Going Home

Like all good things, it was finally time for our Florida vacation to come to an end. Mom drove us to the Orlando Amtrak station, where we were able to check three of our bags (good for us, since we came home with three extra than we left with!). Xander cried when it was time to get on the train - he didn't want to leave. Awww!

Going back to NY, we had two of the smaller rooms instead of the one big room. This worked better, actually. Joe was able to have some quiet space for himself, and Xander and I fit quite well in the little room.

He watched movies, I read. And then I watched a movie while he played with his new toys. It was all good. The sleeping probably would have been better but I was worried I'd sleep too late in the morning and we were due to Penn Station by 10:30am.

I needn't have concerned myself. We were two hours late getting into Penn, and then had to wait an additional half hour to get our checked-in bags. Luckily, we still made our connecting train on time and had a peaceful ride back to Rhinecliff.

Would we travel by train again? Most certainly. But definitely with the two rooms next time!

Orlando Day 2: Universal Islands of Adventure

Our second and last day in Orlando was overcast and a little drizzly, which suited me just fine. Man, did we walk our feet off! Universal Islands of Adventure is big, and started off not so great. First of all, some very annoying lady cut us in line at the ticket booth, then cut some other line because ours wasn't going fast enough. And then they told Mom they weren't honoring Florida discounts for the month of July, so it cost us a lot extra than we'd planned. Grr.

But things went okay in side the park, if you don't count the crazy Harry Potter crowds and the interminable waiting in line. Our first stop was Seuss Landing, where Xander and Joe rode the carousel and Xander went on the One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish ride (say that ten times fast!).

And of course, Joe found someone he could relate to. :)

We made our way around to the Lost Continent, which was a combo of Atlantis/Sinbad. Lots of very dramatic landscaping. And while Joe waiting in the Olivander's line, Mom and Xander and I doubled back to watch the Eighth Voyage of Sinbad stunt show. Xander loved it!

Of course, the big stop was The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, where we were literally shoulder to shoulder with other Potter fans. More fun photo ops, and I have to say that Hogsmeade was nicely put together. Most of the store fronts were fakes, but there was things moving around in almost every window. Very cool.

And naturally we had to try Butterbeer. I wasn't a big fan at first, but it grew on me. Kind of butterscotchy, but good. And we had a late lunch/early dinner at the Three Broomsticks - fish and chips for me! Joe also tried the Pumpkin Juice, but I didn't like it so much.

The one big snafu came at Hogwarts castle. They had a tester seat to see if you could go on the big ride at the top of the castle. They couldn't close the bars over Joe's shoulders. So no fun ride for him. And since the rest of us didn't care to go on it either, we waited in the 90+ minute line for a tour of the castle.

Lots of coolness here, especially for the fans. There were talking portraits and everything! And mostly the line moved pretty quickly. Until we got to Dumbledore's office, and then everything just kind of stopped. We must've been in there about an hour, listening to Dumbledore give his spiel about a million times. Turns out there was a problem with the ride. Since we weren't going on it, we hopped out of line and finished up the tour.

Joe and Xander both got wands at Olivander's. I was looking around the gift shop, but the souvenirs there cost a fortune, and I was fresh out of galleons. :)

So we moved on to Jurassic Park, where there were plenty of dinos and a really cool discovery center where you could look inside dino eggs and stuff. Xander had fun with that. But the most fun he had there was hanging out in the splash zone at the end of the Jurassic Park water ride. Huge amounts of water to be had there!

We finished up in the Comics/Super Hero area, where Joe drooled over lots of comic book stuff and Xander got his dad to take him on the X-Men ride. (Too much spinning for Mommy.).

We didn't get back to our hotel until probably 7pm or so, at which time Xander dragged Mom and I to the pool for some in the dark swimming. I might also mention that it was raining and it wasn't all that warm anymore. Mom stayed in for about five mintues, but I hung out in there with Xander for about a half hour. Then we crashed in the hotel room, packing what we could and watching Family Guy (yes, I know this is completely inappropriate for Xander to watch - we were on vacation, darn it!) and King of the Hill. A full day of fun!

Orlando Day 1: Downtown Disney

Sorry for the delay in posting the Orlando pages. While every discount motel and hotel in Orlando seemed to have Wi-Fi, my All-Star Disney hotel DID NOT! Gaah! But that was the only bad thing I have to say about my hotel.

We stayed at the All-Star Movie hotel, in the Mighty Ducks building. Quack! We were on the first floor, directly across from the swimming pool. So, naturally, that's the first thing Xander wanted to do upon arrival. We also checked out the bigger Fantasia pool, which we all liked much better.

The building next to ours was the 101 Dalmations, and we never did get over to see Toy Story or Love Bug. Oh, well, next time!

