We're Home!!

After almost a week and a half away, it's good to be home! We had a mostly good trip (dad's car being broken into in the hotel parking lot (didn't take much but broke a window, messed up the paint & leather seat, so it's a huge hassle to repair, and we had to drive home yesterday w/ cardboard covering the window) was definitely the "low point", though the girls were thrilled to have a couple extra hours to swim in the hotel pool while the guys vacuumed up all the glass and such).

We went to Jamestown, the most blatantly educational part of the trip LOL. I think it did help the girls picture what we've been learning about though.

Then spent a day at Busch Garden's Williamsburg. Then the LONG drive to FL. We got to our hotel early enough on Sunday to run over to Sea World and catch a Shamu show and let the kids ride a couple kiddie rides, and get some candy (Sea World does "trick or treating" on weekends in Oct, and Halloween). The rest of the week was long days at Disney or Sea World. We spent one day at Magic Kingdom, one day split between MGM (now called Hollywood something-or-other) and Epcot, 2 days at Sea World, and one day at Animal Kingdom.

Some highlights, in no particular order . . .

• The sting rays were THE hit of Sea World. I don't even remember seeing this last year, not sure if we missed it or it wasn't there, but it's a tank full of sea rays that you can touch, or feed if you're willing to pay their prices LOL. The first day A refused to touch them, but L spent significant time with them. The second day we were there, A decided to touch them too, and then BOTH kids spent as long as we let them touching them and getting soaked w/ all the splashing LOL.
  
• Animal Kingdom does a really cool "kid activity" (I don't remember what it's called) where each part of the park has a "station" where kids do an educational activity (scavanger hunt, puzzle, touch & identify, etc) and then get a "passport" type thing stamped, if they collect all 6 stamps they get another stamp & a little activity book, prize. (Epcot does a similar, but IMO, not nearly as well done, and non-educational, thing)
• It was too cold all week for the girls to swim the evenings. But made for more pleasant weather in the parks.
• Kids started the week thrilled to have fruit loops at the hotel breakfasts (not a breakfast cereal we buy around here, since it has ZERO nutritional value LOL), but after about 3 days, they must have gotten tired of them, and switched to eating waffles (still not overly healthy, especially w/ A having fake (as opposed to maple) syrup on hers every day), though L ate hers w/ just butter.
  
• Mama (or Papa) had the brainstorm, one evening when the girls were bouncing off the walls in the hotel room, to bring in the quilt we had in the car & use it, draped over the table in their hotel room, to make a "tent" the girls had fun w/ that the rest of the week.
• While I love the concept of Animal Kingdom overall, the main Disney movies/shows that are represented there all movies shows that the girls haven't seen (and for good reason, IMO). On the positive side, it meant we didn't have to schedule our day around a bunch of shows. Perhaps the most amusing aspect of the day for us grownups was when we saw Rikiki (sp?) from The Lion King, meeting kids, the girls didn't have any idea who he was, beyond "a monkey", but wanted their picture taken w/ him anyway. So, after hugging him and getting their picture taken w/ him, as they were walking away, L said "goodbye whoever you are!" he did a great job of pantomiming shock that they didn't "know" him, it was quite amusing LOL.
• After meeting Pooh, Tigger & Eyore, we were walking out & Eyore was going on break or something so he ended up walking out of the meet and greet area, holding hands w/ one of my kids and another little girl.
  
• I'm sure I'm forgetting things, I'll add them as I think of them LOL.

Now we're home, it's COLD! I have mountains of laundry waiting for me, but it's good to be home! I figure today will be spent w/ laundry & errands, and hopefully tomorrow we can get back into the "school" schedule.