Day 8 - Sea World

   The first day with my parents. We were starting off their portion of the trip with a breakfast at the Beach Club in Walt Disney World. More specifically at the Cape May Cafe, which is one of my favorite character breakfasts. The food is better than most, the price is good (relatively. It is a character breakfast) the you get a few of the characters that everyone wants to see. Specifically Minnie, Donald and Goofy. All in their beach attire.
   After meeting all of the characters and getting a really good breakfast (and getting a little something extra for Ari. They found out we had our autograph book from her first trip stolen when Amanda had her purse stolen. A lot of really good autographs in that one. They couldn't do much, but they gave Ari a card with all the signatures they could get. It made her day.) we headed out to SeaWorld.
   It was really hot. We got in and headed straight to the penguin ride (Empire of the Penguins) which is the girl's favorite ride. Unfortunately, mom started feeling light headed and had to sit down. Soon the paramedics came over to help. The heat was just too much for her to be walking around in. They helped her get into a cool area (the end of the ride. There are penguins there and it is very cold there with another room right past it where it is still cold, but not freezing. Dad told us to go ahead and ride. We did and met my parents at the end. I'm glad we did as the ride was closed for the rest of the week. It was our only time on it the whole trip.
   After that we generally stuck to the shaded areas and inside shows and rides. We left early as we wanted to check in to our resort anyway. We also had the idea of getting mom an electric scooter to help her out, as she didn't get around too well the first day. We found a place that rented them out (K&M rentals) that worked out great and wasn't too expensive.  It was easy to take apart and put back together and the battery lasted more than long enough to get through the parks each day. They even helped us out with an issue part was through the week (the horn was stuck on. Easily fixed once they told us what to do).
   Next was the resort. It was a beautiful resort in a great location. Close to everything (other than Busch Gardens, Tampa.) It was the Mystic Dunes Resort in Celebration, FL. I highly recommend it. It has the one problem all resorts have and that is the check-in. They want you to take the tour. Take it or leave it.
   We got into our room and headed over to the clubhouse at the on site golf course for dinner. Wonderful restaurant over there (Kenzie's) with good food and live music in the evenings.


Cape May Cafe, Sea World and turtles at the resort.

Day 7 - Siesta Key Beach

   This was our second time at this beach. It was recommended by a former manager of mine and we spent a day here last year. It's a beautiful white sand beach on the gulf coast. The beach is free and parking is free. The water is clear and warm and the sand isn't too hot. We stayed about 30 minutes away so we were here fairly early. We set up on the sand and headed in to the water. There were fish swimming around our feet as we played in the waves. The girls always take a few minutes to get used to the waves, but they were soon enjoying themselves. You could walk out pretty far before the water started getting deep. 

   After spending the morning at the beach, which I think will become a habit for our Florida trips, we dried off and headed into town. There are a lot of local restaurants and bars around here. We ended up at an ice cream shop that we stopped at last year as well. Sub Zero. It's a place where they make the ice cream right in front of you using liquid nitrogen. You get to choose flavors, mix-ins and type of ice cream (regular, custard, frozen yogert, almond milk, sugar-free, etc.). This one also has Dr. Who themed specials, which were there last year as well. 

   This was probably our shortest day overall. We left Siesta Key a little while after we had ice cream and headed back towards Orlando. My parent's flight was due to come in and we were spending out last night at a regular hotel before heading to the resort. Finally, the same bad for a whole week. Up to this point it was a different hotel every night. It worked out as we never had to travel far, but it would be nice to finally have a home base for a little while. 

   My parent's flight was really late, due to some storms up in the Philly area. They spent hours on the tarmac waiting to take off. Meanwhile we had checked into the Calypso Cay hotel and resort. They were fairly rude at the front desk and didn't seem happy that we were only staying one night. They even made a comment on how our rate was too low. All we did was go online and book it. If they want a higher rate, post a higher rate. For a resort, I was thoroughly unimpressed. Another reason to look forward to our resort.

   No pics for today. I didn't bring the camera down to the beach and there wasn't anything else that caught my attention enough that day to have me take a picture.  

