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June 8, 2004
Michael’s First Vacation :)
May 19 – 26, 2004
Day 1 – May 19th
We got up bright and early to leave the house by 6AM. I finished packing the night before and everything was already in the car. We left right around 6:10 which was pretty impressive for us and relatively on-time :) Michael was wide awake as we kept telling him we were going to up in the sky in an airplane to see his Grandma Florida. He was all smiles and giggles. We drove to my Dad’s house and Grandma Nikki drove us to the airport. Michael enjoyed this time with Grandma and was particularly upset that she was not getting out of the car once we got to the airport. We did curb side check with our two bags and proceeded inside. We arrived at the airport about 1 ½ hour before our 9:35AM flight out on American. Getting through security was tricky as we had two laptops with us, a car seat, stroller and three carry on bags. Michael did well and walked through security quickly. We realized quickly that this was not the best option as there was no adult on the other side and he quickly started to walk off. After beeping once I walked through security. DH had to almost undress to get through :) Security did not like the contents of my purse and pulled me aside to a separate area where they took the entire contents out and scrutinized it. All was clear and we were on our way! I wanted a Cinnabon badly and of course we realized quickly that our terminal did not have one in it! Michael enjoyed walking up and down the terminal, looking at the planes and just checking out the new surroundings. DH was able to board early and get the car seat installed. I tried without much success to carry two bags on and the child. Michael proceeded to have a melt down when we were in line and lie on the floor screaming. He quickly go over it and was a complete gentleman when we got on saying “Up in the Sky on the Airplane” to everyone he passed by! As we started to taxi and take off Michael became more and more aggravated as the plane was not going up in the sky. We finally took off and he was happy and clapping watching the cars and roads become smaller quickly. About 20 minutes into the flight he fell quickly to sleep without much help as the excitement and the early morning rise took to him. He woke up about 30 minutes before we landed and was grinning from ear to ear. He was a dream on the plane! We arrived in Tampa and were the last to get off the plane. Michael wished every passenger a fond goodbye as they walked past him. We arrived shortly after 1 PM. We make it to baggage claim and our bags were already circling and we found them right away. Out one door and across the street smelling the Florida air to get to our rental car was quick and easy. We were given a Tan Chevy Impala which Michael quickly referred to for the entire trip as “Bumpy Car”.
We hooked up our GPS and programmed in Kennedy Space Station as there was a launch that afternoon. We made a wrong turn and ended up driving over one of the large bridges in Tampa (I think it was the St. Pete bridge), but corrected ourselves and started our 3 hour drive to Kennedy. We arrived around 4:30 PM for the scheduled launch at 5:50 PM. Perfect timing! We walked around after paying a minimum $10 each admission to see some of the exhibits and took some pictures. Michael fell in love with a small park area they have on site and played on the slides for about a ½ hour. We then wondered around deciding on the best viewing area and settled for the area where you board the bus tours. The speakers overhead started counting down for liftoff and about 4 minutes till lift-off it stopped. About 30 minutes later they came on and said the launch was rescheduled for about 45 minutes later. Finally we were able to see the launch. It was beautiful and amazing to see it so much earlier than to hear it! Michael had no real interest in the festivities and we decided to head back to Tampa to our hotel for the evening. We stayed at the Doubletree near Busch Gardens.
Day 2 – May 20th
We awoke relatively early on Thursday morning and DH had to work on some things for his office. I took the opportunity to get Michael in his swim trunks and head on down to the pool. Michael showed no fear at all as he splashed and played in the water, not wanting to leave. DH joined us about 20 minutes later and Michael enjoyed “swimming” in the water and jumping into the pool.
We went up changed and checked out of the hotel. We made our way to breakfast at a place called Village Inn; they had delicious food and French Silk Pie, my favorite! We then made our way over to Busch Gardens.
We bought the two park pass for Busch Gardens and Sea World for roughly $90 per person. The bright side to all of this was Michael was free as children under 3 are free.
