Our entire family plus Mark's sister, Nancy, came from New York, North Carolina, Colorado, and California to spend a week in Orlando. Mark and I are celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary and what better way to celebrate than to join with the people we love most for some good times. Orlando in August was not our first choice, and it is very hot and humid, but the fun we are having together far outweighs the discomfort.
In planning for this week, I had to put some reins on Mark and remind him that we couldn't hit a theme park EVERY day, we had small children to consider (one 7 year old, two 4 year olds, one 15 month old) and besides that, the cost would be prohibitive. He was able to get some discounts by searching online.
We arrived Saturday evening, sent out for pizza, and then Allison pulled out the envelope. THE envelope. Earlier in the week she had had an ultrasound and closed her eyes when it came to the part of discovering the sex of the baby, then had the technician put the results in a sealed envelope so that we could all have the joy and excitement of hearing what the newest addition to our family would be (due date: January 5.) They had Emaline open the envelope and had coached her that B would mean boy and G would mean girl. They helped her to find the word.... "girl" and we all cheered. Except Emaline. She burst into tears and wailed that she wanted a boy baby! (Note: she has since got over it and cheerfully tells everyone she is having a sister.) Anyway, we all thought her reaction was hilarious and we are thrilled to have another girl in the family.
We traded our timeshare weeks in Kauai for three 3-bedroom units at the Marriott Grande Vista. We are just one mile from Sea World and about a 20 minute drive from Disney. Here is a picture of the outside of the Grande Vista with one of our lovely red mini-vans out in front.
Here are pictures of the living room/dining room/kitchen area.
We also have a screened in balcony that would be a wonderful place to sit and take in the view of the lake, but it is way to hot and humid.
The weather has been in the low 90s with the humidity about 90%. Here is a picture of the master bedroom.
We went to Animal Kingdom the first day here and we couldn't believe how sweaty we got. My hair was frizzing up almost immediately. The rest of the week I had to just not care how I looked! I think my favorite part of Animal Kingdom is the safari. I love the giraffes as they walk along so gracefully, practically close enough that you could reach out and touch them from the truck/bus thing they have you riding in.
The grandkids loved all of the animals. They did not love so much the scary dinosaur ride we went on. Emaline had her head ducked down almost in my lap the whole time. She usually seems like such a bold, unafraid little girl, but this ride was too much for her! Here we are with our 3-D Bug's Life glasses.
In the evening we went to dinner at Medieval Times and the kids really loved it.
At one point during the program, Ainsleigh, who is usually very mild mannered, was shouting along with the rest of us for our green knight, and Sarah realized that Ainsleigh was shouting, "Kill him! Kill him!" David showing off his knight prowess:
Here is Ainsleigh with the MC:
The next day while Mark, Jeff, Laura, Rebecca, David, and Dave Whitley went to Islands of Adventures/Universal Studios to see how many times they could be upside down on the big roller coasters. (25) Allison, Emaline, and Nancy hung out at the pools here at the resort. The Hills and I drove about 45 minutes east to Cocoa Beach. I took a few pictures of Donovan and Ainsleigh playing in the water.
This man wandered into my picture of Donovan. He was pretty representative of about 50% of the people at the beach. It made me feel much better about myself in a swimsuit!
The following day, Mark, Nancy and I went to Epcot while the rest of the kids went to Blizzard Beach and went on the water slides, after an early morning round of golf by the menfolk.
Nancy and Jeff flew home the next day and we hung out here at the resort at the pools and went to a nearby outlet mall.
Surprisingly, Mark was quite enamored with the mall and made some purchases. One of them was a $120 tie from Barney's of New York for which he paid $30.
We traded our timeshare weeks in Kauai for three 3-bedroom units at the Marriott Grande Vista. We are just one mile from Sea World and about a 20 minute drive from Disney. Here is a picture of the outside of the Grande Vista with one of our lovely red mini-vans out in front. 
Here are pictures of the living room/dining room/kitchen area. 
We also have a screened in balcony that would be a wonderful place to sit and take in the view of the lake, but it is way to hot and humid.
The weather has been in the low 90s with the humidity about 90%. Here is a picture of the master bedroom.
We went to Animal Kingdom the first day here and we couldn't believe how sweaty we got. My hair was frizzing up almost immediately. The rest of the week I had to just not care how I looked! I think my favorite part of Animal Kingdom is the safari. I love the giraffes as they walk along so gracefully, practically close enough that you could reach out and touch them from the truck/bus thing they have you riding in.
The grandkids loved all of the animals. They did not love so much the scary dinosaur ride we went on. Emaline had her head ducked down almost in my lap the whole time. She usually seems like such a bold, unafraid little girl, but this ride was too much for her! Here we are with our 3-D Bug's Life glasses.
In the evening we went to dinner at Medieval Times and the kids really loved it.
At one point during the program, Ainsleigh, who is usually very mild mannered, was shouting along with the rest of us for our green knight, and Sarah realized that Ainsleigh was shouting, "Kill him! Kill him!" David showing off his knight prowess:
Here is Ainsleigh with the MC:
The next day while Mark, Jeff, Laura, Rebecca, David, and Dave Whitley went to Islands of Adventures/Universal Studios to see how many times they could be upside down on the big roller coasters. (25) Allison, Emaline, and Nancy hung out at the pools here at the resort. The Hills and I drove about 45 minutes east to Cocoa Beach. I took a few pictures of Donovan and Ainsleigh playing in the water. 
This man wandered into my picture of Donovan. He was pretty representative of about 50% of the people at the beach. It made me feel much better about myself in a swimsuit!
The following day, Mark, Nancy and I went to Epcot while the rest of the kids went to Blizzard Beach and went on the water slides, after an early morning round of golf by the menfolk.
Nancy and Jeff flew home the next day and we hung out here at the resort at the pools and went to a nearby outlet mall.
Surprisingly, Mark was quite enamored with the mall and made some purchases. One of them was a $120 tie from Barney's of New York for which he paid $30.
1 comment:
Man, looks like you guys had so much fun! I'm excited for the future parts :)
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