Day 4–Gulf World

After our morning on the beach we grabbed a quick bite to eat and met Aunt J at Gulf World.  She had offered to take us there for K’s birthday.  All I knew was that it was an aquarium attraction and it was only two blocks from our hotel.  I was totally impressed! It was a miniature SeaWorld!

I am not a huge fan of crowds (yeah, I know, I had to get over that for Disney) so I was really happy to find that they had all the fun of Seaworld in a very un-crowded, relaxed atmosphere.  It was perfect for the girls!

Here’s T and the girls admiring the flamingos on the way to the Magic show.  I was surprised how a lot of the animals were just roaming free.  We could have reached out and grabbed these guys if we’d tried.

After the Magic show we went to watch a trainer feed the turtle and sharks in one tank.  This turtle was HUGE!  She doesn’t look that big in this picture but I think the guy said she was over 400 pounds.  There were four or five sharks in this tank and the trainer said that when he gets in he doesn’t have to worry about the sharks, it’s the turtle that always tries to bite him. :)

Boo wanted to see what was in this area and it was Manarays!  They had been de-stingified (yes I’m sure that’s the proper term:) so you could touch them.  They were actually pretty friendly too and would come over to you.

Bug was afraid at first but after Daddy touched one she got a little braver.

She would reach out and then right when she was about to touch it she would pull her arm back so I don’t think she ever actually got one.

We stopped to look at the turtles next.  I got this guy mid-yawn.  It looks like he’s talking to us. :)

The girls were both brave enough to touch the sand turtles.

With a little help from Daddy. :)

If I remember right, the sign said that sand turtles don’t need any water because they get all their water out of their food.  I thought that was really interesting!

Next up was the Sea Lion show.  It’s amazing all the things they teach these animals to do!  They had a cute little routine where she would ask him stuff and then he would answer with motions. 

Bug was very impressed with Duke, the Sea Lion!

They told us that they are practicing for their first inter-species show.  Apparently dolphins and sea lions do not interact in the wild so they have been slowly training them to work together.  Here they are showing off a few of their moves.

Here’s a little video of some of the dolphin tricks.  The girls loved it!

Aunt J and the girls at the show.

K liked Duke, the Sea Lion so much that when they said you could have your picture taken with him she asked if she could.  I didn’t think she would actually be brave enough but Aunt J bought her the ticket to do it and she walked right up there, sat perfectly still, and let him kiss her cheek!  So cute!

After Duke there was a bird show so we went to sit down in the cool theater.  It wasn’t that hot out, but very humid (to us).  We Northwesterners are not used to the humidity! 

The main trainer in this show was a guy that has worked on lots of TV shows and he showed us a lot of the tricks they use to get animals to do stuff in the scenes.  I thought this one was neat.  The bird flew through two hoops and then flew suspended in the air with the help of a wind machine.  They said they use a green screen to put whatever scene they want up and the bird flies with the wind machine to stay in the right spot.  Pretty cool!

He also had a really cute dog who could do all sorts of fun tricks with hand commands only since they have to be quiet on the set.  I thought the best one was when the dog took a letter, opened the mailbox, put the letter in, closed the mailbox and used his nose to put up the little red flag.  Too funny!

After that show we got a snack and went into the main bird room.  They had some really beautiful birds!  They were so big and colorful.

This bird was doing a funny dance for Boo and Aunt J where we he bobbed his head in a swinging motion back and forth.  It was cute.

Boo really liked the different colored birds.

T and I thought this bird looked just like Rio!

After the birds we headed over to the big dolphin show.  It was so great!  The trainers had the dolphins do all sorts of tricks and then they jumped in and did tricks with them!  I was very impressed!  Here’s a short clip of a few tricks.

Gulf World was so much fun!  We loved it!  Thanks so much for taking us there Aunt J!

Day 4–The Beach!

Day 4 was pretty packed and I have so many pictures I think I’m going to have to do three posts to get it all in.

We let the girls sleep in that morning.  It was Sunday and we would have liked to have gone to church with the family but we figured at this point they needed rest more.

Aunt J and family had given the girls welcome to Florida presents and they were dying to open them so we did that first thing. K got a princess microphone that plays songs from all the princess movies.  She also got a pack of princess lip glosses and nail polishes.

And Boo got a Minnie Mouse baking set where you can change her clothes and have her make cupcakes.