Day 6 - Legoland

   We had a great day at a new park. New for us. Legoland Florida at the site of the old Cypress Gardens.
   We focused on the rides today as it was just the four of us today. Later in the week we will be picking up my parents from the airport and they will be joining us for most of the rest of the trip. They'll be flying back while we drive.
   We started in the Duplo area which the girls loved. They did a few rides and we ducked in to an air conditioned inside play area for a while to cool off. They park in general was relatively empty, at least at this point in the day.
   Next up was their favorite ride in the park. In the World of Chima section there was a boat ride where you got soaked, but also got to shoot other people with water canons. You even got to go after people who just happened to be too close to the ride. There were targets everywhere you could shoot that would trigger effects and scenes in the ride. It was relatively short, but very fun. We ended up back here for several more rides before the day was through.
   In the medieval area, they rode one ride that had you riding on the back of a Lego horse. It rocked back and forth like it was trotting and it ran along a track and past different Lego scenes. It was a big hit. So were the rides in the next area, which was adventure themed.
   We all got to ride the safari ride. It was slow and relaxing and the full sized Lego animals were amazing. I made sure to get plenty of pictures of them. I got plenty of pictures from all around the park as it was amazing just looking around to see what you could find. I saw a Lego squirrel sitting on a fence. In the parking lot there is a little building off by itself with a Lego seagull sitting on top. I found Lego animals in the landscaping and the bushes. I just went nuts with the camera the whole day. And then there is the Lego mini land which I could have spent they whole day wandering if it wasn't so hot.
   We let Ari and Lily drive the Ford Lego cars. For Ari's age the cars were actually carts that she could drive through a mock town with no tracks. The cars were all free to go where they wanted. Before hand they spent some time going over the rules of the road. Teaching the kids about street lights and stop signs and right of way and signaling. It was really neat. Ari loved all the lessons and she had a great time driving. Both Ari and Lily got their Lego driver's licenses (for a fee of course) which were really well made, if a little expensive.
   Back in the city area we also rode the boats (again, free roaming. No tracks, which lead to some really bad drivers getting stuck now and then. We made it through although I had to take over driving for Ari quite a few times.) The only ride we really didn't like in the park was back here as well. It had families competing to get their fire engines to a fire and then putting the fire our and get back to the start again. Driving the fire engine involved pumping this contraption that looked like one of those old hand driven rail cars. It was exhausting. We finished in the middle of the pack. They told us most people give up before finishing as they just get too tired. Not fun for the middle of a long day of walking.
   Afterwards we wend inside for a while. There is a building in the imagination section where the kids were able to play in pits of Legos and there was a game room with all sorts of Lego video games.
   Mini-land was amazing as I said before. All sorts of scenes from St. Augustine to Vegas to a Pirate's Cove and all sorts of cityscapes. There was even a scene from each of the first six Star Wars films. They all moved and made sounds at the push of a button, so the girls loved doing that over and over. Many of the scenes had buttons to push. A few even squirted water, which was nice in the head. This area was all concrete paths and no shade, which was our main reason for not spending more time there.
   Our last ride was the 4D movie, starring Lord Risky Business, who build BrickWorld right next to Legoland. It was really funny and a great way to poke fun at themselves.
   We also tried an order of the Granny Smith Apple Fries. If you like thins sort of thing, get them. They were delicious.
   After the part, it was off to the Gulf Coast.

Legoland Pictures

Day 5 - De Leon Springs to Disney Springs

   We started off today with another place Amanda found in her research. De Leon Springs State Park is a little spot west of Daytona and about 30 minutes from our hotel. It's a beautiful spot with a small restaurant in the park that gets very busy, despite having to pay to get in to the park before you can even get to the restaurant. The restaurant is called The Old Spanish Sugarmill Pancake House. It's built in an old sugar mill right on the edge of the springs. For $5 s person ($6 for gluten free) they bring out two pitchers of pancake mix (1 for the gluten free) and turn on a griddle in the middle of the table. You make your own pancakes. The two regular mixes are an old fashioned mix and one multi-grain. Both were delicious. For an extra $2 I got a bowl of fresh blueberries to put in my pancakes. The were perfect in the regular mix but didn't mix well with the multi-grain in my opinion. Amanda loved her gluten-free pancakes. They had molasses, raw honey and real maple syrup to pick from. I used mostly the molasses, but found a little drizzle on top was plenty. The flavor was strong. They actually recommended trying a small sample by itself before using it.
   After breakfast we tried swimming in the springs. It was freezing cold, so we got changed back and just wandered the park and the kids played on the playground for a bit. Then it was off to Orlando.
   We decided to check out Disney Springs. It has been updated quite a bit since I've seen it last (when it was still Downtown Disney). We loved the updates, but it is very tan. Extremely tan in some areas. We had reservation for the T-Rex cafe later in the week but decided to see if we could get in. They only had a 20 minute wait. The girls played in the bone dig pit while we waited. Amanda and I had appetizers and the girls had pizza. We wandered around while we waited for our food. The food was good and the girls enjoyed every minute. Other highlights included the Lego store, the World of Disney (and the spitting Stitch) and the Christmas store. Lily got a stuffed Angel (Stitch's girlfriend) and Ari got Merida's bow and arrow set.
  After Amanda got her gluten-free cupcake, we headed out and to our hotel on Lake Ida. Another nice dip in the pool and a quick walk to the lake to look for fish (found gators instead) and then a drive around town (Winter Haven) before heading to bed. Tomorrow we hit our first theme park of the trip. Legoland.  

