The Florida Trip

As much as I was dreading it, we actually had a really good time in Florida. The first three days were spent in Orlando, where we stayed at the Nickelodeon Family Suites Hotel. The rates were incredible, considering all they have to offer-- tons of Nickelodeon characters milling about in costume, a "mall", restaurants, a bar, two HUGE waterparks, basketball courts, an arcade, and all of the rooms are suites, so Brent had his own (SpongeBob) room, we had a small fridge, cupboards and a kitchen sink. All for $142 a night! Granted, this IS the off-season, but the hotel my sister works at in Saugatuck charges more than that for a standard room with just a bed and a shitter :-). It was great!


My cheesy-grinned kid posing in his beloved SpongeBob room, complete with bunkbeds, tv, playstation, radio and a small desk.




Brent's favorite things about the hotel were the waterparks (they're outdoor, but the water is 85º and they don't close the pools unless it gets below 50º) and the Character Breakfast, which the price of made me choke. $50 for three of us to eat a buffet breakfast and take pictures with the Nick characters. Brent was in his glory, though, so I guess it was worth it.


Brent blasting innocent bystanders with water. At least it's 85º water...








This whole contraption is filled with slides, bridges, tubes and tunnels, with water spraying everywhere and huge buckets of water that dump on you when you least expect it. And, thanks to my stellar photography skills, the side of my husband's head in the lower left corner.


These were taken at the Character Breakfast. We also took pictures with Patrick and Squidward (from SpongeBob), and Tommy and Angelica (from the Rugrats), but I won't make you look at EVERY picture I took on vacation...

Whilst in Orlando, we went to Sea World and Universal Studios. Sea World was, by far, my favorite. I would go back each time we're in Florida. We all loved it. We watched a Pirate and seal show and a Shamu show, which kinda sucked cuz halfway through, the whales decided to quit performing. The Pirate show, however, was HILARIOUS.

Universal Studios was much more adult-oriented than I thought it would be, and Brent was so overwhelmed and tired and just downright crabby that day that it wasn't really even worth it to buy the tickets, but you live and learn. Next year we'll reserve a day to hang out at the pool or whatever between park days to rest up :-)

Then on to Sebring to stay with the in-laws. Everything went really well there; my MIL minded her manners, for the most part :-) John and his dad golfed every day we were there, and Brent was beside himself with awe that he got to drive the golf cart around the neighborhood (not by himself, of course).

I celebrated the big 29 while we were there, and on my birthday, a friend of the in-laws took us for a boat ride on the Kissimmee (sp?) river, where we got to see lots of gators, otters and turtles. Oh, and very large birds, which terrify me. Sandhill cranes are not my friends. I cannot put into words how beautiful and peaceful the boat ride was. It was just really nice to see GREEN again.



This little guy was on the golf course. The gator pics from the boat ride aren't close enough to see on here.






Grandmas are always doling out the chocolate chip cookies, aren't they? This is Brent with motorcycle mama great-grandma.





Can't do a post about Florida without some palm tree pics! This is the in-laws' back yard, the canal, and the golf course. What a view each morning!
The weather was like this every day- nary a cloud (yes, I said "nary"), low 70's... it was rough.





And here's what we came home to...

P.S.

Mad props to all you crazy bastards who include pictures in your posts on a regular basis... this took me FOREVER!