We took a Disney shuttle to Downtown Disney, which has lots of shops, restaurants and nightclub areas.

Xander, of course, wanted to go right to the Lego store and spend his vacation money. Which he did! He bought two Prince of Persia lego sets, and put one together that night when we got back to the hotel. Joe was enjoying the wall of Lego parts, which you could purchase seperately.

There are plenty of photo ops in Downtown Disney. Statues mostly, and everyone wanted to take pictures around them. Joe wanted his picture by grumpy looking Donald, and I made Xander pose with Buzz (he was pretty negative about pictures this whole vacation, the little pill!).

We had dinner at Captain Jack's, which was right on the water. Seafood all around, except for Xander who had Mac and Cheese. Then we went to the Harley Davidson store, which was one of Joe's top stops. He only bought a do-rag thingie there, because the HD stores are always so expensive, but they also had two bikes you could sit on and take pictures of. Which we did!

It was late by the time we hopped the shuttle back to our hotel. Xander played with his Legos, I organized the day's photos, and we watched TV. A full day!

Green Cay, Cubans & Some Nightlife

Another full day here in sunny...oh, no, wait....we had rain today. Lots and lots of rain. But not until we finished up at Green Cay.

It was just Xander, Mom and I for a two mile hike through Green Cay, scoping out the wildlife and looking for gators. Plenty of wildlife, no gators. It was so hot and steamy that I was sweating (something I try never to do!) and Xander was quickly bored and whining. Two miles of whining.

Still, I got some good pictures of birds and turtles, and even a raccoon! Xander perked up once we got back to the main building and he was able to spend some money in the gift shop.

In the afternoon, Joe and I took the rental car to Festival Flea Market while Mom and Vikki took Xander to Target for birthday shopping. More walking for me, because the flea market was enormous. I bought a dress, Joe bought a shirt and yet another hat, and we both had potato knish for lunch. And then dinner time was here, time to finally try a Cuban sandwich. Roast pork, ham, cheese, pickles and mustard...it was delicious! See? I can try new stuff!



After dinner, Mom and Joe and I went to the Atlantis Grill to hear Mom's friend Michelle Lynn sing - she sings there every Saturday. She was awesome! A whole range of songs, from oldies to contemporary, and she has an awesome voice. And my hubby even danced with me!

Now it's almost 11:30 pm and I'm exhausted. Tomorrow we have to pack everything up and head to Orlando. Our vacation is almost over, but we're going to squeeze two more fun-filled days out of it!

Wannado City & Meeting Tracy

Today was the day Xander has been waiting for - our trip to Wannado City. It's this great place at the Sawgrass Mills Mall that's all these different occupations for kids to try out. The first thing they did was give Xander $150 Wangos (Wannado City Dollars) that he had to take to the bank. And for every job he tried out, he got $20 more. First job? Detective. He had to go to a crime scene and look for clues.

Second job? Discovering the Lost City of Situ. That's the one he really wanted to do. When he came flying out with his bucks, he told Mom and I that it was scary but awesome. Unfortunately, it was all behind closed doors so I couldn't get any pictures.

Mom was surprised, out of everything else there was to do that was so cool, when Xander decided he wanted to go shopping at Publix. He picked some things for his shopping cart, put some things back, and checked out. Only at this store, he got paid for shopping instead of having to pay. Wish Walmart worked like that!

We tried to get Xander to do Fireman. He waited for a good half an hour, then gave up like five minutes before it was his group's turn to go. He could've ridden on the firetruck, which drove through the city, dressed up in a jacket and hat, and put out a "fire" at the Fireworks Factory. Alas, it wasn't to be.

Joe, who had been investigating the mall, decided to join us after lunch. Only they wouldn't let him in without a kid, so Mom and Xander had to go up front to collect him. I think he's on the Wannado Watch List now, LOL!

Xander was able to spend some of his Wangos - he ended up with $210 all together - in the Carnival, where he rode two pretty tame rides. But he liked being able to pick what he wanted to do.

The final job of the day for Xander was Police Officer. A group of kids in red vests were taken out to a crime scene to be bad guys. The blue-vested officers then had to go out and arrest them, bringing them back to the station and throwing them in jail. Xander really liked this one, and was the only kid who came out of the Police Station with his fingers cocked into a gun. That's my boy!



After we wrapped up Wannado City, we went to meet my Internet Wife, Tracy. She helped me learn to digi scrap, she is the one who does the Amazing Digi Scrapping Race with me, and she's just awesome. I was so happy to finally meet her in person!

Then it was back to Mom's for more pool time, and dinner. Joe got himself stuck in the inversion table and needed Vikki and I to help get him righted. Too funny! It's been a fun day. More fun tomorrow - Green Cay and my first Cuban sandwich . I can't wait!