Go Go Go Cart!

We're at the birthday party of Chip's friend Maddox, at Mountasia.  G has finally gotten to try the bumper boats and go-carts, and he also got to play video games and miniature golf, both of which he's done before.  Usually, we just go there for mini golf, so it was a special treat to have a pass to do everything.  The temperature at this evening hour is very pleasant, and it rained a few drops so all of the kids got a pass to come back again!  We all had a great time.

Sonic Booms

Our first morning in Florida, we awoke well before 6 am so that we could go out on the balcony and listen for the space shuttle's sonic booms on reentry.  We weren't sure whether we would hear a quiet "pop pop" or nothing at all.  Well, what we heard truly shocked all three of us!  It rattled the doors of our room, which you can hear, and even woke up G for a moment.

Because it was dark, we couldn't drive to Cape Canaveral to see it fly overhead; it doesn't have position lights like an airplane.  Being the last mission of the space shuttle program, it was extremely important for P to be a part of it in some way, so we took a big chance on staying at our resort near Orlando without 100% certainty that we could hear the booms.  Feeling that wave pass through our bodies, we definitely do feel as though we were a part of this landing.

Now we've seen both a space shuttle launch (STS-131) and landing (STS-135).  Please pardon the language in the video; we were truly in shock!

Sleepover

G is ready for a fun filled night at Bun and Papa's!  Wowo has a great night planned.

Disney World, Days 3 Through 5

On Day Three of our vacation, we visited Typhoon Lagoon, one of the two Disney water parks.

G and Wowo with Lagoona Gator

Poor, poor Chip

What in the world could have made such an interesting trail?

Why, it's G!  During the rain, when the attractions closed, the adults huddled under shelters while G found two other kids to play with in the sand.  The one on the right is Phil, and he's British.

Making a sand angel.  The rain didn't slow him down one bit!

Getting ready to swim in the coral reef with SCUBA tanks

I made her hold my hand until I stopped being terrified.  Yes, there were sharks and sting rays, but it was the fish that freak me out!

We all got caught!

That evening, we arrived back "home" to find a beautiful sunset.  We spent the next day lounging around the lodge.

Beautiful sunset over the savanna

Ping-pong at the Kidani Village pool at our resort

A drum lesson in the Sunset Savanna Lounge

The most giraffes (three) we had at our feeder at once, along with a zebra grazing in the background

Big Boy checks in for his second evening in Simba's Cubhouse

On our date at Sanaa restaurant, a giraffe wandered by the window.  Our room is in the building you can see across the savanna.

Happy to have some alone time on Saturday night with fantastic food and great scenery at Sanaa.

The entry to Kidani Village had this beautiful candelabra, along with the quote, "One who goes back to his home does not consider the night too dark.  He knows his way.  --Uganda".  We think it is beautiful.

The three of us played Pictureka in one of the lobby sections...

while G watched Disney cartoons with lots of other kids in an adjacent section.

We played Human Pictureka in the lobby on the bridge:  can you spot a Chipster?

Always ladylike, Laura sips her Chenin Blanc by the pool

At the Animal Kingdom Lodge, even the drains around the pool are decorated to look like pretty suns

Typical camera face in front of our room

On Sunday, we went to Downtown Disney to see if Disney Quest, the indoor interactive gaming center, looked like fun.  It was so hot, and since one of us couldn't interact with much of anything due to a pregnancy complication, we decided to ditch Downtown and head for Blizzard Beach.

Of course, we had to visit the Lego store.  Chip made this guy in the play area and ended up buying him and two others, since you can only buy your own minifigures in multiples of three.  Mainly, he just wanted the hair for Luke Skywalker.

G found the most creative "hidden Mickey" of the trip - in the floor mat at the exit of the Lego store.

One of G's favorite places on Earth, if not THE favorite

Think we used enough sunscreen on top?

Nothing says "hot summer day" like a sleigh ride in your bathing suit!

Two more days of vacation photos to come.  Stay tuned!

What Does A Jedi Dream?

One of the best parts of vacation is sleeping in the same room with G.  We think he is beautiful when he sleeps, especially cuddled with Charkie and his pillow, Dolphie.