Orlando trip continued

We took a "break" on Wednesday by hanging out for some BBQ. We relaxed with the Atlanta Sahas as well as Dan's cousins from Tallahassee, Mom, Aunt Laura and her mom. The kids entertained themselves by following around an endangered tortoise that had a burrow beneath our picnic shelter. They'd already spotted some Sandhill Cranes earlier in the day. After we'd had our fill of Florida heat, we continued our visit in the trailer nearby.

Our next exciting stop was Legoland. Who was the visit for: Dan or the kids? Dan had gotten a free ticket in his Christmas present (Lego MBA kit). There were all kinds of life-size Lego sculptures, some Lego others Duplo. They were all pretty fun and creative. Then there were tons of rides, most of which had a height requirement of 34", which is awesome for a three year old who's 37" tall. Unlike Disney or SeaWorld, she could ride just about everything. Plus, all the lines had a little pen with Duplo tables and tons of blocks, so adults hold the place in line and the kids are occupied the whole time. Penny actually resisted going on rides a few times because she wanted to finish her construction. It was really just an ideal park for little people! They had awesome playgrounds, fun themed areas, a variety of kinds of rides and even the restaurants had those Duplo tables so the grownups can finish their food before heading back into the heat. It was a full hour drive from Orlando, it closed by 5pm and some distant thunder shut everything down for quite a bit, but the kids seemed to have a great time and the day length was good. We wondered why the place seemed so empty and all the lines so short when it was such an awesome time for the kids in a brand new park.

The park was fun, but watching the kids was perhaps a bit more fun. Penny and Noah had a blast with the $1 spray bottle filled with water, which served us well in the heat throughout the day. We also picked up a new little friend at the park. Penny and Daddy were competing against some 10 year olds at a water gun midway game. Penny was darned proud when the caller announced her win. After some stage fright, she managed to pick out a cute little piggy, whom she insisted upon carrying through every ride and task for the rest of the day.

Penny loves "Pamingos" because they're pink!

Friday we again took a bit of a break, enjoyed the whirlpool in the timeshare, did some laundry and generally took it easy. On Saturday, we made our way to SeaWorld. We were thinking Penny would be really psyched about all the animals and shows because the rides, even in the kiddie section, had height restrictions that excluded her. Really, not even one ride for her. She did enjoy the animals - the aquaria were indoors and air conditioned. The heat was starting to get to her after a whole week. Three straight days of hitting parks for Mom were starting to suck the fun out for her as well. It was like pulling teeth to get her out of her stroller for anything and nothing really let us drive the stroller through it. Once inside, though, she did seem to genuinely enjoy the various shows. It was a long hot day and the only park where we didn't stay until closing.

Who knew birds were the creatures to see at SeaWorld?

It was a pretty awesome trip overall. Just the right balance of parks and rest. It was a nice celebration for Mom, Dan's graduation and generally hanging out with extended family.

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Orlando vacation

To celebrate Mom's 70th birthday, we went on a family trip to Orlando. Things came together nicely because Dan's uncle was on the brink of losing time on his timeshare in Orlando, so he generously allowed us to stay there with him. It was a wonderful place, though we didn't find time to enjoy all the amenities. Penny, Paul and I at least enjoyed a jacuzzi bath together one afternoon with some neat fizzy bath salts. Penny also thoroughly enjoyed the vast quantity of pillows, constructing a cozy nest on her bed to sleep in each night.


We started off our visit with a day to recover from the flight and stock up on supplies for the week. Uncle Jerry and Aunt Estelle were nice enough to drive an hour out to see us that Monday morning. It was great getting to catch up and get some insider info on the various parks in the neighborhood.

Our first park was Disney's Magic Kingdom. I know it seems odd that I don't have any pictures from that day. Not shocking, though, since my phone spent much of the day in a ziplock bag due to the constant rain. We got there right at opening and made a bee-line to the photo opp with Mickey, Minnie and the princesses, conveniently located in Main Street USA. We figured a couple of 30 minute lines weren't really in the cards for our crew, so we went to the back of the building and grabbed some Fast Pass tickets for 45 minutes later. The staffer at the Fast Pass machines was already enrobed in her poncho and Penny exclaimed, "Mommy, it's Cinderella's Fairy Godmother!" Who else would give out tickets to see Cinderella, after all? In just 45 minutes we breezed on into the photo opp building, had maybe a five minute wait and then Penny was dumbfounded by being face to face with Mickey Mouse himself. She neglected Minnie at first, probably because it was just such an overwhelming experience.

Penny posed for some pictures - one foot up in the air appeared to be a must - I found a blank piece of paper for autographs, then Paul had some really giggly moments up close and personal with everyone's favorite mouse. The visit with the princesses was even more cute, as Penny was absolutely speechless, even attempted a curtsy with Aurora, as she met with three of her favorite princess stars all in a row. Now, the question is, are we going to pay Disney $30 to get copies of the photos they took of this priceless moment? They were nice enough not to complain when Dan had his phone out to simultaneously capture the moments.