Ponce de Leon Springs, Disney Springs and Lake Ida Pictures

Day 4 - St. Augustine and Daytona

   We finally made it into Florida. It's been wonderful so far, but it's nice to be closing in on our final destination. Still several days of different hotels in different cities, but all of them are in Florida until we start to head home, just under two weeks from now. We stopped at the welcome center and took some pictures, got some orange juice and grabbed some pamphlets.
   We make our way down to St Augustine and the fort. We started at the fort, which the girls loved. They have a Junior Ranger program where they give the kids a booklet to fill in. If they fill out all the questions they get a badge and a patch. Ari very much wanted to fill it all out and we did get it done. Lily did the small kid version, which just got her the badge. We spent a good amount of time there before heading into the colonial district. It was getting hot, so we found a stand that sold Dole Whips. Amanda and I got Dole Whip Floats and the kids just got ice cream. After stopping at a local wine shop and picking up some peach wine, we headed back to the car. It was just too hot in that part of town.
   We headed to the Ponce Inlet lighthouse after that. We just stopped by and visited the gift shop and looked at the light house. None of us really wanted to pay to walk up the 225 steps at that point. We followed that up with a late lunch at a great little place nearby called Hidden Treasures. I had a really great Surf and Turf Burger. A burger with a crab cake on top. It wasn't a Maryland style crab cake but it worked really well with the burger. Amanda had one of the other burgers. Ari had a corn dog. The only thing we really didn't like were the house made chips. None of us ate those. It might be worth spending the extra $1 for fries if we go there again. I still left very full. The view was great as we were right on the water. The staff was friendly and helpful. This was another place Amanda found in her research and it was another hit with everyone.
   After a quick walk on the beach near our hotel in Daytone, we made our way to the hotel. After a nice relaxing swim in a warm pool, we headed off to bed.

Florida Welcome Center and St. Augustine Pictures

Day 3 - Driving

   This was our first day of pretty much just driving. We headed out of the hotel later in the morning and made our way over to a fancy looking McDonald's we found the day before. It was two stories and had a player piano inside, which Lily swore was being played by a ghost.
   We hit the highway and made our way into South Carolina and then to Georgia. We had decided to take the girl's picture at each welcome center near something showing the state we were in. NC had a nice stone carving of the state and a great mural inside the building. South Carolina had a picture frame you could hold in front of you and a nice mural of the state. Georgia had a temporary trailer with a lotto machine inside, which had the only Georgia reference we could find. Hopefully we'll find something better to take a picture with on the way back.
   Our hotel was in Brunswick, GA and Amanda found a wonderful place to eat: The Copper Pig. It was Father's Day and Amanda wanted to find somewhere I would enjoy for dinner. I highly recommend it. It is a BBQ and moonshine restaurant. A great combination. I had shrimp and grits for dinner and tried the Apple Moonshine. The shrimp and sausage were perfectly cooked and the sauce was wonderful. Amanda had chicken which she loved.
   Before we went in to eat, we found a fenced off area with a large pond filled with alligators. Amanda had heard about this when she read about the place. For $2 you get 15 pieces of gator food (looks like hot dogs) and a cane fishing pole with some thick string and a plastic pin on the end. The girls had an absolute blast feeding the gators. The fences are nice and tall and the gators are all about 3 feet or less. This was another place the girls want to go back to. They are doing a real good job on this trip so far, minus a few items. Considering all the driving and constant change of venue, they are doing great. We just need to spend some time cleaning up (Ari colored part of the back wall on Amanda's van).
   The hotel was nice, but the pool was being refurbished, so we watched a few shows and went off to bed.

