Vacation, part II

The Peabody, Orlando, Florida

Our first thoughts upon arrival in Orlando were "Oh no, we should have never left Sanibel". What a world of difference! Fortunately, we were staying at the Peabody Hotel and the kids got a huge kick out of the ducks swimming in the lobby. That is what this hotel is known for..the ducks are paraded in and out of the fountain in the lobby by way of a red carpet leading to the elevator. It is a huge deal, complete with honorary duck guests.

Over the past few days we have worn ourselves out on Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Wet-n-Wild and Sea World, oh yes, and any kind of amusement park food or paraphernalia. No, we did not do any Mouse House activities..we were just here in February for a long weekend and decided not to visit Walt and his magical kingdom.

We did, however, meet our oldest daughter's request to take her to Downtown Disney so she could check out Planet Hollywood. She had never been and had a blast. Yep, we are her favorite parents for right now, tomorrow we will resume the meanest parents role. Right where we usually are...

Taking a break outside the Bubba Gump Shrimp store.

Definition of precious: When your seven year old son thinks that the dinosaur sounds in Jurassic Park are really coming from some plant eaters in the laboratory behind the high fences and foliage.

Knee boarding! Landon was our adventurer at Wet N Wild. She is shown here kneeling just before her zip cord came jerking her off this platform. She was so brave, she just sat there and rode that puppy clear around to the buoys. She was the youngest one attempting this for sure and the smallest..the guide let her go even though she was just shy of the height requirement. My camera battery died just as she pulled away..of course!

Here is Austyn smiling as she catches a mean wave!

OKAY. You have to grasp this whole concept. We are in a kiddie play area in Camp Jurassic. My husband and the kiddos are missing on the lower level and here is where I found them. Jon and Wilson are SOAKING wet and firing water out of these guns down below on Austyn and Landon and some other innocent children. It got to be such a war that the boys from down below would come up and kick more water on Jon just to get him back. They had water guns as well, but just could not compete with the sharpshooting ex-Marine! I had to stand on a wall just to snap the photo and not drench my camera. I was ducking in and out watching for angry parents and just waiting for some kid to start screaming and crying in protest!

Did someone say Parrot head? Here is the ending to the last post's title. Once I managed to get this crew out of the water war..we headed for some dry ground at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. We figured it only fitting since we had just been to Paradise. It was a great way to end our perfectly exhausting day and besides, we were sure it was 5 o'clock somewhere.

This photo was taken especially for our neighbor. Remember Dickie? Well, when we first moved to Jacksonville, he would show up at our door wearing any number of costumes, and most of the time he was Captain America. It got to be a joke at our house. When the doorbell would ring, we would say "Wilson, its Captain America, he would like to play with you". Precious memories. It is only fitting that we honor him in this way. We love you, Richard (Dickie :-))!

Anyway, we had a wonderful time and we are exhausted to say the least. Can't wait to be home and see our furry family again.