Busch Gardens

Our condo was an hour and a half from Disney World, so Paul and I were just not convinced that driving all that way and not having a place for O to nap if he needed it was a good idea.  Plus, he still has yet to go on a ride without screaming and crying to get off before the ride starts.  We decided it just wasn't worth it.

Busch Gardens was only about 40 minutes from our condo and it seemed like there would be a lot more to do there, so we gave it a shot.  There was a Sesame Street exhibit there and although Owen's never really watched it or been into the characters, he enjoyed it.  He got to meet Big Bird, Elmo, Grover, Zoe and Cookie Monster and he thought that was pretty cool.  There were a few Sesame themed rides and climbing mazes that he ended up really enjoying.

 Giving Elmo a big hug

 Grover too!

 Big Bird!

He had so much fun waiting for the show to begin, he was dancing up a storm!

 

O's first ride!!!  There was a wonderful, grandmotherly woman working the ride and she let him go sit in a car, just to check it out.  Then she asked if he'd like to go around the circle one time and he could tell her if he wanted to get off.  He reluctantly agreed, but ended up loving it and staying on.  Later in the day, he wanted to go on again, but wouldn't when we go there because a different lady was working the ride.  Baby steps!

 We climbed up a huge tree house and walked across rope bridges to get to this big climbing maze.  He LOVED this!

We spent quite a bit of time riding the train around the grounds, checking out the animals.  It was amazing how close we got to them!

Owen and Daddy with the giraffe bushes

 White Rhino

 Zebras

 Monkey

 Giraffes

Owen and Paul with the kangaroo bush

 Cheese!

 Butterfly bushes

 Tigers

After getting our animal fix, it was time for a little friendly competition between the boys!

First they raced boats

 Then monster trucks

It was a great day and we all had a lot of fun!

Mini Golf and Gators

There was a really cool mini golf place down the street from our condo.  We decided to take a trip there and show O what mini golfing was all about.  It was hilarious to watch!

As an added bonus, when we got there, they had live alligators on the course that you could feed.  We tried our best, but the alligator pellets must not have been very appetizing - they wanted nothing to do with us.

 I think that form is going to win him a green jacket some day!

 A little gecko that wanted to golf with us

 Pirate ship golf course

 More gators...can you spot the one that is kissing the other one?

Dolphin Watching

On our first full day of vacation, we decided to go into Clearwater and ride on a pirate ship.  Unfortunately, the brochure was printed for peak season, so the times listed weren't accurate.  There was a dolphin cruise leaving the same area, so we decided to take that instead.

It was a chilly trip and although we got to see John Travolta's house, Kirstie Alley's house and the owner of Outback Steakhouse's house, we hadn't seen any dolphins yet. We joked that the only one we might see was on top of our boat! The boat pulled up to an island so we could get out and hunt for shells (and warm up in the sun!). 

Just as we were making our way back, a pair of dolphins started swimming alongside our boat.  They stuck with us for quite a while and we got to see them jumping and swimming.  I loved it and Owen thought it was pretty cool too.

 After our cruise, we ate some yummy crab cakes for lunch and played at an amazing playground at Pier 600.  Even though it was chilly, we had to take our shoes off to go barefoot in the sand - it was amazing!

 Pretending he was sleeping on the warm rock like a kitty

On our way back, we stopped for ice cream and then enjoyed a walk on the beach.  If only all Mondays could be like that one!

A Walk on the Beach

The day we arrived, it was a little bit cool - well, okay, not by MN standards, but it was in the high 60's.  We didn't go into the trip with a lot of structured plans, just decided to have a few things in mind to do and to play it by ear.

We were all pretty tired after an early morning and a long day of travel.  Once we checked into our condo, we decided to take a walk on the beach.  Turns out, this was O's favorite thing to do.  He loved hunting for shells and chasing the birds away from Mommy. :)

It was amazing to us how the beach was like a constant walkway - there was ALWAYS people walking and running along it.  Owen had a blast playing at the beach!

 Finding "shell-y"

 These huge shells were all along the beach.  Someone made this cool wall of them.

 Daddy and Owen checking out a turtle sanctuary

 The longer we walked, the warmer we got, so the sweatshirts came off!!

 Later that afternoon, we stopped at a FL "junk shop" and Owen thought it would be funny if he and Daddy wore these wig hats. :)

 View from our balcony

 Burying Mommy's feet in the sand

Owen's First Plane Ride

You guys know me, I take a ton of photos, so I am going to have to divide our trip up into a few different posts!

Owen has been asking to go on an airplane ride for several months now.  We've been contemplating taking a short trip somewhere so he'd get to go on a plane, but just hadn't come across the right thing yet.  Then some friends of ours emailed to see if we'd be interested in renting their timeshare for a week in St. Petersburg, FL.  Everything fell into place, so we decided to go for it!

Leading up to the trip, O kept reminding us that at the beach, we don't need to wear winter coats.  I think that is what he was most excited about!  Our flight out was at 6:30AM (OUCH!) so since it was our first time traveling with a kid, we decided to abide by the 2 hour airport rule.  He was amazingly chipper when I woke him up and he got ready without complaining.  That made life so much easier!

He was very patient going through security and was a big helper when it came to holding his own boarding pass.

After getting through security, we ate some breakfast and found a fun, indoor, play structure that bought us some time before heading to our gate.

 Captain Owen says we are ready for take off!

 Watching our plane hook up to the walkway

 A few little silly things to keep us busy on the plane!

 Showing Mr. Bear the clouds

Heidi was so sweet, she gave him a special present to open on the plane and it kept him busy for HOURS!  It was a sticker book that was an equivalent to paper dolls for boys.  Each page had a "scene" with policemen, fire fighters, life guards, astronauts, etc. and then there were sticker outfits to dress them in.  He loved it!  What a thoughtful gift!

Overall, he did great on the plane!  He was very well-behaved.  On the descent, there were some turbulents and he heard some older kids ahead of him saying, "This is scary" and "Oh, that was fun!"  He joined in with, "Whoa mom, that was fun!" but he said it in a voice that sounded a little bit worried!  It was pretty cute, he made Mr. Bear sit inside his seat belt and he talked Mr. Bear out of being scared.

It was a great first plane ride!