERY first “guests” to try-out the new Transformers ride for the VERY first time. He almost jumped out of his shorts and ran to the ride as soon as he heard the great news. I giggled with glee and got just as much thrill in watching him enjoy the moment as he should. Isn’t that what vacation is all about? Another overwhelmingly joyous day came to a close and we all made it through to the very end once again…

We’re going to need a bigger boat!

We didn’t really need a bigger boat as much as a poncho or four. We laughed at the inclimate weather the day before only to be flooded by rain this lovely third morning of our trip… The great news about Florida is when it rains in flood-like proportions, it only lasts an hour or two. Not a huge deal. It’s WAY different from the 8 long months of inclimate weather we have to deal with back home. I like this version MUCH better. It suits me perfectly. We were able to take in the dolphin shows…
We obviously could not miss the Shamu show. It would be a sin to go to Sea World and not see Shamu and all her friends… You really cannot get enough of these amazing creatures. I fell in love with the sea this week…even more in love than I was before.

We fed Sting Rays several times and saw an interesting lady walking around with lots of parrot looking birds. Sheldon pet a tail on one of the friendly squirrels – it started boxing and squeaking at him afterwards so I’m not sure it was as amused as we were.

We were extraordinarily excited to dine with the sharks…
Mr. R’s super nice cousin lives nearby and met up with us to say a friendly “Hello”… We saw dancers and singers who were very entertaining. I would have never thought of using a grill for a drum station while you cook. How clever they are and very talented too… We journeyed through the Antarctic freeze zone (three members of the group were happy for a cool-down) where we saw Polar Bears and Beluga Whales and so much more… I personally really liked this Sea Lions – they seems to love the sun as much as me you see… We enjoyed all three rides the park had to offer. Sheldon and I loved the Manta ride most while Giggles and Mr. R liked the Atlantis ride best. Regardless, we were all as happy as the dolphins always seem to be and after another full day of fun and play the smiles never seem to fade away…

Swimming and Sunning and so much more

Our 2nd day of our Florida vacation was just as awesome as the first. We swam, slid, splashed and twirled through tons of gallons of warm and rather Heavenly water…
In Florida we’ve learned a swim really isn’t a real swim unless it’s with some sort of amazing fish…
There was some inclimate weather warnings boasting through the intercom in the afternoon. We all laughed when it sprinkled and there was a light breeze that rolled through and it was all sunny again. Inclimate weather in Florida is awesome. We all agreed that this Orlando attraction deserves two thumbs up and plenty of smiles.
We cleaned up bit and headed out on the town for a bit of sight-seeing. What better time to do that than while on vacation right?
Mr. R was excessively interested in the princesses…
… I guess I too may have been a little awe-struck by a certain handsome and extra strong green guy…
We laughed and walked and looked at all we could see. We smiled and posed and found it was best to be different from the rest…
At the end of the night, Sheldon and I decided to try a flight of our own. We hopped on board to see what all we could see…
Even though I had my arms out as far as the ropes would allow waving as hard as I could, we learned it was easier for us to see Mr. R and Giggles than it was for them to see Sheldon and me…
I really love it here. I can’t help but say, Florida really looks good on me