So happy!  They also got a new devotion book that they are very excited to start after we finish our current one.

After eating breakfast (which Daddy went downstairs and got at the very last minute and brought back to our room since they were still sleeping) and all the present fun, we put the girls in swimsuits, sun-screened up, and headed down to enjoy the beach some more.

Boo absolutely loved it, but Bug, even though she had a good time, didn’t like how the sand was so messy and stuck to everything. :)

That’s what she said anyway…she sure seemed to enjoy it!

One thing she didn’t care for was that the waves were not consistent.  She and Boo would watch a wave come in, and then go stand to the edge of where it just came.  However, inevitably the next wave would come up several feet further spraying salty water (which they’d never experienced) in their faces. Boo said, “Water taste yucky!”  They soon started playing a run-from-the-waves game. :)

Boo thought the sand was great and wanted to share with us all.  T tried to let me relax in the sun but I think it only lasted about 6 minutes before I found myself on the receiving end of a “sea-sawt body scuwb” as Auntie Eve taught her to say the night before. :)

It was super bright with the sun reflecting off of the white sand and I was glad we’d bought the girls these Rapunzel sunglasses before we left. 

The difference in the girls skin tone was very apparent.  I sprayed them both with 50.  Boo had no sun effects.

But Bug got slightly pink everywhere and had a red streak in the middle of her back where I apparently missed when spraying her.

T and I also got slightly pink.  He was wearing 30 and I was wearing 4.  We are a family of quite varying skin tones! :)

T is not a huge beach fan.  I could lay on a beach with a good book for a week and be totally content, but that is not his idea of fun.  He likes to be going and doing stuff.  So of course he spent most of the morning out in the water. 

The waves that were knock-you-over powerful near the shore were gentle (most of the time) and drifty only a little ways out so we took the girls out to float.  You could go out probably 50 feet (I’m not good as guessing distances) and only be chest high in the water.  They really enjoyed floating in the waves as long as they had a hold of one of us.  It was really relaxing to let the waves weightlessly drift you around…especially for me and my ever growing belly. :)

This was what I pictured when I first started planning our Florida vacation: sea, sand, and sun!  What a perfect morning on the beach!

Day–3 Florida!

On Day 3 we woke up early, grabbed some stuff from the continental breakfast, and hit the road.  We made the 300 mile drive from Atlanta to Panama City Beach in about six and half hours (three short stops).  The girls did great in the car…they are always good little car travelers, and loved going from Georgia into Alabama (for a little bit) and then finally crossing into Florida. 

They colored, read, ate lunch, took short naps, watched part of a Boz the Bear movie, and then we were there!  The view alone was worth the drive! 

Here’s the first picture I took in Florida, the view from our balcony!  Gorgeous!

We were on the 12th story of the Legacy By the Sea resort.  It was a great hotel – not too fancy…meaning kid friendly :) right on the beach, and had a separate living room area so T and I could watch TV after the girls were in bed for the night.

The girls wanted in their swimsuits right away.

Auntie Katherine and Auntie Eve made the drive over from their house to our hotel and joined us for the girls’ first time on a real beach!

When we were coming down this little walkway Boo looked out and said, “Snow!”

The first order of business was building sandcastles!  Aunt J had bought the girls lifejackets and sand toys.  So nice!

After a while they all decided to go wading. I was surprised by how strong the waves were!  Boo walked out to just where they were coming up on the sand and the first one knocked her on her bottom. :)

Fun in the sun!

Bug with Auntie Katherine and Auntie Eve

Katherine and Eve had to leave after our beach fun because Eve had just graduated from college the day before (Congratulations!!!) and Katherine gave her a cruise for her present!  So while we were doing most of our trip they were cruising in the Bahamas!

We went back to our room to hose off the sand-twins and get dressed, then Aunt J and Uncle K came and met us and took us out to dinner at a really neat place called Pier Park. It is right across the street from the beach, and there were all sorts of restaurants and shops.  It was very touristy and all lit up.  What a fun atmosphere!

We ate at a place called Reggae J’s.  It was a really colorful, fun place and the girls loved it!  And the food was sooo good.  I had fish tacos and they were amazing!

Aunt J bought the girls treats at a fun candy shop where we’d stopped to watch them make fudge.  They both chose big chocolate covered marshmallows covered in sprinkles.  They loved them of course!  T and I shared a white chocolate covered rice crispy treat.  Yum!