Once done with the princesses, Paul was incredibly hungry, so he and I headed over to the baby care station while Penny and Dan met up with his cousins. The rain continued, so they did things like Small World, Peter Pan Experience, etc. They got quite a lot done while Paul and I enjoyed a snack, a nap, a full-on lunch, a diaper change - two hours later, we went back outside to the stroller to find our group. There were stroller parking managers who kept moving strollers out from under the awnings so people could stay dry under the awnings. We left the rain cover on Paul's stroller even when he wasn't in it and that seemed to help significantly. It was pretty sad how many little kids seemed to get out of the baby care center with nice dry diapers only to be popped back into their soaking wet strollers. I was pretty proud to have packed a poncho for Dan - made it tons easier finding him as he was the only camouflage green in a sea of clear Disney-emblazoned ponchos. Man, they make a mint when it rains! $1 for two ponchos at Dollar Tree, but each of those Disney ones was something like $9.

After a brief grownup lunch, we hit a few more rides with the little guys. It continued to be a drencher, but we enjoyed things like the train, Winnie the Pooh, the Tikki Room...really there is plenty to do even in the rain. By dinner time, though, Dan's cousins had pretty much had it. Their toes were wrinkly, they were really sick of dashing everywhere, so after a final ice cream, decided to call it a day. Right after they left, the clouds parted and Penny, Paul, Dan and I enjoyed some really nice weather for driving cars, seeing a comedy show, and even getting a great look at the Electric Parade. Both kids were asleep by the time we took the monorail back to the parking lot, got thoroughly lost because we skipped the shuttle in hopes of keeping them asleep, and then found ourselves again after crossing through Jafar's expansive wasteland.

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Vacation in the Hamptons

To celebrate the completion of medical school, Dan decided to vacation like a doctor with a little road trip to the Hamptons. I always thought these were some kind of snobby Northeastern version of the Bahamas, bunch of privately owned islands as seen on Royal Pains or something. Apparently, they're a set of cities at the Eastern end of Long Island. Who knew?

We left on the afternoon of Mother's Day, with a pit stop in Queens two hours into the drive (traffic was a little ugly) because Paul couldn't take driving any more. Once traffic started moving consistently, our little dears dozed off in the back and we were able to enjoy the ebb and flow of the urban sprawl that is Long Island. Finally, we entered an area that had the occasional vineyard or horse farm. It was there that a giant white figure arose on the horizon...the Big Duck.

I have probably told most everyone by now, but in case you've missed the tale...once upon a time, back in the early days of Dan and I dating, we were having a conversation about marriage. I asked when he would like to get married and his response was, "When I've got all my ducks in a row." Later, while visiting the Cornell Campus Store with his friends, Dan spied a shelf of stuffed ducks. Inspiration struck and he shoveled an armful of them into a shopping basket. He had decided to actually give me a duck each time he achieved an important milestone, making a nice visual as he got his ducks in a row. When he shared his idea with his friends, they were intrigued, but asked whether it would be cooler for each duck to be unique.

Thus began our obsession with ducks. He's been quite good at finding a variety of fluffy fowl. From Scrooge McDuck to celebrate paying off student loans to a big yellow fluffy guy for moving into the same metro area, an Aflac duck for closing his injury case, to a little mallard with a tie for getting into medical school. I believe I inquired at some point how many ducks were in the row because they seemed to accumulate pretty rapidly. Thankfully, after four years of dating, he decided the ducks had reached critical mass and proposed (and yes, there was a duck in the museum exhibit he designed for the proposal). While in England, we acquired Jemima Puddleduck to celebrate my first Mother's Day, a daddy and baby duck who sing "Rubber Ducky" to celebrate Dan's first Father's Day and a Giggle Giggle Quack duck with his pencil and paper for successfully completing the Step 1 exam, among others. I haven't counted our collection, but there has to be more than twenty, each unique and fun. When we moved into our new place here on Staten Island it was the first time all our ducks were brought together under one roof.

Thus it was fitting that Dan searched high and low for a duck suitable to celebrate the completion of his medical school. Who knew the perfect one was just a short trip up the road in Long Island? Unfortunately (fortunately?) There just isn't enough room in our place for such a colossal duck, so we snapped some picks to commemorate the event instead.

After a picnic in the shadow of the towering duck at sunset, we headed to the hotel for a good night's rest. The next day, we had the beach all to ourselves (the rainy forecast and cool temps, plus being a weekday may have helped. There were tons of mermaid purses littering the beach - can't remember if those are skate eggs or shark eggs. Seemed a terrible waste in either case. We collected all the Mother's Day mylar balloons that washed ashore - partly because they were pink and thus irresistible to Penny. Then we headed home. It was a perfect little weekend trip and a suitable celebration for Dan's amazing accomplishment.

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