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Three times. That is the number of times I have traveled to Orlando and visited Disney since the Characters in Flight balloon ride opened up.
Three times. That is the number of times I have tried to fulfill a dream of mine and get in a hot air balloon again. Albeit, oversized, tethered and not really the same feeling as flying over the Grand Canyon, it is still a hot air balloon…or a version of it.
Three times. That is the number of times it has been closed. All three times. Once for pouring down rain, once for lightning in the distance, and once for wind conditions.
Maybe next time we go, Characters in Flight will be open.
Stop by Mother of All Trips to see the beautiful place she is dreaming about!
My 3 year old daughter can spy a carousel a mile away. Before the carousel is even in sight, it is like she has a 6th sense…the carousel sense. She can hear that distinct sound that immediately makes you think of carousels. She can see the beautifully painted “horsies” spinning around in a circle. We have been on carousels all over the world, however this is a perfect time to remind myself that I need to sit down and organize years worth of digital pictures that are in folders with names like Mem Card 1 or New Folder217 instead of Washington DC and Vienna, Austria! Of the many carousels we have been on, here are a few of the pictures that I could find!
The carousel in Washington DC on the Mall (and possibly the fastest we have been on!)
Little S can find carousels in shopping malls too! This is the carousel at Pier Park in Panama City Beach, FL.
Did you know there was a carousel at Downtown Disney? We have been to Downtown Disney three times but this last time was the first with my daughter. I hadn’t seen a carousel before, but she has no problem finding it! (And this is probably the slowest carousel we have been on)
This carousel in Hampton, Virginia is located next to the Virginia Air and Space Center. We were leaving the museum and much to my surprise my daughter took off towards this building. That is her at the very front!
This is what we found inside the building!
Carousels, parks, and water features are things that my kids can spot a million miles away when we are traveling. What do your kids always tend to locate?
Stop by DeliciousBaby to see where everyone else is traveling this week!
Poseidon is angry.
Whenever I see the ocean looking grumpy like this, it always makes me think of my favorite piece of literature, The Odyssey. In the Odyssey, Odysseus maims Polyphemos, the cyclop and son of Poseidon. This angers Poseidon and he makes Odysseus’ return home a long and difficult journey. These waves might not look like much compared to other parts of the world, but these waves are a sign that Poseidon is angry.
We spent Sunday afternoon at Pensacola Beach cleaning up trash, debris and large shell pieces along with hundreds of other people. It was amazing to me how many people were at the beach on an awful day like Sunday. The wind was blowing and there were so many clouds in the sky that they formed one big cloud cover. The mood was heavy as people picked up trash and debris with their trash bags whipping around them in the wind. Families were snapping pictures of toes in the sand and the water crashing behind them. The seafood restaurants had lines out the door all day long. Everyone wanting to eat that last Gulf caught meal…just in case.
Big S, who just finished an Earth Day unit in school, announced that we were doing a good thing for the “Erf” and Little S was fascinated with all of the pieces of driftwood and large shell pieces.
We collected a bag of trash and a bag of shell pieces. Some of the debris was probably still leftover from Hurricane Ivan over five years ago. As my children ran around innocent of what was going to happen in the next few days, my heart was breaking.
My kids love the beach. The sand, the water, the seafood whisper my children’s names like some pied piper. We can be grocery shopping or doing something else completely different from a day at the beach and suddenly one child will ask when we will return to the beach. Is it warm enough, mom? We don’t even have to go in the water, mom. Can we just go for a walk on the sand, mom? Do you remember when we saw all those fiddler crabs, mom? As I watched my children run around, pick up trash and shells, all I could think about was whether or not we took full advantage of living near these beautiful beaches and the fact that there is a chance that we will not be spending the summer traveling to and from the beach as I had thought.
The impending doom is much like it was during Hurricane Ivan. How bad will it be? Who and what will be affected? As I write this, no one is exactly certain how this area with be affected.
If you would like to help, there are several ways. Continue to pick up trash and debris from the beach before the oil slick reaches us. BRACE, United Way and First Call are organizing volunteers for cleanup after the oil reaches the shores. There is more information on how to volunteer here and here.
Stop by Mara’s at Mother of All Trips to see what others are dreaming of.
I had a Disney post ready to go for this Photo Friday. Then, I drove past this today…
The Gulf Coast is preparing, watching, waiting…
Stop by DeliciousBaby to see other Photo Friday participants.
A few weeks ago, we went to Bellingrath Gardens. I wrote about our experience here, but wanted to share this photo with you in honor of Photo Friday! These beautiful Southern Belles wear these dresses, petticoats and all, in the ridiculous humidity and heat of the spring and summer. You can read about the standards of the Azalea Trail Maid dresses. I wish the gentleman in the front hadn’t been in my perfect shot, but I think it shows a little bit of new and old charm! These girls represent true Southern charm and hospitality! Those are the azaleas blooming all over the background. It was an amazing sight to see.
So much for the House of Mouse. We are all geared up to make a trip to Orlando and Big S has to go break his collar bone!!! This week, my little man fell and broke his collar bone. We are still making the trip to Orlando for other reasons, but we have to significantly change our itinerary for this trip. No amusement parks, no wild and crazy running around, no fun as far as he is concerned.
