Theme Park Overload :-)

Can you really have too much of a good thing??? When you're talking about Orlando theme parks, I don't think so :)

On Friday, Katelyn did not have school due to a teacher workday, so we took that day to spend at Sea World. Our annual passes haven't had as much action as she's been at school and we were looking forward to spending the day together. The weather did not look good Friday morning...lots of heavy rain and wind started at 6:30am. While the kids were still sleeping, I checked out handy-dandy weather.com and saw we would have a break in the rain 10am-4pm...perfect for us. As we left at 9am, it was still POURING. I would be lying if I said I wasn't concerned. There aren't many indoor places to hide from the rain at Sea World and I realized (too late!) that my windbreaker didn't even have a hood! Sea World was totally deserted...the weather was keeping everyone away and the parking lot was so empty that we were able to park in preferred parking for free :-) Nice perk. Even better...as we got out of the car, the rain let up to a little drizzle, then totally stopped by the time we were in the park. And we had the park to ourselves!! I've never seen it so dead. Katelyn, Brady, and I had a great time...we had to see the Dolphin show for the 100th time and were bummed to see Elmo and Friends no longer have a show there. Boo! Hope they're back soon!

The divers/swimmers retrieve oysters for guests and they open them for pearls. Katelyn and Brady love to see them underwater and this diver was so friendly, giving them high-fives, blowing bubbles, doing back flips for them.
We also saw the manatees, and the one we saw from the underwater viewing area was pooping...big mammal, big poop! I tried to distract the kids, but Katelyn saw. Reminded me of the time we saw a hippo pooping at Busch Gardens, then wiped it's bottom on a rock. It was so gross! We have bad timing!

Katelyn found some courage and decided to ride this crazy boat ride in Shamu's Happy Harbor on her own. She has such a sensitive stomach (she gets car sick going to Tampa!) and I feared the worst, but she asked to stay on two more times and loved it! I took Brady on with her after lunch (not a good decision, I agree), and poor Brady looked like he was having a panic attack. I held him close to me and just kept saying, "it's okay, it's almost over..." He couldn't get off that ride fast enough!! He might be traumatized for life!

On Sunday, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom for the day to meet our friends The Coopers. We haven't been to MK in a LONG time, and I think I was more excited than the kids :-)

It was only 38 degrees on Sunday morning. This actually worked in our favor...the cold kept most the guests away and we had the park to ourselves Sunday morning.

Brady and I on the monorail heading over to the park. This boy LOVES trains! Not that he had a choice...big sister made the choice to take the monorail vs. the ferry. Actually, both kids said the monorail was the best ride at Disney!

Bryan, Brady, and Katelyn (with her beloved Tinkerbell ears) in front of Magic Kingdom. We arrived about 20 min. before the park opened and I find that to be the key to a successful day there...arrive early!!

At about 8:45am, the train arrives above Main Street and several characters and princesses get off the train and do a quick song and dance. Then they open the Magic Kingdom with pixie dust and fireworks. Sweet little ceremony to see.

Bryan and Katelyn re-create the Walt Disney/Mickey Mouse statue in front of the castle. Katelyn gets the biggest thrill walking through the castle...it's like she is really in Cinderella's home!

I always get a little emotional thinking about my grandparents...all the fun we had at Disney together, all the times we shared there, and how much I wish they could be with there with their great-grandchildren. They took us for several meals in Cinderella's castle...such a treat. I hope we can take our kids there (after we win the lottery!!).



Riding the Jungle Cruise. Since there was NOBODY there in the morning, we walked right on this ride, along with pirates of the carribean, peter pan, small world, winnie the pooh, magic carpet ride and the swiss family treehouse...we knocked a lot out in a little time! Yeah!

Brady drives Bryan on the go-cart/racecar ride. My driver was Katelyn...who had a tough time with the pedal, so I took care of that and she steered. I have to say, she was a good driver and rarely bummed into the rail. At the end of the ride, she said, "Well, at least I know how to drive now!!" Whoa, not quite!!

Nothing says a day at Disney like a passed out child!! Brady crashed in his stroller at around 3pm and slept for about 45 min. So sweet. He really was such a good boy. I thought he might be too young for Disney, but he had the most amazing time and seeing it through his eyes made the day perfect. He got to see Buzz Lightyear and was in awe of his idol. He went nuts seeing Lightening McQueen, even just on t-shirts. He waited in lines patiently, never asked for us to buy him anything.

And Katelyn, pretty much a Disney pro at this point, loved it as well and was VERY well-behaved. We drilled it into her head we weren't buying anything (don't you just love how the Disney rides exit into gift shops!! ) and she was very good about not asking (even if you could see the look on her face that she really, really wanted it!). She met the princesses and I couldn't believe how shy and quiet she was with them.

It was our absolute pleasure spending the day with our kids.

At the end of the weekend, we were exhausted, but it was so much fun!!! Gotta love living in Orlando.