For the second year in a row, the Slominski Foursome boarded the plane for sunny Orlando, FL. It worked out well last year, so we thought, why not do it again! Pools, beaches, parks and great accommodations, Orlando has everything we need.
Day 1: We had a super early flight at 7:10 am, but amazingly, everyone was in a great mood. We arrived to the airport with time to spare and made our way through security with no issues. When we got to the gate, we heard Shane's name called so he went up to talk with the flight attendant. The plane wasn't full so the flight attendants were kind enough to give us an entire row! We ended up with 6 seats even though we had only paid for 3!
After everyone had boarded, the pilot notified us of a mechanical issue. So we sat on the plane for an extra 30 minutes - not good when you're traveling with a 2 year old and 4 year old! But the boys did great and kept themselves entertained with the goodies and games we had packed for the trip.The flight went very smoothly - what a difference a year makes! Instead of screaming the entire flight like he did last year, Cole was happy as could be. He loved watching his favorite movie "Wee Sing Train" on Pa's computer. He was clapping and singing along to the songs. And he was excited to get treated to suckers and cookies on the plane - Cole sure has a sweet tooth!
Owen did awesome again this year on the flight. He spent some time coloring and doing activities in his new coloring book, but most of the time he spent watching his new movies (Winnie the Pooh and Dora's Christmas) on Pa's iPad. Thank goodness for technology!Amazingly, after leaving late, our flight managed to still arrive early. Not sure how that happened! After getting off the plane, we made our way through the airport to the tram. Owen thought it was pretty cool that we got to ride on the tram to get to baggage claim.
We eventually got our bags, found our rental car and off we went. We stopped for lunch at a local Mexican restaurant and then checked into the hotel, Marriott's Harbour Lake. We were even in the same building as we had been last year! After settling in, we spent the rest of the day relaxing at the pool.
Day 2: Last year, we spent nearly all our pool time in the kiddie pool, but this year the boys loved the zero entry Pirate Pool. Owen couldn't get enough of the slides and even Cole went down a couple times. Both boys liked being able to touch and walk around in the water. It was a fairly quiet week at the resort, so it felt like we had the entire pool to ourselves (and I think a few times we actually did!)
Day 3: We decided to drive to Downtown Disney for lunch (they have a very special restaurant that we thought Owen would love.) We stopped in at the Lego store and checked out the huge sculptures made out of the Legos. It was quite impressive!
And, of course, the boys had to build their own unique Lego creations.
Eventually we made it to our destination - the T-Rex Restaurant! There was even an excavation site and Owen and Cole were soon put to work digging for dinosaur bones.
After all their hard work, it was time to eat. The restaurant was packed full of giant robotic dinosaurs. While very cool to look at, they were also on the scary side. And every 20 minutes or so, there was a 'storm' that came through the restaurant - the lights would dim, thunder and lightening would follow, and the dinosaurs would become quite agitated, roaring loudly and scaring the little ones. Needless to say, we ate as quickly as we could and got on our way.
Next we were off to take pictures with none other than Santa Clause himself! He had flown his reindeer into town just for the occasion. Owen was excited to sit on Santa's lap. He even whispered to the big guy in red that he wanted a Spiderman book for Christmas. But poor Cole! He did not like Santa one bit!
Day 4: Road trip! We loaded up the car and set off for Daytona Beach. An hour later we pulled into town and headed straight for the beach. We loved coming here last year - the sand was great and we could drive right onto the beach! But this year, as we pulled up, we saw a big sign - no parking on the beach due to high tide. So we found a nearby parking lot and got out to take a look. High tide was an understatement! It looked like 3/4 of the beach was covered with water! Even with the high tide and a bit chilly weather, we were still able to enjoy the sand and water...
We stopped to play at the playground just off the beach and have a picnic before heading back to Orlando.
Day 5: The weather had cooled down significantly from when we had first arrived from the mid 80s to low 70s. While 70 degree weather is not great for the pool, it is for the parks. So with our jackets on, we headed off to the Animal Kingdom.
We had gone to this park last year, so we knew just what to see and do. Our first stop was Dinoland for our little dino lover!
