Hang on to your hats!My sister, Jessi, lovingly reminded me tonight to update my "blog thingy" already! So, I am finally getting around to posting several posts from the last few weeks. This blog post about our trip to Florida has A LOT of pictures so feel free to skim through them.
Quinton and I flew to Orlando on Wednesday the 4th and met up with Jessi and her 3 kids, who flew in from Utah. This trip was all Jessi's idea since we were fed up with winter weather and missed our grandparents, who we hadn't seen in over a year.
We flew into Orlando pretty late so we ended up staying in a hotel near Sea World. Lucky for us, we flew into Orlando on one of the coldest days in a very long time! I think it was 27 degrees when we arrived! We had planned on going to Sea World Thursday but it was pretty cold so we opted to go on Saturday when it was predicted the weather would be back into the 70s!
Quinton took NO time to become reacquainted with his cousins. He had more fun than a kid should have with Taylor, Evan and Sara!
This is Sara the next morning...I wish I woke up this happy and cute every morning!
We did decide to go and check out Downtown Disney for some cheap fun but still, it was COLD so we stayed indoors most of the time!
The kids loved all the LEGO stuff.
There was even a LEGO mock up of the Millennium Falcon for the bargain price of $499.99! Who knew LEGOs could be so expensive???What's funny about the picture below is that I have a picture of Quinton with the SAME robot back in 2007 here!
At this age, I think only the two older kids didn't realize we weren't actually at Disney!
My sister princess, Jessi and princess Sara:
Here is Evan looking very enthused to be on a kiddie ride with his little sister! See what I mean...the younger kids think we were really AT Disney World!
We had such a great time visiting my grandparents, Gardner and Dorothy. They are some of the most hip octogenarians I know! It was great to stay at their house, too. In their backyard, they have a boat dock that leads to a canal, which leads to the Banana River, which leads to the ocean. Needless to say, you can see all kids of wildlife from their yard.
At this age, I think only the two older kids didn't realize we weren't actually at Disney!
My sister princess, Jessi and princess Sara:
Here is Evan looking very enthused to be on a kiddie ride with his little sister! See what I mean...the younger kids think we were really AT Disney World!
We had such a great time visiting my grandparents, Gardner and Dorothy. They are some of the most hip octogenarians I know! It was great to stay at their house, too. In their backyard, they have a boat dock that leads to a canal, which leads to the Banana River, which leads to the ocean. Needless to say, you can see all kids of wildlife from their yard.The kids were able to 'adopt' a stray turtle that Evan decided to call, Shelly.
The kids were so fascinated with the turtle!
Of course, even if it were 70 degrees out, the ocean would be too cold to swim in this time of year but the kids had a great time getting their feet wet and looking for shells at the beach.
We got to the beach about 45 minutes before sunset and you could see the moon out over the waves. Matt and I thoroughly enjoying the sand under our feet and the kids running around with NO SNOW and NO COATS! What a treat!
Just today, Quinton and I were watching something on TV where people were at the beach and Quinton started to take off his clothes. When I asked him why he was taking off his clothes, he said, "I'm going to the beach!"
The kids were so fascinated with the turtle!
Of course, even if it were 70 degrees out, the ocean would be too cold to swim in this time of year but the kids had a great time getting their feet wet and looking for shells at the beach. 
We got to the beach about 45 minutes before sunset and you could see the moon out over the waves. Matt and I thoroughly enjoying the sand under our feet and the kids running around with NO SNOW and NO COATS! What a treat!
Just today, Quinton and I were watching something on TV where people were at the beach and Quinton started to take off his clothes. When I asked him why he was taking off his clothes, he said, "I'm going to the beach!"He was so excited that it was a big bummer for me to tell him that it was cold outside and the beach here in Chicago had ice in it...he was not happy!
It was so nice to relax and play at the beach.
I think Quinton and I will have to go back again, soon.
And my precious niece, Sara. She looks so happy to be at the beach.
Quinton LOVES Sea World. 
Here is Sara waiting for the merry-go-round to start, which it never did for us!
The merry-go-round ended up not working for us but we had a fun time on all of the other rides.
Sara, still waiting patiently...
This was a fun ride since ALL of us could go on it!
The crab ride went up and did a little bit of a drop and bounced back up and down...you get the picture. Quinton, especially, wanted to go again right after doing it the first time! 
Matt, Taylor and Quinton posing with Shamu. Quinton tells me about 5 times a day that he is going to have a "Shamu birthday party" so I guess that's a hint for me since his birthday isn't until September!
