Day 6: Disney's Hollywood Studios

Today we went to Disney's Hollywood Studios. We enjoyed all of the shows and rides that we wanted to, except Fantasmic--more on that later. Our favorite show was the car stunt show--it was incredible. The favorite ride was the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. At the end of the night, we were ready to watch the great Fantasmic show--after being "herded" into the seating area.  Once we sat down, we were informed that due to the weather (no rain, but some distant thunder) the show would not take place. It would be fine to cancel the show for safety reasons, but they could have informed us earlier before we spent 30 minutes of our time or felt like cattle! So to end the day on a good note, we rode Rock 'n' Roller again! This park was different than our experience in the other parks: we actually had to wait in lines for longer than 10 minutes for several rides and it was very crowded.  The best thing though was it didn't rain on us, with all of that being said, it was our favorite of the three parks we visited. Now the Disney portion of our trip is over--bye Mickey and friends.

Our favorite ride

Toy Story Mania

Day 5: More Resort Time

Today was another relaxing day at the resort. Enjoyed a morning in the sun, and then watched tv and read during the afternoon rain inside. Erin and my nephew, Zach, went fishing for about 4 hours in the little lake here. They caught a lot of little fish, plus Erin caught a 3 lb. bass! This was all done in the rain! Tomorrow is another Disney day.

Fishing is serious business

One of the little ones!

Our view from the balcony 

Day 4: Animal Kingdom

Today we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom. We enjoyed seeing all of God's creativity with the various kinds of animals. We saw everything from elephants, rhinos, giraffes to African cranes, colobus monkeys, flying squirrel bats and everything in between. They had a show called Lion King that was spectacular! Later in the afternoon, we were enjoying the parade when a Florida downpour came. We all reached for our ponchos again! This time the rain only lasted about an hour instead of the rest of the day. We have become experts at putting on and taking off ponchos in record time when we hear lightning or see clouds gather. The rain comes in fast, and it pours.  When we left the park, we went back to the resort, and Dan and the kids went to the pool and "cuzi" to end the day.

Locating all of the birds

More rain

Day 3: Resort

Today we spent a relaxing day at the resort. We slept in, layed in the sun, played in the pool, and enjoyed visiting with Wendy's niece Melissa and her family. The kids pretty much spent the entire day in the pool--they do have gills and fins, so no surprise. It was a great way to recover from yesterday, and prepare for another Disney day tomorrow.

The whole gang

Dan relaxing

Our fish

Day 2: Epcot

Today we went to our first Disney park--Epcot. It was a jam-packed day. We did everything that we wanted to do! Here are a few of our favorite things: Kyle--Mission Space (Yes he went on the "Orange" side--which equals lots of spinning and craziness--Dan didn't know if he was going to make it through that one without emptying his stomach!), and Test Track. Erin--Test Track and Sum of All Thrills (You create your own roller coaster ride and then go in a simulator to ride it.) Dan--just being with the family and having fun. Wendy--Sum of All Thrills and the Canada circle vision.
We were going at top speed in the morning, but then got slowed down a bit in the afternoon when one Florida thunderstorms hit. Wendy decided to brave the elements and made the family run in the rain from Mexico to Norway (we can't be wasting time waiting out the rain). We had ponchos on, or at least some of us did, and we still got soaked! The up side was that we were able to get on some rides without any wait. Actually, the longest we waited for any ride was 10 minutes all day!! We made an afternoon stop in Germany for a treat of pretzels and strudel to get out of the rain. Overall, it was a great day!

The Family at Epcot

Storm rolling in! 

Trying to stay dry

Night/Day 1: Daytona Beach

Well this has been a long night/day....the kids finished their last day of school yesterday around noon, and then we were off to the airport that evening. We flew the "red eye"--on two separate flights!! A long story, but basically Dan and Kyle were on one flight, and Wendy and Erin were on another. The boys arrived about 4 hours ahead of the girls. They got the rental car, had breakfast at IHOP (ask Kyle about his fabulous breakfast), and then tried to sleep a couple of hours. It was then off to Daytona Beach.
We went straight to the beach to get into the Atlantic Ocean. Dan loved driving on the actual beach and then parking. Kyle ran to the water, and couldn't believe how warm it was. Erin spent her time looking for shells and dipping in the water. Dan and Wendy enjoyed just being able to relax in both the water and on the sand. Then it was off to a chocolate factory, Angell & Phelps Chocolate Factory, to go on a tour and get some treats. It was a little "mom & pop" type place--it was just a little shop and they were super friendly. We wanted chocolate covered strawberries, and they only make them to order--so we got to watch them dip and decorate the strawberries through the observation windows. These strawberries were to die for!
Then it was back to Orlando and we picked up Wendy's sister, Debbie, and nephew, Zach to go to the resort. Dan and the kids all headed straight for the pool, of course. We got all settled in our new home for the week and are ready to hit Epcot tomorrow, bright and early.

Enjoying the Atlantic Ocean

Watching our strawberries being made

Another summer, another vacation

Well, it is that time of year....summer vacation. This year we are headed to Florida for a couple of weeks. I will try to update our blog each day, but you never know about technology! We would love for you to comment along our way. We will be spending the first week in Orlando with Wendy's sister, Debbie and her son, Zach. Then it is a "road trip" all over Florida--down to the Keys, the Everglades, Sanibel Island, and then back up to Tampa, and back to Orlando.