Second Day at Sea World

On Monday we visited Sea World for the second time. (We had a two-day pass for less than half the cost of a one-day pass to Disney World.)  This time we focused more on the rides, although we also saw the new turtle show and an arctic explorer exhibit with a helicopter ride.  The kids enjoyed feeding the sharks, seeing the sting ray tank and watching the dolphins.  In the Turtle show they also got to watch manatees. Since they are seldom seen from below the water, this was quite a treat!

At lunch Leah was fascinated by an egret - who knew how to stay safe while begging. Egrets were all over the park - on the stage for the water shows, wandering near the eating areas, and just hanging closeby wherever they might get a bite of food.

Visiting Great Grandma

On both Saturday and Sunday we drove out to Cocoa Beach to spend time with Great Grandma Julia. We took Julia to the Cocoa Beach Pier for lunch on Saturday and the kids watch people fish off the pier. We also saw a pelican up close - within five feet - who was waiting for someone to give him a fish too small to keep.

After watching all the fishermen, Leah decided she wanted to fish, too. So we rigged up a fishing pole for her and she fished for most of the afternoon. (No, she didn't catch anything, but she saw fish jumping in the canal.)

Four Generations

 What beautiful ladies!



CA in FL Part 2

After a day at Sea World we were ready to chill again. The kids played most of the day Friday in the pools at the resort. They are both learning to swim, so this was a good time for them to practice.

Rich did all of the cooking for the evening meals - so he got the most out of his bundle of meat. We ate hamburgers and hot dogs, ribs and chicken BBQ, sausage and steak. No one went hungry and Laurel didn't have to worry about any of the meal preparation.

CA in FL

We met our California family in Florida for a week at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club in Orlando.  After a hectic drive from Cocoa Beach to Flip's to get the car seat then to the resort to drop off Susan so everyone could fit into the car and then to the airport to pick up the family and back to the resort (whew!) we finally all met up and got to our suite for the week. It was a very nice room with two bedrooms, two baths, living space, porch, kitchen, laundry, on one side and a smaller hotel-like room on the other side for the inlaws. We were near the pools, playground, and basketball court.

On Wednesday, the first full day, we just chilled at the resort (that is the adults chilled...the kids ran full-speed ahead).  Luke and Leah discovered a ping-pong table and had a lot of fun with that.

 

On Thursday we sat in on an owner's update and breakfast at a new resort Hilton is constructing, then tackled Sea World for the day. Rich and Lars wanted to hit all the shows the first day, so we watched the dolphin  and bird show, the otter show, the whale show, and an acrobat show. We also had time for some rides and the kids climbed in a huge above-ground play area. Luke's favorite was the water roller-coaster. Grandma's favorite was the carousel (of course), and Leah's favorite was the kiddie coaster. Pop-pop only rode one - the water roller coaster. I think Laurel liked them all, but agreed with Luke on her favorite.

In the aquarium.

 In the splash zone at the Shamu show.

 Above-ground play area.

 Laurel, Leah and Luke climbing in the nets. Laurel was soon dismissed and the kids climbed by themselves - for at least half an hour!

The crab ride

 Leah riding next to Grandma.

 Laurel, Lars and Luke on the water roller-coaster ride.



Visit with Julia - Wahoo!

We traveled to Cocoa Beach, FL on the afternoon of Friday, April 20, to spend a few days with Grandma Julia. Arriving in Orlando, our plane encountered a thunder storm and was diverted to Daytona Beach airport where we sat on the tarmac for an hour or so before being allowed to return to Orlando to land two hours late. While at Daytona, we saw the Daytona Raceway stadium.

We stopped at the Seafood Atlantic store at Cape Canaveral and purchased dinner to make for Julia that evening. Rich set about creating a beautiful meal for us – Wahoo stuffed with Rock Shrimp. Yum…. It was as good as it was pretty!

On Saturday we spent some time looking for car seats on Craigs List for Luke and Leah for the rental car they would use. Found two seats for a total of $15, both within easy access. Rich’s cousin Flip picked up one for us. We drove to Melbourne where Rich purchased a meat bundle to use for the week at the resort and we stopped on the way to get the car seat for Leah.

Sunday we visited Julia’s church in Cocoa Beach, looked at pictures with her, and helped around the house with little things that needed to be done. We spent time on the dock watching the wild life (no manatees this year, however), and just relaxing.

Monday was a beach day and Tuesday we headed to Orlando to spend the week with the CA family, stopping at Flip’s house to pick up a car seat and then picking up Lars, Laurel, Luke and Leah at the airport.