So, last Thursday we left for FLORIDA!!! We took a direct flight from Denver to Orlando. The kids did pretty well on the plane. Courtney has her own iTouch that we put all her favorite movies on, plus a few games she can play. We stayed at a really nice place the first night, a Marriott Vacation club. The tub in the master bathroom was bigger than just about any tub I have ever seen! It was HUGE! I took pictures, you can find them on our website. We took SO many pictures that I am not going to put many up here. Please feel free to browse them on our website at your convenience!
Friday we went to Sea World. We were in a dolphin show when Brian's aunt and uncle showed up with their girls. Courtney immediately took to the girls, even though they are quite older than her. Gretchen is now 10 and Genevieve is 12. After the dolphin show and swing by the sting ray feeding tank, Lucy and I took Courtney and Kasey to an Elmo show. Yes, there is about a 45 minute Elmo show at Sea World which Courtney thought was the best! Brian, Mike and the girls went and rode roller coasters while we did that.
After that we rejoined forces and headed to the Shamu show, Believe. Gretchen sat us in the soak zone telling us we wouldn't get wet. She was a little wrong, we didn't get wet, we got SOAKED!!! His big tail sent a HUGE wave our way and we got soaked. Courtney didn't think it was fun when it happened, but she has since been telling everyone how Shamu splashed her. And she will demonstrate with her Shamu stuffed animal I got her. Then we went to lunch at the Sharks Underwater Grill. We ate lunch next to the huge shark tank, looking in on them, or maybe they were looking in on us.
After lunch and some more looking around and a few games, we took Courtney to the kids area. She played on the large play set thing they had that was HUGE. She also said hello to Shamu! She got to ride her first ride which was a spinning thing like the teacups. We finally called it a day and headed for the cars. From there we started our drive to St. Augustine. It was about a 2 hour drive and it went nice and smooth!
Next day Courtney got her first taste of the ocean. The hotel we were staying at in St. Augustine was just a stone's throw from the ocean! We had to walk across the parking lot, and over the berm and we were there! Within the first few minutes on the beach Courtney told Genevieve "I am going to ask my Daddy to buy me an ocean so I can take it home". How cute is that?
That night we had a big dinner for Gen's 60th birthday at a nice oceanfront restaurant. We survived the weekend by getting 2 adjoining rooms. Courtney basically had her own room all weekend. Gretchen did sleep in the room with her one night, but other than that, Courtney was all by herself. But it worked out well.
Sunday morning we drove to the other side of the island we were staying on to go to the beach that was on that side. Our hotel faced the Atlantic and the waves were a bit harsh. On the river side they were much calmer and Courtney could play in the water more! It was called Porpoise Point, and after spending time there, I know why! We saw several dolphins playing out in the water, I even saw one jump! It was awesome!
That evening we went to dinner at a riverfront restaurant. While waiting to be seated we came upon a turtle out for his evening stroll. Courtney had a blast watching the little guy meander. And I was surprised at just how fast they really can move! And then here is some of us on the dock while waiting.
My camera got splashed by the ocean on Saturday morning, and stopped working. So after dinner Hank and I went to Walmart to get a new camera plus baby food. Sucks to have to buy a new camera right in the middle of vacation, but I use mine so much! And the switch over was easy because I got the same brand.
Monday we checked out of the hotel and went to The Alligator Farm. It was pretty cool and it was really nice how they had it set up. They had lots of shaded areas so it wasn't like being outside all day. (Florida is HOT in September!) It was really neat! They are also AZA accredited which is a big deal to both Hubby and I. The first thing that made us laugh was the little gator feeding pond. There were all these gators sitting on the beach. This lady walked over and put a quarter in the feeder and turned the handle to get pellets out. As she was doing this all the gators started to migrate to where the feeder was. It was so funny. They sure know that sound!
We walked around the whole place and discovered during one of the shows they do that you can pet an alligator. Hubby was excited to hear that! So, we signed him up to feed one. He got in the pit with about 40 other gators and fed one named Fluffy! Yes, I let him do it and no I wasn't too freaked out....
We also got in with the Galapagos Tortoises. All of us could go in together, so we did that. It was fun!!!
After the Alligator Farm we went and walked around downtown St. Augustine for a little bit. Then we headed off to Hubby's parents house. That was about another 2 hour drive. They now live in The Villages. Hubby's Aunt Diane and Uncle Greg were also there, as they stayed another week in Florida. That evening we had a small birthday party for Courtney so that her Grammy and Granddad could celebrate with her.
The next morning Hubby's mom took us on a quick tour of the Villages so we could check out the community they live in. Pretty darn cool! It's like a little military base and has everything you could need, and LOTS of golf carts! That afternoon we headed for Orlando and got on a plane and headed for home. It was hard to come home!