One of the highlights of our trip was the cool dolphin show. There were so many dolphins and these awesome acrobats and all kinds of costumes. Quinton barely blinked the entire show, I think!
Never mind the sign that asks people not to climb on this sculpture, it was too cool to pass up!
All of the kids really loved this part of the park where you could feed manta rays. It was cool to touch their backs as they floated past.
So after 7.5 hours at Sea World, we drove about 8 minutes to get some dinner and in that time, Quinton feel dead asleep. We tried everything to wake him up in the restaurant but in the end, he slept on the chair, standing up!
I don't blame the poor kid, we were all exhausted!
It was so nice to relax and play at the beach.
I think Quinton and I will have to go back again, soon. 
And my precious niece, Sara. She looks so happy to be at the beach.
Quinton LOVES Sea World. I'm not even kidding, he mentions Shamu at least ONCE a day.
It all started last year when we purchased a season pass to Sea World San Diego and had the chance to go three times over the course of the year.
Quinton was in HEAVEN watching all of the sea life that Sea World has to offer.
Here is Sara waiting for the merry-go-round to start, which it never did for us!
The merry-go-round ended up not working for us but we had a fun time on all of the other rides.
Sara, still waiting patiently...
This was a fun ride since ALL of us could go on it!
The crab ride went up and did a little bit of a drop and bounced back up and down...you get the picture. Quinton, especially, wanted to go again right after doing it the first time!We also went on a kiddie roller coaster ride which Quinton loved! Matt actually bought the picture that they take while you are on the ride because Quinton's expression was so funny. I'll have to try and scan it in in all my spare time!
My sister, Jessi and her kids:
Matt, Taylor and Quinton posing with Shamu. Quinton tells me about 5 times a day that he is going to have a "Shamu birthday party" so I guess that's a hint for me since his birthday isn't until September!
One of the highlights of our trip was the cool dolphin show. There were so many dolphins and these awesome acrobats and all kinds of costumes. Quinton barely blinked the entire show, I think!
Never mind the sign that asks people not to climb on this sculpture, it was too cool to pass up!
All of the kids really loved this part of the park where you could feed manta rays. It was cool to touch their backs as they floated past.
So after 7.5 hours at Sea World, we drove about 8 minutes to get some dinner and in that time, Quinton feel dead asleep. We tried everything to wake him up in the restaurant but in the end, he slept on the chair, standing up!
I don't blame the poor kid, we were all exhausted!Here is another view:
Monday, we went to the zoo, which was a blast! My grandparents even spent the day with us at the park and it was so neat to have Quinton and my nieces and nephew spend time with their great grandparents. These are wonderful memories that I know I will always cherish!
Here are my grandparents with three of their seven great grandchildren. Quinton was too busy feeding the birds to be in this picture. I love my grandparents! They are so kind and loving and I am very grateful that Quinton has an opportunity to get to know them!
In the bird area, we were able to feed the different kinds of birds. Quinton was half excited, half freaked out by all of the birds so close!
This is Sara enjoying the birds before they converged on her for more food! 
The birds were lots of fun because they came so close...
Quinton thought this was HILARIOUS!
We had a ball!
Matt and my grandpa enjoying the shade on a nice sunny Florida day.
It was a wonderful visit and we even were able to spend some time with my Aunt and Uncles. It wasn't a long enough trip, in my opinion but we had to come back to reality at some point, right?
Monday, we went to the zoo, which was a blast! My grandparents even spent the day with us at the park and it was so neat to have Quinton and my nieces and nephew spend time with their great grandparents. These are wonderful memories that I know I will always cherish!
Here are my grandparents with three of their seven great grandchildren. Quinton was too busy feeding the birds to be in this picture. I love my grandparents! They are so kind and loving and I am very grateful that Quinton has an opportunity to get to know them!
In the bird area, we were able to feed the different kinds of birds. Quinton was half excited, half freaked out by all of the birds so close!
This is Sara enjoying the birds before they converged on her for more food! 
The birds were lots of fun because they came so close...
Quinton thought this was HILARIOUS!
We had a ball!
Matt and my grandpa enjoying the shade on a nice sunny Florida day.
It was a wonderful visit and we even were able to spend some time with my Aunt and Uncles. It wasn't a long enough trip, in my opinion but we had to come back to reality at some point, right? Quinton still asks if we can go to Grandpa's house and wonders where his cousins are so I think we may be going back to Florida again, soon!
1 comment:
Wow - those bird shots are something. I want to go!
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