So I am asking for my readers’ help. Leave a comment in this blog with all of your free and cheap Orlando activity favorites!
When my husband and I were still dating, he took me to Panama City to see his stomping grounds. One of the things that I remember most about that trip was running through the Gran Maze at Coconut Creek Family Fun Center like teenagers…heck…we were barely in our twenties at this point! Now that our kids are old enough to enjoy exploring the maze, we took them out there during our Easter visit.
A little fun fact about Big and Little S — they love mazes. They can complete a maze quicker than you would imagine, like a little mouse sniffing out the cheese at the end of the maze! We have been to several corn mazes and ran around for hours. They are ecstatic when we go on a road trip and I bring out a new maze book and when we go to out to eat they are hugely disappointed if the children’s menu doesn’t have a maze on it. We knew they would love this and it did not disappoint!
The Gran Maze at Coconut Creek is about the size of a football field. They change the maze around on a regular basis so even if you go often, it is different!
The object is to enter the maze at the starting point and then work your way to four different stations, punch your card and then find your way out of the maze.
The quickest completion time on the board was either 9 or 15 minutes (I am sorry…I can’t remember!). We completed it in 54 minutes. We did pretty well but got stuck in one section and seemed to be going around in circles. And circles. And more circles. Eventually we found our way to the next station but only after Daddy S did some reconnoitering.
Throughout the maze are these funny little signs that also help to tell you if you are still going in circles!
At the very end, Little S gave up. Luckily all around the outside walls of the maze, you will find doors so we made our escape through there and headed up to the observation tower to watch Big S, dad and grandpa finish the maze.
I believe the maze is open at night as well making it a little bit more difficult and spooky. We liked the fact that the maze walls do not go all the way to the ground making it less claustrophobic than a corn maze. At Gran Maze, children under 6 play free so this was ideal for us. We got to explore a Panama City attraction and only purchase adult tickets. I advise you to have water, sunglasses and a hat with you if you are completing the maze. It gets HOT in there. We were there the first weekend in April and by the time we were finished we were all sweating! I can’t imagine what it is like in July or August.
This post is part of DeliciousBaby’s Photo Friday. Be sure to stop by and see where everyone is traveling.
Over at Traveling Mom, I am talking about traveling without my kids. As you know, the husband and I have a trip to Hawaii planned for our ten year anniversary SANS kids! We are nervous, excited, and feeling unprepared all at the same time. Besides making sure our wills are in order and leaving our insurance cards and a schedule, what sorts of things do you recommend we do to prepare for our trip? I would love a comment on my article at Traveling Mom with your advice on preparing for the trip.
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of St Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches, Florida. All opinions are 100% mine.
The last time we were in St. Augustine , my husband and I had only been married for a few years and we were sans kids. Since then, we have been to Jacksonville many times but haven’t made that extra thirty or forty minute drive to St. Augustine. My husband and I will be celebrating our ten year anniversary this summer and while our big anniversary trip is planned for October, we are heading to St. Augustine in July for a quick weekend to celebrate. It is perfect for us because we can be there in less than six hours and we can drop the kids off with family in Panama City on the way there!
Because we are not the Bed and Breakfast type couple (but there are some amazing ones right in the middle of the historic district), we would love to stay in an oceanfront room at the Ponte Vedra Beach Resorts.
After a morning walk on the beach with our coffee in hand, we would get ready to explore the sites. For my history buff husband, we would first head to the Castillo de San Marcos and the oldest wooden schoolhouse in the USA. After exploring this area, I would want to find somewhere to eat lunch. One thing I remember most about my trip is that we had the best bread pudding at this amazing restaurant. The BEST bread pudding. Ever. I can’t remember the name of the restaurant but can vaguely remember a bit about it. We were seated on the second floor and it was off of a main square. I hope to locate this restaurant and engorge myself on the bread pudding.
After lunch, we will head to Flagler College to wander the campus and take pictures. I have been reading about architecture photography and I would like to put some of my newly acquired skills to use. Before nightfall, I would want to head to the St. Augustine Lighthouse to take some pictures of the sun setting around it!
(photo by Dave in the Triad)
Have you been to St. Augustine? Please leave a comment in this post if you have because I would love any recommendations of things that we should do or see! Plan your own St. Augustine romantic weekend away.
Most of you are just trying to find signs of spring right now, but down here in the South we are already seeing signs of summer. Today I actually turned my air conditioner on because it was so humid in the house. When we drive to Panama City on Highway 98, there is a small bridge that you cross to get into Destin, Florida. From that bridge you can see Crab Island, a small underwater island where boats congregate. The island ranges from two to ten feet deep and during the summer there are boat vendors and a small barge that sell ice cream, hamburgers, and other food. We make this drive to Panama City at least once a season and I love looking for the boats. In the dead of winter, sometimes you won’t see a single boat. In the fall and spring, you will see a handful of boats. But you know when summer is knocking on our door just trying to push her way through because the island area is full of boats. In the heat of summer, it is usually packed out with hundreds of boats. To me, when I see this many boats at Crab Island it is a sure sign that summer is on her way!
Stop by DeliciousBaby for Photo Friday.
