Category Archives: Vacations

March 2011 Trip to Florida – Day 5 (Thursday)

Today was a pretty dull day. It rained for most of the day, so we went to Florida Mall. It is a huge mall with an Apple Store, Pottery Barn, a Disney Store, and more. We had a hard time finding Tangled toys at the Downtown Disney store, but we were able to find a stuffled Pascal and some other toys at the mall. Matthew and Christine were excited. Christine also got a nightgown and Andrew got an Alien stuffy from Toy Story.

The kids had some quiet time in the afternoon, and then we were able to swim.

After dinner Jeff and Ryan showed up. On Friday the boys are headed to a Blue Jays Spring Training game, and the girls are headed to the beach.

March 2011 Trip to Florida – Day 4 (Wednesday)

We left the house Wednesday morning at around 9 am and made it past the front gates of Busch Gardens at around 11 am (after getting gas, stamps, and then parking and taking the tram over to the park once we got there). The pamphlets had made Busch Gardens look very nice, but we weren’t sure what it would actually be like (Matthew actually thought it would be full of bushes and gardens only). It was AWESOME! What a beautiful park.

We started off in the kids section, but had to walk past the bird gardens first. The boys seemed to be most excited about seeing a gecko and an armadillo.

The main kids area is called the Sesame Street Safari of Fun. There was a great kids roller coaster (Air Grover)  that the boys and I went on (Andrew and I went on it twice). There was also a huge tree house with rope/tunnel climbing area attached to it. Lisa ran around with Christine and I ran around with the boys. We also watched a bit of a Sesame Street show in the Sunny Day Theatre.

Matthew said his favourite part was Oscar’s Swamp. It was a small splash pad at the base of the tree fort. Andrew’s favourite part was Air Grover, because it went almost as fast as Dragon Mountain at Marineland.

There were a bunch of huge roller coasters. I’m not a big roller coaster fan, but I told the boys I would go on anything with them. I thought Andrew would want to go on something, but he didn’t want to go on any of them. There was one roller coaster called SheikRa that literally dropped you 90° at one point. Yikes! There is also going to be a new roller coaster open this Spring called Cheetah Hunt. Apparently it will go more than 60 MPH and will take you from 0 to 60 in 3 seconds!

The next area was Jungala, and it had another big climbing fort. Great stuff for kids. Christine always had a hard time because her feet are too small, so Lisa kept her down below and went in a small splash pad with her.

Jungala is also the area where they have tigers. They had one viewing area where a tiger was sleeping right next to it, so you could get within a foot or so of it’s head. Cool!

The next area was called Congo, and Lisa and I went on the Congo River Rapids. Andrew was going to go on with us, but then I read a sign out loud that said that you could get wet, possibly soaked. Andrew said, “No way!” and went back to wait with Grandma and Grandpa. I tried to convince him that he probably wouldn’t get wet, but it didn’t work. Well, in the end, we did end up getting soaked!

From the Congo area, we also took a train ride around the whole park. That is the only way to see all of the animals on the Serengeti Plain. That is where the giraffes, hippos, zebras, wildebeest, and other African animals are.

After the train ride we made our way through Timbuktu and Nairobi and saw some more animals before making our way to Egypt. Both Andrew and Matthew were excited to see the King Tut exhibit. There was also an area full of sand and “artifacts” and the kids pretended they were digging up treasure. Andrew and Matthew both repeatedly said how they thought Brianna would have really liked it.

The last thing we wanted to see was the gorilla exhibit. It was gorgeous, but unfortunately, we didn’t see any gorillas. We did however see some monkey’s picking bugs off of each other.

On the way out we saw some alligators.

On the way home we stopped at an IHOP for dinner. It was the first time we had ever been and it was quite good.

We got home at around 8:30 pm and obviously the kids went straight to bed. Christine crashed almost immediately in the van, slept all the way home and kept sleeping as I brought her into the house, so Lisa said to just leave her in her clothes.

A great day!

March 2011 Trip to Florida – Day 3 (Tuesday)

The weather was beautiful again on Tuesday. I’m not sure what it got up to, but it must have gotten up to 22-25° C. We swam in the morning and then headed off to Downtown Disney Marketplace.

We were there for around 3 hours. It is a beautiful place. The sun was shining, there were lots of people around, and the stores are great. We started off in the main Disney store so we could try to find some princess things for Christine.

We were originally looking for some gloves or a tiara. We saw both, but Christine chose an Aurora toy instead. We couldn’t believe how many girls were going through the Bibbity Bobbity  Boutique. What a money maker for Disney!

Another main destination was the LEGO store. Unfortunately, the existing store was under renovation, so they had a temporary location setup. They had lots of sets to buy, but that was about it. They only had one “life-size” character to get a picture of, and there was no place outside where the kids could build things. It was disappointing, but the boys still managed to make a list of a half dozen sets they wanted.

We went in a bunch of other stores, and then headed back home for lunch and some quiet time. The kids aren’t able to fall asleep at their normal time, and get up earlier than normal in the morning, and after a few days, they were getting particularly annoyed with one another. Andrew also wasn’t feeling that great. By mid-afternoon they had gotten up and we went swimming again.

We had an early dinner and then dropped off Grandma and Grandpa at the outlet mall that Lisa and I were at earlier in the week. The rest of us headed back to Downtown Disney.

