Snapshots of Florida 2014

Our 8th Vacation to Florida... a little different this year but filled with memories.

The kids are relaxing before bedtime at one of the hotels we stayed at on the way to Florida.  

The first evening at Orange Lake Resort was a lot of fun.  We arrived on a beautiful evening so we went swimming and toured around the large pool area.  Jean, unfortunately did not eat her supper (not a big surprise... we are challenged by her every day with that issue and this evening was no different)  therefore there was no swimming for her.  She stripped down to her skivvies and wandered around the pool instead)

There was a large movie screen by one of the pools playing "Despicable Me 2"...
we fell in love with this resort!

We spent the morning at the pool on our second day at Orange Lake.  It was a gorgeous morning.  Grace and Jean were great buddies in the pool, with Grace playing "swim teacher" with Jean.  

Our three munchkins

After Ian's bout with the flu, we took him mini-golfing at the resort.  It took him a few days to recover.

The kids LOVE to play mini-golf.  

Grandpa Jim started this Florida tradition and we were happy to find a great little course right at our resort.

When it rains on vacation this is what we do:  find an arcade!

One evening we ventured to Downtown Disney for dinner and to do a bit of browsing.  Last year we really enjoyed the vibe here - there was so much entertainment, good food and great shopping.  This year we didn't find any music or dancing but we did have fun in some great Disney stores.

Jean loves Disney Princesses and we found this "Magic Mirror" for her... it was so sweet.

We made a stop in the Lego Store but we didn't stay long or buy anything... the next day we were heading to Legoland instead.

The day we went to Legoland started off very chilly.  We all had our thick sweaters or coats on and Ian even had gloves on but that didn't stop us!  It was a beautiful, sunny day and there were no crowds in sight - we LOVE that!  The entrance was very inviting to us Lego-lovers!

Grace and Alex found a character from Lego Chima right inside the entrance and Alex was wearing his Chima sweatshirt to match.  

Jean found someone (or something) just her size all made out of lego.

Alex is not interested in thrilling rides.  He doesn't like dark, fast rides so this was just his style.

Ouch - this lego wolf is biting me!!!

This was a driving school for kids right in Lego town.  They didn't let us parents in...

Legoland has a few water-rides but this was not the day to get wet - much too cold but Ian and Alex had fun on this one anyways and even stayed dry.  

So much of Florida is commercialized and developed especially around Tampa and Orlando and Legoland is right in between both cities.  When Legoland was developed, they kept this huge cypress tree and created paths all around it. It was a nice break from the noise of a theme park.

After we took in as many rides as we could, we walked around Lego Mini Land.  

At the end of the day, I met this lovely Lego Lady, sitting on a bench waiting for her family just like I was.

We left Orange Lake Resort the next day and headed to Grandma and Grandpa's.  Ian's parents have a home (the kids call their Florida house) that they stay at for much of the winter.  They had just arrived there earlier in the week and we were going to be descending on them and breaking their peaceful days.  Their house is in Port Charlotte, at Maple Leaf Estates, which was approximately 2.5 hours from Kissimmee (Orange Lake Resort).  We stopped at an outlet mall along the way and were there by late afternoon.  

Now the real relaxation could begin!

No stay at Grandma's is complete without a few games of dominoes.  Grace, Alex and Jean can all play this game now so we spent many happy evenings around their table.

Grandpa discovered a Manatee Park for us to visit.  It was a great spot where we could see manatees swimming in the warm waters, we learned about Manatees and why they are going extinct and went on a scavenger hunt.  It was a busy spot that day.  Afterwards we went out for lunch and shopping.

Borrowing the neighbours golf cart to head over to the mini-golf course.

We had many cool days but when there was warm temperatures in the forecast, we headed to the pool.  I was reading a fantastic book so I would get to read in between dips in the pool.  

This was our 8th trip to Florida as a family.  We are very fortunate to have Ian's parents there to welcome us into their home and we have stayed with them every year at Maple Leaf Estates in Port Charlotte.  

 Florida 2014; Grace 9 yrs, Alex 7 yrs, Jean 5 yrs (Ian and Deb 36 yrs)

One thing is for sure, this girl AMAZED us with her swimming skills.  She has been very nervous for the last few years when swimming without a floating device... she has been in lessons for quite a while but got spooked once in the water and wouldn't trust that she could swim on her own.  This trip marks a huge change in her after taking swimming lessons with a great teacher, Krista and her good friend, Rachel.  She has so much confidence!  This picture shows the absolute joy she had when swimming!