On Wednesday the family (Joe, Nan, Ryan, Sara, Aiden, Michael, Elizabeth, and Zack) headed to Orlando and Disney World. We made a stop at Gator Land, which was quite an experience! It was neat, but very hot. After checking into our hotel and letting the boys take a nap, we headed to Downtown Disney to have dinner at Rainforest Cafe. Aiden had so much fun watching all of the animals, and listening to the "storm" every 30 minutes. Ryan also had a great time enjoying his Orange Sherbet Margarita (yes, I was VERY jealous)! After dinner, we walked around Downtown Disney a bit, and stopped for a while to check out the Lego store and cool Lego creations around it, including a Lego family complete with dog, a Lego sea serpent, and a Lego dinosaur!
We got up early the next morning and headed out for our day at Magic Kingdom. It turned out to be a perfect day! It was overcast and even drizzled a little in the morning, which was great because it was not as hot as we were afraid it was going to be. It was also not very crowded, and we barely waited for any of the rides. We kicked off with the Dumbo ride, Winnie the Pooh ride and park, went to Mickey's house and met Mickey & Minnie Mouse, saw Mickey's Philharmagic show, rode It's a Small World, and then headed to the Crystal Palace for lunch. Lunch was really cool, and Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet came by our table to take pictures with the boys. Piglet and Eeyore also had a parade around the restaurant that Aiden and Zachary participated in! After lunch, we went back to the hotel to take much needed naps.
After naps and some pizza, we went back to the Magic Kingdom and tackled Pirates of the Carribean, Jungle Cruise, the Buzz Lightyear ride, Astro Orbiter, and the Monsters Inc. comedy show. We got out of the comedy show just in time to watch the fireworks over the castle, and then found a great spot of Main Street to enjoy the Spectromagic Parade (after purchasing a t-shirt, mouse ears, and a couple of toys of course!). We got back to the hotel around midnight, and were all pretty exhausted!
Friday morning we drove back to Treasure Island for recovery, and Ryan and I left Aiden with Nana & Papa Joe to enjoy a dinner out for our 5th anniversary...Melting Pot...YUM!! On Saturday Nan and Joe's friends, the Turners, as well as their son Brian and his family came over for the day. Brian and Nicole have a 3-year-old son named Jackson, and the three boys had a good time running, playing, and fishing while the adults got to visit. On Sunday we made another trip to the beach before Michael had to fly back to Texas for work the next week.
Monday Joe, Ricky, and Ryan went to the dog track during the day while Elizabeth and I did some shopping for Joe's 65th birthday the next day. After the track, Ryan went out fishing with his cousin Corey, and then Elizabeth and I finally got out of the house sans boys to catch a movie-Away We Go. It was a really cute movie-I recommend!! Tuesday we took the boys and Ryan's cousin Alexa with us to the Lowry Zoo. It was WAY hot, but we had fun and got to feed giraffes and ride a camel! That night we celebrated Joe's birthday with all of the extended family and friends at the house. All good things must come to an end, and Ryan, Aiden, and I flew back to Texas on Wednesday after 2 weeks of FUN!
We were actually home for 3 whole days before setting out again for Austin, San Antonio, and Houston. We met my parents in Austin on Saturday, the 18th, where they were checking out the wedding location for John David & Stephanie's April wedding, as well as scoping out possibilities for the rehearsal dinner with the bride-to-be. I think they found a great spot for the rehearsal dinner, and I can't wait to see how pretty it will look! We met John David, who had been busy studying for the bar, at a local pizza place, then hit up Toy Joy, a vintage toy store-so cool-, and Amy's for ice cream-yummy!! Sunday morning we met Jesse and Stephanie at Threadgill's for brunch, and then mom and dad departed for Missouri City with Aiden in tow. Ryan and I went back to Jesse, J.D., and Stephanie's apartment to hang out, and then Jesse, Steph, Ryan, and I went to Alamo Drafthouse to see Public Enemies. Ryan and I got checked into our hotel, and then went to dinner at Hyde Park with both of my brothers and Steph.
The next day, Ryan had to work at the coaches convention while I relaxed in the hotel room. Ryan drove me to San Antonio Monday night to check into my hotel, and then drove himself back to Austin for one more day at his convention. I had a 3-day training in San Antonio, so Ryan came back to join me on Tuesday night. I was pretty tired after my trainings during the day, but the last night we were in town we met our friends Albert and Catherine for dinner and then drinks (well, everyone but me!) at our hotel. We took off for Houston after my training was over Thursday evening to get Aiden and ended up staying through the weekend. My uncle and two of my aunts were visiting, so we got to spend time with them and travel to the beach in Galveston on Saturday...not quite the same as the Florida beaches, but we still had fun!
I started back to work on Thursday, and Aiden will start at his new school, Bright Beginnings Pre-School, on Monday! We went for a tour and to meet his new teacher on Friday, and he seems excited about starting school...we'll see how Monday actually goes! I have to go to San Marcos Sunday night through Thursday, so Ryan will be doing the single dad thing for A's first week at school :)
All in all, we have had a good summer, and I'm excited to have a couple of months in a "regular" routine until Baby Lucy arrives in October! Here are some pictures from our travels:
1 comment:
Sounds like y'all had a good time in Florida! Aiden is getting so big. We'll have to plan a trip to C.S. soon to get the kids together.
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