Copper Pig and stops along the way

Day 2 - Charlotte

   We got another early start and make out way towards Charlotte. The trip was beautiful with the mountains all around us. I loved taking I-81 down south, rather than I-95. After some horrible traffic north of Charlotte, we met up with Brian and Angelique at the Charlotte Nature Museum. If you are in the area and need a cheap and entertaining place for the kids, I highly recommend it. We got there around noon and spent almost 4 hours there. There are plenty of little exhibits for the kids, including a butterfly room. The girls loved the outside area with plenty of places to play and wear themselves out. They were having a farm exhibit that day which included baby pigs, rabbits, sheep and chicks. There was also a walking path which didn't include much, but was fun to wander.
   Back inside we went through the butterfly room again and found a nice play room with some hands on exhibits. Including one that talked about underground animals and had a groundhog area. When we were just about finished going back through their favorite parts, we heard they were getting ready to start a show. It was in an old planetarium room. It was a show about the sounds of various creatures. You sit in a fairly dark room around a fake camp fire. It started off with creatures you hear during the day. Mostly birds. Then you start to talk about nocturnal creatures and you end up waking up an animatronic tree, who introduces you to all kinds of animals. The girls loved it. They are already asking when we can go back. Unfortunately it is eight hours from home.
   I got to talk to Brian quite a bit and he recommended a restaurant for us after we were done at the museum. He had to head home and we headed over to the Original Pancake House and had a great dinner. We then headed over to the hotel and headed back out to grab supplies as we were running low on snacks for the girls. We also grabbed a Chromecast so we could set up some shows for before bed. It's worked out great so far, but can be a pain to use at the hotels. With a few tweaks and a little extra software installed on my laptop, I have it working. (Connectify works great for handing hotel connections. I now have everything set up through that rather than directly to the hotel's wifi. Makes it easier as we change hotels every night for the first week).
   We spent some time over at the pool before heading back to the room and watching a few shows. It was nice to get some down time. We even slept in a little the next morning.

North Carolina and Charlotte Pictures

Day 1 - Bull Run to Roanoke

   We got an early start and headed over to Manassass. We started on the main visitors center and they had baseball style cards for the girls and maps to show us around. We went into the museum area and watched an interactive map of the first battle. Ari loves those maps and asks a lot of questions. After the map presentation was done we made our way over to the gift shop. The girls got hand fans (fancy ones) and small flags. The fans were show in images of the civilians who were watching the first Bull Run from a distance, expecting the war to end that day. They left mostly in shock.

   We wandered the area around the visitors center and looked the the statues and house that was there. We drove around to a few different areas and took a few walks. The first time we went walking was through a nice looking field. We saw plenty of flowers and butterflies along the way and there was even a turtle on our path near the end.

   The next walk we took was around the Stone Bridge path. It was supposed to be around a mile walk, but the path wasn't well marked and split quite a bit. We ended up adding about 10 minutes to our trip overall, but we saw the whole path. Another visitor to the part gave us a bottle of water. He said he hikes around these parks quite a bit and told us to keep a lookout for deer ahead, which we did see. The girls did great on the hike.

   We made our way over to the Stone House, which the girls loved as well. Ari is always full of questions at places like this and it was no different here. She just loved visiting any kind of historical places. Lily loves seeing everything around these places. She loved the drives around the fields and forests. She also loves the hikes.

   We went through the rest of the stops along the map, including the Unfinished Railroad and the Methodist Church. We finished up at the smaller of the visitor centers which has the interactive map for the second battle. We let the girls watch that and made our way back to the car and headed off to Roanoke.

   We ate at a restaurant called the Pink Cadillac near Natural Bridge, VA. It was a great little diner with good food and good prices. I had a Country Fried Steak which was wonderful. Not much happened after that. The hotel was ok, but had no pool and we were all tired from all the walking.

Bull Run Pictures

The Start of a Long Vacation

    We're starting on our way on a nice, long vacation. We'll be gone for just over two weeks total. We've got people stopping in to check in on the cats and we were all packed up last night. Our ultimate goal is Orlando, but we'll be taking our time. Today our goal was just to get past Washington DC and be ready to get an early start for tomorrow. I left work around 3:00 and we headed straight out. Of course there was still traffic even though it was before 4:00 on a Thursday when we hit the beltway. There's always traffic.
   We made our way down to Tyson's Corner and headed into the mall. I promised Amanda we could stop at one of our favorite placed to eat. Wasabi. It's in the middle of the mall and is open so you can look right into it and right into where they make the food. The food (sushi and some other small plates) are all on a conveyor belt, and you take off what you want, with the price per plate being specified by the place color. A great place to try out a few different rolls or various other sushi related dishes. They also have PB&J rolls for the girls.
   We made out way to the hotel after that and took a quick dip in the pool. We were on the Starwood club level, so we got to visit the lounge (we are Starwood Gold members) and have a quick snack of crab cakes and vegetables.  The girls are in bed and we'll be off soon as well. We're starting out early tomorrow to visit Bull Run Battlefield.