We made our way through the park in slow motion enjoying every bit of it. It was truly the first realization that we were actually on vacation without an agenda. We saw a ton of different animals and made our way through various wild bird exhibits. We rode the train ride and saw all the wild animals, including giraffes, and rhino’s. We played at Dinoland for an extended period of time as they had kiddie rides and a park for Michael to play at. I rode the flying dinosaurs with Michael and DH rode the eggs that went in a circle. We ate at a sit down restaurant that was near the middle of the park while Michael took a long nap in his stroller. We continued on through the rest of the park and left right around 6:30 that night. We called Grandma Florida to let her know we were on our way and she said that she had made dinner and couldn’t wait for our arrival. We stopped quickly and checked into our hotel a Comfort Inn in Sarasota, changed and made our way to my Mom’s house.
My Mom sprang out of the house before we were even parked in the driveway. We told Michael one more time that we were at Grandma Florida’s house and he ran right out of the car and mostly to her arms, and right past her into the house. He proceeded to run around the house saying hi to Grandpa Florida and Nanny. Michael’s Great Grandma arrived shortly after we arrived and Michael quickly warmed up to her as well. We sat down to a nice dinner of spaghetti and the Grandma Florida’s took turns spoiling Michael.
Day 3 – May 21st
We got up lazily and Ken finished some work. We headed over to my Mom’s house around 10AM after grabbing a quick bite to eat at the continental breakfast downstairs at our hotel. We got organized at Mom’s house and headed to Siesta Key beach with Grandma Florida, Great Grandma, DH, Michael and I. We stopped by downtown Siesta Key and had a bite to eat first at the Margarita Bar Restaurant; DH had his first Grouper sandwich ever.
After we finished eating we headed to the beach. It took forever to park at the public parking lot for Siesta Key, but it was worth the wait. This beach is the most beautiful beach I have ever been to. The sand was white and the consistency of powder, it was silky smooth. The ocean was also gorgeous and clear as day. You could be up to your waist in water and still see your feet. The water was a beautiful 80 degrees and perfect! Michael immediately took to the water and was having the time of his life! The only part he really did not enjoy the entire trip was the fact that we kept putting sun screen on him. He HATED it. Michael and Grandma Florida hit the water, and played. She was lifting him and he was playing in the waves. She kept saying her comes a wave and finally Michael looked at her very confused and waved his hand. He never did understand that they were called waves, just like you wave your hand, and called them wheels the entire trip. After playing in the ocean for about 25 minutes Michael took to the sand and started to play with his buckets and shovels. DH and I went out into the ocean and just relaxed. It was so nice to be able to have someone else watch Michael and be able to enjoy ourselves. We stayed at the beach for a little more than an hour and decided to head back to my Mom’s house. When we arrived we jumped into the pool (to clean off of course!) and had a nice relaxing afternoon.
Later that evening we went to dinner at a restaurant called Coasters. This restaurant is near a bridge and the view of the water during sunset was amazing. We walked along the boardwalk while we waited for our table. Everyone went to dinner, Grandma, Great Grandma, Grandpa, Nanny, DH, me, Michael and even Nanny’s boyfriend. It was a pleasure to meet him as well.
After dinner we hit the local frozen custard place for a little ice-cream before heading back to my Mom’s house for a little more relaxation.
Day 4 – May 22nd
We once again arrived at my Mom’s house about 9:30 AM. This morning my brother Karl was coming in from the west coast to meet Michael from the 1st time. Michael fell in love immediately and they bonded. We took Michael back to the beach with both Grandmas’ while my brother went and played golf. We returned to the house and my Mom planned to watch Michael that afternoon/evening. DH and I headed back to the hotel to get showered and changed.
DH and I decided to make the 1 hour trip to Tampa to visit the new Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. We ate dinner at their restaurant Floyds and had a wonderful meal! I had the Floyds salad which was beyond delicious!, and DH had an awesome filet. After we ate we headed to the casino to play for a while, we were down about $150 when DH won a $450 jackpot! YEAH! We ended up walking out of the casino about $250 ahead as we fed back some of our winnings into the machines!