Wednesday, the next day, we celebrated Courtney's birthday at her daycare since she wouldn't be there on Friday. I brought goody bags and cupcakes during lunchtime. After lunchtime we headed outside with her class of kids and had a picnic birthday party with cupcakes outside. The kids were all so cute!
Thursday the girls and I finally had a little bit of a down day. I was so wiped it was hard to even unpack!
Friday was a super crazy day. I joined our local MOPS group (Mothers of Preschoolers, www.mops.org). It's held at a large church downtown. It's a large group of mothers that get together once a week. There is childcare provide, and we all bring food and get together and talk. I have only been once, but so far I really like it!
After that was over, I ran up to the store and picked up more cupcakes, and headed to the office. We celebrated Courtney's birthday with everyone at the office. Our office is so small and we have all been together so long, we are all a pretty close group. So, celebrating Courtney's birthday with them was fun!
Then that night we went to my parents' house. Susan and Zak were down from Greeley for the weekend, so we were able to do the family party on Courtney's actual birthday. She had a ball and got some gifts that were just perfect for her.
Saturday morning she had her birthday party with her friends at the zoo. They do a great job with birthday parties! There were 7 little girls total (including Courtney) plus all their parents.
We started by dropping off stuff in the cabin they have, then headed to the merry-go-round for a ride. From there we went to the education center for an up close visit with their large tortoise. From there it was off to the pony rides! We got to go in our own private entrance and we had 2 ponies just for our group. Courtney got to ride a pony to her hearts content! And all the other little girls got lots of chances to ride as well!
After that we went back to the little cabin and had pizza cake and ice cream. And then Courtney got to open her gifts there. She had a great time! Usually when you ask her if she enjoyed something she did that day you usually get an answer of NO, no matter how fun it was for her. But that day I actually got a yes! She crashed when we got her home and in bed for nap.
That evening Rick, Esten and Julie came over. Little did they know that when they agreed to come over for dinner that it would actually involve playing with Courtney and most of her new toys! (That's Esten in the Princess tent).
This morning was an early morning for me. Today was the big Race for the Cure day! I got up at 6am and headed out to pick up my mom, Susan and Zak. We parked at a high school near Garden of the Gods and got bussed over to the park. The amount of people there was AMAZING! Susan and Zak ran the 5K! I had signed up to walk the 1K family walk but accidentally ended up in the 5K walk. I could have turned around, but decided to keep going. It was beautiful to walk through the park!
Our team kicked some butt in fund raising! We set up the team 2 weeks ago while my mom was in surgery! And we set our goal at $1000. I honestly didn't think we would make it to that amount in a short amount of time, but thanks to the generosity and kindness to all of you out there, we did and more!!!!
We had a large team: 11 members. Hubby was one, but he did the 'Sleep in for the Cure'. They strongly discourage strollers because of the amount of people, so he stayed home with the girls. Here is how they describe the "Sleep in for the Cure":
NOT A RUNNER? NOT A WALKER? UNABLE TO ATTEND THE RACE FOR THE CURE?
Then why not register for our "Sleep-In for the Cure. You can sleep in on Race morning and still raise money to support the cause.
My dad also was on the team but also did the Sleep in for the Cure. My mom signed up for the Sleep in, but she decided to come and watch the events. I hope that next year our team will be even bigger! It doesn't matter which event you do, because there are several of them, we can all be on a team together!
The girls are fighting a cold, as is Hubby and I feel like I have been more fighting it off. So yes, Kasey has her first cold. It's not too bad though, thankfully! We are pretty fortunate that this has been a pretty minor cold that is just a little bit more irritating than anything.
Something has been going on with Buddy. We aren't quite sure what is going on. Since we got home from Florida he has been peeing in the house a lot. He has gone in for several tests, and all have come back ok so far, so we are still trying to figure out what is up. Sounds like he will have to have x-rays next.
Let's see, what else have I missed in this blog? Oh, the night before we left for Florida we had our Patron dinner at the zoo. As usual we enjoyed it. We were in the Aquatic house this time for cocktails. They gave the hippos popcorn and fruit to snack on for our viewing pleasure. They also gave the penguins empty lunch sacks. Yes, you read that right. For some odd reason they love them and it's a toy to them! And the beavers got a few large branches to munch on and play with. Plus all the frogs were in there. Our zoo is celebrating frogs this year. And as usual dinner was delicious! We got to sit with the head zookeeper that we have become good friends with. That's always fun, as we get to ask her all our animal questions and get behind the scene scoops on what is going on!
Well, I think this post is long enough and it's getting late! Hope everyone is well, and again, thanks for your support of our team "The Fighting Ta-Tas"!!!
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