Relaxing times

Relaxing around the pirate pool.  It was really cold leaving the room, but once we warmed up at the park with a coffee and the kids running around, everyone was ready to swim.  

Rose dipped her foot in warm cheese from the pretzel that we shared.

Matt and his family were coincidentally vacationing in Orlando the same time as us, so Mike and Matt went out one night for a drink, and then we met up with him and his family at our hotel for dinner the next night.

A strange way to watch a show

I have never seen anyone seriously relaxing in one of the many hammocks around the resort.  Only kids and people joking around.

Animal Kingdom

We picked a cooler day to go to Animal Kingdom, but again, the sun was shining, so who cares! Plus, as you can see, Paige was even in a tank top for part of it.  So not too bad.  We started off the morning with a mickey pretzel and coffee as we waited for our fast pass on kilimanjaro safari.  As we passed by a face painting stand, Rose got her face painted.  It was so pretty and sparkly.  She loved it. 

Kilimanjaro Safari

After Kilimanjaro we had to make it over to Expedition Everest for our next fast passes.  Paige and I went on first and she HATED it.  You'd think I would have learned from the dragon roller coaster disaster of Legoland, but this was really bad.  A lot of it was in the dark going backwards.  She was screaming and saying "I feel sick!!" Oh man, was it bad.  Mike then went on it by himself while we recovered and found some lunch.

In Dinoland, Henry loved the digging pit, but became desperately in need of a diaper change, so we had to cut it short.

A little popcorn while Henry slept.

Crazy birds:

We also took the girls on the Dinosaur ride.  First me, and then mike as they gave us a ride swapper pass (since Henry is too small to ride) I thought it might be a disaster for Rose, but she LOVED it! Even though it is really jerky and a lot is in the dark, she didn't mind it.  Paige didn't like it when she was 5, so maybe Rose will be more of a ride person.

The Lion King show was fun for everyone as well.  We watched it right at the end of the day and then it was time to start heading back to the hotel as the park was closing! Its so easy to stay at the park for an entire day and have it fly by.  After we went to AK, I was slightly sad that we weren't doing other parks, but we can't overdo it!  There's always next year! Plus we have to remember to do some things in a couple of years that will be fun for Henry and Rose for the first time.  For example, we've done lots of character meals in the years previous, but the kids don't remember them.  It would be nice for Henry, and Rose to do them again,

This is the life!

The warmest day!

Grandma Val was so lucky to be able to spend her last day in the warmth and sunshine! Yay! Although we had planned to go to the beach sometime during the week, it never seemed worth the long drive as the weather wasn't always super warm.  Her last day was nice and hot though.  Sad to see GV go.  :(  So nice for us to see her when we're all in vacation mode!

And then the next day it rained and rained. I got the girls all ready to swim and it started to rain the second we left the room.  We swam anyway, as the water is warm and we were already wet! It was definitely nice to go in the hot tub in the rain too.  We had the whole pool to ourselves!

Sorry Benihana!

Benihana's is such a fun restaurant.  They make the food Hibachi style right in front of you while performing tricks with the knives, etc.  We thought Henry would have a blast, but turns out he was having a rough night due to the family stomach bug, and cried and cried as he had to go to the bathroom, so to speak. At the end of the meal there were about 6 sets of forks and chopsticks under Henry's chair. 

The ice cream couldn't come fast enough.

The food is really good, and healthy compared to most restaurants.  And the kids didn't have the usual  pizza/chicken fingers/macaroni choice that they normally do, which was AWESOME.

Around the hotel

Typical pool antics. 

The staple Sheraton game.  "Ring on a string"

Legoland

Our first trip to Legoland! After missing the turn and getting lost (Legoland not well marked like Disney), we went on a little detour of the countryside and orange groves.  It was actually kind of fun to see.  Legoland was pretty neat, but when you compare it to Disney, and the way Disney is run, it's no comparison.  Legoland could be better compared to Canada's wonderland.  

The nice thing about Legoland was that we saw a large majority of the attractions in one day.  It was a chilly day at first but we warmed up in the hot Florida sun.  Paige was excited to go on a dragon roller coaster, but then hated it and was super scared. 

The bright and colourful Duple Valley.  Rides for toddlers.  Waited about 45 minutes for a 2 minute train ride.  Later on realized there was no lineup and we should have just waited!!

Mike likes to take pictures of Grandma Val carrying food at theme parks.  Funny because she eats healthy, but the photos would prove otherwise.  These were deep fried apple slices with caramel and whipped cream dip. So good!

 The girls with Lego friend "Andrea".

The family with "Buddy"

Mini town USA

Fun Lego waterski show

The girls with "Miranda Valentina"

 Ford driving school