Then we went over to a little carnival area and Aunt J took the girls on the carousel!

Bug picked a white horse…

…but Boo couldn’t find one she liked so she and Aunt J ended up riding in the little sleigh.

It was balmy and warm and so nice.  What a fun evening.  Thanks so much for a great time Aunt J and Uncle K!

Happy Mother’s Day!

We interrupt this regularly scheduled vacation re-capping to bring you a weekend update…

Bug got to fulfill one of her life-long goals this weekend: ride on a float in a big parade!

Her dance group got to be in a local parade and since she’s in the 3-5 year old group she got to ride on the float.  The bigger kids did their dance while walking behind it.

Here she is with one of her best girlfriends.

The float looked liked a 50’s diner and the kids were dancing to “I Love Rock ‘n Roll”.  It was pretty cute.

The little ones were supposed to wave but we ended up standing in line for over 45 minutes before we were able to get going so they were tired of sitting and pretty much done waving by the time we actually got going (I say “we” because I was one of the volunteers to walk with them and keep an eye on the kids).

Most of the little ones had a deer-in-the-headlights look on their face the whole route, but a couple (not my daughter) were waving and smiling. :)

Here’s the whole group on the float at the end.  They all did a great job and actually won first place in their division!  Way to go dancers!

The girls went home with Noni after the parade so we met them at church this morning.  They were both so sweet when they came to give me hugs and tell me Happy Mother’s Day.

I had just taken Boo’s sweater off and she saw the flower on her dress and said, “I so pwetty!  You haffta take my picture!”

After church we went out to lunch and then came back to the house to open presents.  We all pitched in and bought Mama a memory foam mattress pad for her bed.

Noni and Papa gave me a penguin shaped flashdrive/keychain (that the girls helped pick out) and some Scentzy stuff. 

T didn’t realize it was already Mother’s day so I picked out the Ninja blender that I’ve been wanting when we were at Walmart the other day. :)

Four generations!

Me and my girls.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful mother’s we know!  We love you all!!!

Day 2–Atlanta Braves

We don’t have a bucket list, but if we were to write one down one thing would definitely be on my husband’s: visit every Major League baseball stadium in the country.

For this reason we planned our entire trip around going to an Atlanta Braves game.  Instead of flying into Orlando we flew into Atlanta so we could see them play.  We couldn’t travel across the entire country and not mark a stadium off the list.  If we ever get to Florida again we will be visiting Tampa and Miami to scratch those ones off.

T was especially excited about this game because he got to see Chipper Jones play. 

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this game!  T said it was because of the weather and I’m inclined to agree.  Even if it is the middle of August and sweltering, at home, you are freezing when the sun goes down.  I’d put the girls in jeans and brought coats, but we never needed them.  It was balmy and gorgeous.  Perfect baseball watching weather.

The other reason I enjoyed myself so much was because I had very low expectations of how the girls would do.  I anticipated corralling them into their seats for 3 hours while they bounced off the walls but they actually did great!  I think there was enough action with the food, different between-inning games, and songs with motions to keep them entertained.

We also spaced out our different activities to keep them from getting antsy.  We got a great deal with a family pack where our tickets came with a parking pass and dinner.  You can’t go to a baseball game without a good ole’ hot dog and some cheesy nachos! :) 

We also made several trips to the restroom where they got to stretch their legs and stop for a photo op. 

No idea what K is doing. :)

And cotton candy was promised for the 7th inning.

They did get tired and there was much changing of seats.  I don’t know why we bother to purchase seats for everyone when we all end up in one anyway. :)

Poor baby girl is getting squished under there!

I love how it stays warm in the South when the sun goes down.  Here, when night falls the temperature drops like a rock.  There is stays pretty much the same.  I could do without the humidity but the warm air is so nice!

It was a great game and the Braves won 6-1!  We all had a really good time!

It was also their Friday night Fireworks show so we stuck around to watch.

T got this video of the stadium.  It was a little surprising when they first turned off all the lights.  It was almost pitch black, but once our eyes adjusted it was the perfect way to watch the firework show.  Boo sat in my lap so I could put my hands over her ears.  She said, “Fireworks pokey!  Dey poke my ears!”

What a perfect night of fun family time and baseball!