Orlando, FL ~ 2010

First Time for Everything!

2010-03-10T19:49:00.000-08:00

It's the first plane trip for everyone pictured here!!

That is our plane in the background :) [As well as my pre-flight 'bou on the heater. Thank you to he who invented the Breve'.]

Princess kid-carry-on packed?

Away we go!

Solid (Warm, Green, Beautiful) Ground

2010-03-10T19:42:00.000-08:00

Day One: Eat Breakfast, Relax, Relax by the pool, relax some more, mom and I grocery shop (WISH I knew how to extract the photo of the cart from my phone!), we make & eat food, we relax some more... (The theme remains pretty consistent today!)

Meet the Clan...

The nephew, Dom, and Aunt Debbie

Myla and Grandma Roxane

There's Addie-cakes, next to Dom and Deb

There's Joel, next to mom and Myla. Have you figured out our location yet? ;)

Mom and me!

Vacation pad...

The master suite (aka: Mom and Debbie's room. Must be a sister thing!)

Our cozy room in our own wing!

The baby-room

Both bathrooms had jacuzzi tubs, and the MOST luxurious soap EV-ER. Smoothest leg shave - beyond smooth.

Dom enjoyed the TV in here when the Olympics were on out in the living area.

Girls, girls - you have to share Auntie Debbie!

There always seem to be enough babies to go around :)

He's gonna let the liquor do the thinkin'. ;)
CHEERS!

HEL-LO SUNSHINE!

2010-03-10T19:19:00.000-08:00

Our traditional photo since 1997 (literally!) It started with our annual Gunflint Trail camping trips. We do this everywhere now! We call it "Our Shot". :)

My primary interest at this juncture was simply to soak in the rays... Ah. Nice.

Heehee... You know it's warm out when Joel is in the pool!

Telling the lady in the next chair that she's "3".

Aww, I love these moments :)

Hel-lo BIKINI! Let the sunshine in ~

While on my back absorbing that Vitamin D, I opened my eyes and realized... THIS is my view!

Nap Time!

That evening was gorgeous as well! Joel and I got some swimming in those first few nights!
...
Here's to:

The Girls' First Visit to the Ocean!

2010-03-10T16:06:00.000-08:00

We made our way (3 hours away) to a beach called Siesta Beach, on the Gulf Coast.

This is a photo of me - with the window down, and sunglasses on... and my hair blowing in the wind (just in case you weren't sure!)

Photo of auto number 2

I have a thing for cows. What can I say?

Joel and I plan to enjoy a trek on one of these later in the week :)

Gator-Crossing?

Pit-stop!

Are we there yet??

Photo by Debbie

Sugar Sand....

Our first gator-sighting!

Our freeze-baby got wet :)

photo by Joel

Wave to Dom!

Gives new meaning to the term "foot-soak"... There is exfoliation in progress here - bonus.

'Our Shot!'

Photo by Debbie

Our treasures! (Joel found most of them.)

Photo by Joel

Addie kept chasing the gulls asking "Pleeease..." (She wanted to play!)

Photo by Joel

Photo by Joel (I still think he could and should assist me at weddings occasionally!)

I need to quit my beachin' ;)

Photo by Joel

But I've been experiencing a large quantity of F.I.T.S.!! (Fun In The Sun)

Photo by Joel

Poor jelly fish washing ashore... 'Twas interesting to see one up close though.

The following 6 photos are by Joel

The birds were trying to steal our food! (And succeeded a couple of times.)

Haha! Look at Addie's face now!

To one day be my facebook photo, I'm sure!

Photo by Joel

Lil' buggers are quick!

Holy timing Batman! Er - Robin... Er - Seagull.

Like something straight out of a movie!

Birds.......... People

Dolphins and Whales and Sharks, Oh My!

2010-03-10T14:12:00.000-08:00

We're ready for our next adventure!

And we come in peace.

Look closely... Some of this seaweed isn't what it seems!

That's some seahorse!

Cute.

Myla wasn't sure how she felt about feeding sharks...

Yay Dolphin Show!

The following 7 photos are by Joel. He took pics of the kids on rides with Deb, While mom, Dom and I were waiting in line for the Manta roller coaster. It was the BEST roller coaster EVER! Wild, but smooth, and you hang parallel to the ground the entire time (when you're not spinning upside-down, that is.)

Dippin' Dots Ice Cream ~ There's just no end to the joy!

The below pics of us on the ride compliments of Debbie :)

Our family pics by Debbie!

The baby whale came out at the end for some crowd-splashing

Family Silhouette...

& Palm Silhouette

Myla helps set the table for another posh dinner (8pm on average - sometimes later!)

This fruit salad was phenom! Something about eating fruit when it's WARM out :)

The Princesses Live HERE!

2010-03-09T19:36:00.000-08:00

So what if it's my first visit? What's it to ya?