We arrived back into Tampa to find Michael completely smitten with Karl and my Mom, having the time of their lives :)
Day 5 – May 23rd
Where is the time going! This vacation was going much too quick by now! This morning we were expecting my Aunt Leslie to arrive. Michael once again took to her quickly. We headed to the beach with Leslie, Grandma, Great Grandma, Ken, Michael and I. Have I mentioned that we all loved this beach! Every day it seemed more gorgeous than the day before! Michael and Leslie played on the beach and had a wonderful time! After an hour or two we once again made our way back to my Mom’s house. She was happy to take Michael for a while again and we made our way to St. Armand’s Circle to so some site seeing. We also went and saw Lido Beach. We spoke to a real estate agent while we were down there to see what housing prices were like and were surprised to realize they are just as bad as where we are. I think part of that has to do with the area we were looking at as well!
We met everyone for dinner at Applebee’s that evening and had a wonderful meal! After dinner everyone said their goodbyes and we headed back to Mom’s house for a little while. Michael just loved their pool and his favorite pastime had become cleaning the leaves out of their pool with the net. He had become very proficient at it as well and would scoop out the leaf, turn the net over and hit it on the deck to get the leaf off and start all over again!
We promised my Mom as the night grew to a close that we would stop by her office before heading out of town tomorrow.
Day 6 – May 24th
It was a lazy day and we didn’t get started till about 11 AM after finishing packing to move to our next destination. We ate a breakfast/lunch at the Village Inn in Sarasota and went to Siesta Key trying to find some shirts and souvenirs. Around 2:00 we headed towards my Mom’s work to say Hi and Goodbye. She showed us around her office and walked out back out front. She quickly kissed Michael goodbye and headed back in before she could start to cry. It was bittersweet as we had had such a good time. We are already planning another vacation and can’t wait to get back soon! What a beautiful place to live!
We drove to Orlando and checked into our newest hotel. The Doubletree at the Entrance to Universal Studios. It was a very nice hotel and appeared to have a beautiful pool! We never did use it.
We did some tourist stuff and drove through the outlet malls. We found a Waterford outlet and I bought a set of bar glasses that match my collection. Thanks honey :)
We headed to dinner at a restaurant called the Aussie Steakhouse and it was awesome! They brought bread that was covered in garlic, oil and red pepper flakes, it was the best thing I had had in a very long time! Then came dinner and it only got better! I ordered the smothered chicken and let me tell you this was by far one of the best meals I have ever eaten. At this point I wished we had a fridge in our room so I could have taken the leftovers with me! Michael was a bit cranky but we chocked it up to being in the car all day. We decided to play miniature golf and Michael was having a good time, although was not listening or very patient. This course was also not designed for a toddler with lots of water and streams that you needed to hit your ball around. We ended up having to go ahead of the group in front as Michael was about to melt down. We continued back to our hotel after the golf and as we pulled into the parking lot Michael threw up, all over himself and his car seat. Poor baby wasn’t feeling good at all. Stupid Mommy had left his diaper bag up in the room, but luckily his blanket was in the car. I stripped him down and wrapped him up and took him upstairs to be cleaned off. During this time he never felt warm or really acted sick and after he threw up he was acting completely normal again. He threw up once more in the middle of the night, but otherwise acted completely normal. We are assuming that a combination of the excitement, non normal routine, heat, and car ride just made him feel really icky.
Day 7 – May 25th
We awoke and were quite lazy even though we had planned to go to Sea World that day. I think we were just trying to make sure that Michael was healthy enough to go. He appeared good and we decided to head down and do breakfast. He ate a little and drank some and we decided that we would head to the park and if he got sick we would just leave.
