Orlando

It was our first attempt at a real "vacation" since little Drew has been in our life. We've gone on other trips, but this was slotted to be a little rest & relaxation getaway. We quickly figured out that "vacations" will no longer be like our pre-kid days! But, we had big fun even though there wasn't must resting or relaxing!

We started our trip with a stay at the Nickelodeon hotel in Orlando for a quick overnight stay. I found this hotel for a steal on hotels.com & thought it would be a fun place to spend the night before we could check into our "real" hotel. We ended up being a little sad to leave! We had so much fun on our brief stay there. There's really nothing like waking up and having a full water park right outside your front door. It's a kid's dream...and well, a grown-up's dream too.

The next day, we checked into our "real" hotel and played in the pool! Drew loved the splash fountain they had and would run around and stick his head over the fountains waiting for them to turn on and splash him in the face. On the walk back to our room, we found ducks swimming on the pond (which Drew ended up chasing, of course)! We headed to bed early that night to rest up for our big day at Disney!

We arrived at Magic Kingdom about 10:30 in the morning. It was humid & hot and we had no idea how Drew was going to react. It was a morning full of excitement for Andrew & me as we were revisiting one of the happiest places on earth! The first few hours of heat & lines were a little taxing on Drew, but he loved riding the Tea Cups and the Dumbo ride. We were all a little hot and cranky before lunch. But, we managed to get lunch reservations at the Liberty Tree Tavern. After some good food and an hour in the air conditioning, we were ready to tackle the madness again. Actually, lines weren't too bad, the weather got a little better after lunch, and Drew absolutely loved all of the rides! It was a fun day.

The next day we decided to introduce Drew to the beach. After playing in the pool in the morning, we drove about an hour and a half over to Clearwater Beach, Florida. The area was great with lots of restaurants along the beach and even a covered playground for the tiny tots! Drew wasn't real sure about the sand at first. He stepped into the sand at the playground area and cried while trying to shake sand out of his sandals. But once we went to the beach and let him dig up sand with his shovel, he loved it! He also liked the saltwater and jumping the waves.

The last full day we were there we managed to squeeze in a little relaxation! We spent the morning at the pool playing with Drew. He was showing all the signs of needing a nap, and we decided to chance it and see if he'd sleep in a chair by the pool. Sure enough, he sacked out for a good hour! Andrew and I got to lounge and read a book for a little while. It was great.

After nap time was over, we decided to head to Sea World. Drew loved the aquariums. He'd point at fish and say the cutest "oohh..."! There was even a petting tank where you could get up close & personal with the sting rays! Fun. We saw dolphins, sharks, penguins, sting rays, manatees, and even made the big Shamu show at the end of the day. What a great trip!