It was Dom's first visit, his actual birthday (12th), AND he volunteered to get his ticket for free! NICE.

AH! There it is! The CASTLE.............

There it is again! [Insert Squeals of Glee Here]

Getting Closer!

Thanks for the family pic Deb!

I was so white, that even my tan looks pretty white... but this gorgeous day certainly helped with that problem.

Here we are!! (Now what?)

OH - a SHOW! Good times.

SHRIEEEK! GASP. The PRINCESSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT? There's MORE? How can it get any better than that??

All of Myla's dreams just came true I think! ;) (Little did she know that she was going to MEET her princesses in PERSON soon!!!)

[Photo by Joel]

[Photos by Joel]

Yep - she's in heaven :)

[Above Photo by Joel]

We had lunch watching the "Small World" boats go by, in great anticipation of joining the jolly boaters below.

The staff did a fine job of thoroughly embarrassing Dom for his b-day!

Addie loved it!

If only there weren't heads in front of us restricting my reach, this would have worked.

Glad they were behind us - fab shot! :)

I bet I can guess what song you're thinking about...

It is a small world after all... There's proof that we were on the required ride, dad!

Oooooh. Ahhhhh. It's an expensive world...

Mom and Myla waiting in line for a roller coaster!! (NOW her dreams have culminated.)

photo by Joel

She's so patient. There were only a couple of rides for this wee-one. But she had a great time!

photo by Joel

This play area was kid-friendly for all the itty-bitties.

She got her speedway license! She got to drive the go-kart... (It's on a track.)

They are both proud :)

The OMG Moment! Sleeping Beauty!!! (AKA: "The PINK One!")

Here is Cinderella!! They got each one's autograph.

It's Belle!!

(You can see here - they are WEARING the princesses today, compliments of Auntie Debbie!)

Just when they didn't think life could get any better...

Quick ~ head-count! Okay - we're all here.

Later Gator

Mom & Dom, and Joel & I went on the Space Mountain Roller Coaster. 'Twas wild!

The girls received these bubble guns that light up... Quite a hit!

Holy smack - Tink flew right over our heads!

Pixie dust? Perhaps.

Oooh - timing! Make a wish (or 2).

Horizontal?

Or Vertical? How 'bout both!

~~Fantasia~~... Fantastic!

Okay - now I'M in heaven! Pretty magical, don't ya 'T'ink'?

She loves Tink! (Me too!)

We concluded the evening with cupcakes (12 - how convenient!)

It's a DATE... Florida-Style! [Thanks Deb & Mom!!]

2010-03-09T14:18:00.000-08:00

Time to find some Gators! Via Air-Boat!!

(Oh so glad I had along the 300mm zoom - to get through those bars.)

The tradition lives on!

They were just chillin' (trying to warm-up, actually) in the Central Florida Everglades.

We found a mama with 3 generations of babies with her. Here's one little guy~

All total we saw 5 adults and oodles of babies out there in the wild!

Love this capture! We were flying by at warp speed when I grabbed this pic with the long lens attached. Rock & Roll...........

Air-borne moss!! Sweet.

Mmmmm, Greeeeeenage.

Interesting root-systems...

Are you ready for this!??! :):)

They are much softer than you'd think! We didn't know we'd get to hold one ~ Bonus!

DATE-DAY PART 2~

Next stop: Wekiwa Springs State Park. The first thing we noticed was all of the wild turkeys just hangin' out all around the park.

The second thing we noticed was the deep aqua-green color of the hot springs. Today was the chilliest day while here... overcast and rainy. We didn't swim in it, but we did dip our feet in :)

[As you can tell, the term "chilly" was relative... Sandals & shorts still ruled the wardrobe.]

A little rain didn't stop us from traversing the St. John's River by canoe.

AND turtles... many many turtles!

Canoe Rental: $12 dollars. Ponchos: $4 each.

Just the 2 of Us, Exploring the River by Canoe in February: Priceless.

FOG :) [kinda romantic!]

DATE-DAY~ Part 2a: Hiking!

The boardwalk paths were fab - right through the swamps.

It's just a baby! :)

We were within 5-6 feet of this little Armadillo! Hey Jeff... Armadillo! (A family-funny)

Another view of the springs~

That moss is amazing!

DATE-DAY~ Part 2b: Drive through the park before it closes - to check out the landscape and the campground (for future reference!!)

Perhaps you noticed... This road through the park actually divides what appears to be 2 different forests. Palms on the left... Pines on the Right. Hm. Best of both worlds!

The deer were partial to the Pines... (surprise!)

Though we did get a shot of a doe with low-lying palms in the background:

Here you can see some smaller/ low-lying palms behind this fella...

DATE-DAY ~ Part 3: Dinner!

Should'a gone and found us some good gator!

But we had a fab time ~ (And some fab drinky-poos!)

What a way to wrap up the adventure-filled get-away!

We will return... Oh yes, we will return.

CHEERS!