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| Owen and Cole sitting on a Pachycephalosaurus |
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| Cole being fed to the Velociraptor |
Then we headed to the Maharajah Jungle Trek in Asia where we saw, among other things, bats walking upside down and tigers sneaking up on each other...
Our next stop was the Kilimanjaro Safari in Africa where we saw hippos, rhinos, crocodiles, giraffes and our favorite sight - a mama and baby elephant drinking from the river...
Before leaving Africa, we walked along the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and saw many more animals, including gorillas (one gorilla was even carrying around his favorite blankie!) and a meercat sitting on the top of his home being the lookout for predators.
As we were leaving Africa, we realized that the parade was about to start, so we grabbed a front row seat for the show. But as the parade started, Cole became quite upset with the load noise and large scary floats, so Pa and Cole sought out refuge in a nearby store while Owen and I enjoyed the show.
After the parade, we hit our last stop - the Boneyard back at Dinoland.
Day 6: Since the temps had cooled down, we decided to visit another park. This time we headed to Sea World conveniently located just down the road from our hotel. The boys and I had never been to Sea World before, so we were in for a real treat! The park was rather quiet (with most kids in school), so we were able to enjoy it without the crowds. Our first stop was the sea lion show starring Clyde and Seamore. We got a great seat for the show and settled in. But soon there was trouble...a mime came out to greet the guests and entertain the crowd. Cole took one look at him and started screaming in horror. No matter which way I turned him, I could not get Cole to avert his eyes - they were locked on the scary mime. Not wanting to disturb the other people, Mom and Cole quickly headed out of the show. So I can't quite comment on the sea lion show, although I believe the word Shane used to describe it was 'lame', but I'm sure it was quite entertaining to the rest of the folks. |
| "Get me out of here!!" |
Our next stop was to see the killer whale show. And this time Shane was on Cole duty so Mom and Owen got to enjoy the show. It was an awesome show and somehow we were able to escape being soaked by the giant killer whales.
After the show, it was a great time to grab lunch. As we were wondering around trying to find a place to eat, we stumbled across none other than the Polar Express!! Owen's eyes lit up with excitement!
Unfortunately the boys weren't tall enough to go on the ride. Bummer! Instead we watched an excerpt of the movie and walked along the path to see the Arctic animals (whales, polar bears and a huge walrus). Then we found a train just perfect for Owen to take a ride (or two!) on. Next stop...the dolphin show. On the way to the show, we stopped to feed the sharks and sting rays...
The dolphin show was the best one yet. Not only were there dolphins doing awesome tricks, there were very talented people do amazing dives and acrobatic feats. It reminded me of a Cirque Du Soleil show. It was quite a sight to see! The show started with a house appearing on a high ledge and a lady wearing pink walking out of the door. When Owen saw the lady, he looked at me and said, "Wow. She is beautiful." He's a very sweet little boy!
After the lady dove head first into the water, things got very exciting!
Afterwards, it was on to the sea lions. The sea lions were quite entertaining, relaxing in the sun. Shane bought some fish for Owen to feed them. He tossed one fish at a sea lion, but alas, the sea lion was too slow. A big bird swooped down and grabbed the fish mid-air! So Owen gave it another try and this time, the sea lion was the luckily recipient!
With only a few things left to see, we made our way to the penguin exhibit. Those silly birds sure made us laugh. There was a little one that kept walking back and forth and back and forth, stopping to look into the water, but apparently too scared to actually take the plunge. And while the little guy was pacing, two tall penguins were standing perfectly still with their tummies and noses touching each other. We all got a kick out of watching them...
One of our last stops was to see the dolphins up close and personal. We were under ground and able to watch them swim right by us! They loved showing off their amazing moves!
Day 7: In the morning, we set off on an adventure of our own to Dunkin' Donuts. It was a couple mile walk to get there, which was nothing after all the walking we had done at the parks the past couple days. But we didn't realize that the donut shop was across a very busy intersection with no cross walk or side walk! Luckily we made it across with no problems and we all happily devoured our yummy donuts.
We spent the rest of the day at our hotel relaxing by the pool. It was a great way to enjoy our last day in Orlando.
Day 8: Our week in Orlando was over. We packed up our things and headed for the airport. The boys were good little travelers, even with all 4 of us squished into 3 seats on a packed full plane!
Adios Orlando! Until next time...
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