It was a hotter day than we had been having with a high of about 94. Michael was in pretty good spirits as we told him we were going to go see big fishes. As we got into the park we noticed that they had an offer to come back free the next day and we immediately signed up, especially not knowing if Michael would make it all day or not. Michael was asleep as soon as he hit the stroller and slept for about an hour. We saw many of the exhibits including the sting rays and sea lion show. One of the exhibits the manatees had a small movie that you watch first and Michael seemed a bit freaked out with the lights dimmed. We went to lunch and had the $8 piece of pizza (CRAZY) and Michael pigged out on some watermelon! Outside of the restaurant was a small area that had a fountain that overflowed onto the pavement and some water spouts that squirted water into the air. Michael had a blast playing in the water and becoming completely soaking wet. I truly think this was the highlight of Sea World for him! We continued to tour the park and saw the penguins, and water show. We decided to head out early for a dinner outside of the park as it was starting to get warm anyway.
We ate a restaurant called the Black Angus Steakhouse and let me tell you it was AWFUL. The service sucked (no refills, never saw our waitress and when we did she wasn’t very polite), and the food was not the quality I would have expected for the price we paid. We should have gone back to the Aussie Steakhouse! After dinner we went to several souvenir shops and then we went to the upside down house. It’s basically a house they built upside down that has weird things in it that you can do. The house creeks really loudly on the outside and Michael nicknamed this creaky house and talks about it all the time! We found out that it would take about 2 hours to get through and it was to late for that so we called it a night a little earlier than normal and went back to the hotel for Ken to do some work and for me to start packing.
Day 8 – May 26th
Our last day in paradise. We woke up somewhat early and I finished packing up our stuff. Turns out that with the few items that we bought during our trip, we were in definite need of another suitcase.
We headed back over to Sea World that morning and with only having to pay for parking $8 we wondered around for about 3 hours. Michael was in a great mood that day and thoroughly enjoyed himself! We went to a show that showcases dogs, cats, and a pig among some other normal animals and Michael really enjoyed this show. He switched back and forth on our laps but did watch the entire show intently. This was the only show he really sat through and all the other shows including the dolphins and Shamu he was fidgety and wanted to leave. We left Sea World around 12:30ish and headed for lunch. We decided to eat at a restaurant and not pay the park’s prices for food, not to mention it was hot at about 95-96 out. We ate a Bahama Breezes and had a great meal. During our trip because we were eating out so much, Michael would get impatient waiting towards the end of the meal. Ken taught him that we were “Waiting for the Bill” and Michael now repeats “waiting for da bill” whenever we have to wait for something. It’s really cute!
After lunch we headed over to a local Target store and bought a new duffle bag rolling suitcase and some sippy cups as I had lost all of our disposable ones during the trip. We quickly repacked the car so we would be ready once we got to the airport.
We had a few hours to kill so I decided that we should drive over to Disney to get a look at the park and maybe some of the resorts. This was a very bad decision. We got to that side of Orlando and started following the signs. Turns out that once you get so far they make you pay for parking!!!! And to make matters worse, once you get up there, there really is no way to turn around!!!! So we get to the toll booth and we quickly explain to the guy that this isn’t where we want to be and we need to leave the Disney area. Luckily he didn’t make us pay, and we decided to just head to the airport and hang out there for a little while.
We arrived at the airport and unloaded our car and headed to our terminal. The line was about 20 minutes long to get our boarding passes and to check our luggage. We then headed through security again, this time both DH and I were barefoot, and our shoes traveled through the x-ray machine. We made it through and to our gate, checked that our flight would depart on time and went back to the food area. They had Cinnabon so I got myself one, and then I headed back to get Michael some chicken nuggets from the Burger King.
American was not at all accommodating on our way home and did not let DH pre-board to put the car seat in first so we had to board at the same time. What a joke!!!!!!! Michael was awake during our flight and watched Dora for most of the trip. We bought the $2 ear phones from AA and plugged them into the laptop so he could hear the show and for the most part he wore them contently. He started to get really cranky about 40 minutes before we landed rubbing his ears and crying. We took him out of his seat and he snuggled with Daddy almost falling asleep. We got him back into his seat about 15 minutes before we landed, and before we knew it we were home.
Grandma Nikki and Grandpa Rich picked us up at the airport and Michael told them all about the trip on the way home :)
We had an awesome vacation and I can’t wait to do it again real soon!
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