We went by the T-Rex Cafe and the kids dug for dinosaur bones.

We also went into a couple of other stores that we had already gone in to earlier in the day. My camera battery had died, so I needed to take some more pictures.

We had a great day, and I’m sure we’ll end up back at Downtown Disney a few more times before we go.

On Wednesday we are going to Busch Gardens…

March 2011 Trip to Florida – Day 2 (Monday)

This morning the boys and I got up early and swam for around an hour before breakfast. We then got ready and left for SeaWorld.

We made it around the whole park, but spent most of our time in the kids section (Shamu’s Happy Harbor). We went on several rides and played on the big rope climbing play park.

We also saw the shark exhibit, the penguin encounter, the sting rays, and more. The passes we got let us into all 3 parks for 2 weeks, so we’ll definitely be going back.

After SeaWorld, we went swimming while Grandma and Grandpa went to get groceries.

We had a quiet evening. The kids went to bed and Lisa and I went to one of the outlet malls. We saw lots we liked, but since it is still early in the trip, we are going to wait till later to spend the big bucks. The only thing we bought was a couple of pairs of shorts for me ($7 each).

March 2011 Trip to Florida – Day 1 (Sunday)

Being on vacation on a Sunday is always a little challenging, but we made the best of it. We went to the Kissimmee Ward for their 9 am Sacrament Meeting. It was Fast & Testimony Meeting. I was a little worried that we wouldn’t know what anyone was talking about (since we don’t know the people), but it was actually quite a good meeting. They had the “regular” sort of people… the person who gets up every week, the person who talks about temple work, someone talking about youth, etc. The counselor in the bishopric who conducted started it off with a nice testimony, and the meeting continued from there.

When we got home, Lisa and the kids went swimming. I watched them for a bit, and then had a nap. I was exhausted. I don’t know if it was because of all of the driving I did, or what, but it sure felt good.

We had a nice dinner at home, and then after dinner headed over to a park in the neighbourhood. The kids played for a bit, and then we came home for popcorn and to read Geronimo Stilton together.

The kids went to bed, and then Lisa and I swam for a while. After getting dried off, we planned out a week a little more and then went to bed. We’ve got a busy week ahead!

Driving to Florida and Day 0

The trip down could have been disastrous (the kids have never driven for more than 3 hours), but it wasn’t too bad. The first night we drove to Jeffersonville, OH, then the second day we drove to Macon, GA, and then on the 3rd day (Day 0) we arrived at the house in Kissimmee, FL. We arrived a little early, and so we went and got some groceries first. We then went to the house and swam.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

  • 3:35 Lisa, her parents, and the kids left home to pick me up at work
  • 3:56 picked me up and drove away
  • 4:03 got through customs at the Rainbow Bridge
  • 5:44 crossed the PA state line
  • 5:47-6:04 stopped at a McDonald’s for dinner
  • 8:09 left a rest area
  • 10:28 arrived at the hotel in Jeffersonville, OH

Lisa drove to pick me up, and then I drove the rest of the way

Christine had gotten sick the day we left, so she was pretty grumpy and groggy during the trip. At night I gave her a blessing. I laid my hands on her head, and started by saying “Christine Lisa Wing” and she opened her eyes a bit and said, “Yes?” 🙂

Christine stayed in our room and the boys shared the second bed in Grandma and Grandpa’s room.

Friday, March 4, 2011

The continental breakfast at the hotel was quite good. We had bagels, cereal, juice, oatmeal, and waffles.

  • 8:00 on the road
  • 9?29 crossed the Kentucky border
  • 9:40 stopped at a rest stop
  • 12:40 got lunch at Wendy’s
  • 1:00 crossed the Tennessee border. We’ve noticed quite a few trees with blossoms, as well as some daffodils growing.
  • 1:09-2:00 hit a lane closure in the Tennessee mountains which delayed us almost an hour
  • 4:24 crossed the Georgia border
  • 7:30 arrived at the Macon hotel

Grandpa drove for a couple of hours in the morning, and a couple of hours in the evening. Lisa drive for a few hours in the morning. I drove the rest of the way.

Christine was feeling better (not 100%, but better), but Andrew was miserable. He just didn’t get enough sleep last night.

We had hoped to swim at the Macon hotel, but it was an outdoor pool and was closed for the season. It wasn’t opening until Monday. It was too cold to swim anyway.

The hotel was much, much nicer than the previous hotel.

Saturday, March 5, 2011 – Day 0

The continental breakfast in Macon was excellent. Along with the standard muffins, toast, cereal, etc, there were also biscuits, eggs, and sausage rounds. We ate well, and then got on our way.

  • 8:16 left hotel
  • 11:24 crossed the Florida border and stopped at a welcome centre. We each got an orange juice and grabbed lots of pamphlets of things to do
  • 1:04 stopped at a rest stop
  • 3:15 arrived in Kissimmee

We can’t believe the number of anti-abortion billboards around. There must have been one every couple of minutes along the Florida Turnpike. Strangely enough, during the whole trip there were also billboards for strip joints or “adult” stores at almost every major rest stop.

Of course we were looking for license plates. Here is what we have seen so far:

  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • Nova Scotia
  • Ontario
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Virginia
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming
  • Oklahoma