Holiday Vacation So Far

We decided to leave a day early for our vacation!!  We headed to Seattle and spent the night with Carolyn at Jonathan and Laura's house.  Was fun to visit with them again!!  Thanks for accommodating us!!!

We spent each night this week in a different bed.  Monday was in our own beds at home, Tuesday was at Jon and Laura's, Wednesday was at Cammy's house in Columbia, Thursday was at Cammy's condo on Hilton Head Island, and Friday was at our rental house in Orlando, Fl!

We arrived at Cammy's house in Columbia.  Their dog, Lola, is expecting puppies any time now!

Karaoke!

Our first day in SC we went to the zoo.

Tristan in the kangaroo habitat.

There were several people feeding this giraffe lettuce when we walked up.  When they were done the giraffe came over and tried to bite or lick Owen!!!  It was crazy!  I think the giraffe thought his jacket was a big piece of lettuce.  This picture was taken just as Jason pulled Owen away from the giraffe.

He was intrigued by the fish swimming past his nose.

Mom and Dad came later that night and the next morning we headed down to Orlando, FL where we rented a house for 6 days.  We got a really good deal on 4-day tickets to Walt Disney World, so that's what we did.  Saturday we went to Magic Kingdom, Sunday we went to meetings, Monday we went to Hollywood Studios, Tuesday was Epcot, and Wednesday was Animal Kingdom before bible study.  It was  a lot of fun!  We know the boys probably won't remember being there, but they were at the perfect age to totally enjoy it!  They just absorbed everything around them!  It's been 11 years since I was last there, and I forgot how kid-friendly it really is!  All the boys got to go on most of the rides!  There were a few rides that only the adults enjoyed, but for the most part the boys were with us all the time!

Wade climbed in bed with his Uncle Garrett.

Disney World: "The happiest place on earth" was pretty wet in the morning when we were there.  It actually was fine as it really kept the lines short!!!  We found that our Fast Passes didn't really save us any time!

Owen liked the gophers popping up on the Winnie the Pooh ride.

Race cars!

Sarah was so patient with the boys!  She played games with them and let them monopolize her computer!

Cammy, Garrett, Mom, and Dad also were great about watching the boys while we took turns on the roller coasters!  It really is a vacation when you have people to help you with the kids!!!

Our favorite part of Animal Kingdom was the safari!  Riding in a jeep and looking at all the animals was amazing!  Cammy, Garrett, Mom, and Dad leave in a couple of weeks to visit Kale and Jaspar in South Africa, so this safari was a good warm-up for them!

Other than the cost of our tickets, Disney didn't get a dime from us.  Enjoying sandwiches outside of the monkey habitat.

The Bugs Life show inside this tree was another favorite.

On the way back to SC, we went to Daytona Beach and drove down the beach.

Welcome to the Florida Beach!!!! BRRRRR!  :)  As you probably know, the South is having record low temperatures!  We had some 75 degree days in Orlando, but the wind on the coast made it a pretty cold day at the beach!

This is the beach at Cammy and Garrett's condos.  We found all sorts of crabs, jellyfish, shells, etc.

Uncle Garrett plays on a rugby team, so the boys were excited to wear their rugby shirts and throw the ball around. 

The resort where Cammy and Garrett live has very strict rules, and seeing that the resort is pretty empty this time of year we were definitely noticed.  We were hanging out by the pool at the resort and we had the boys in and out of the hot tub.  A security guard came and told us that you had to be 12 years or older in order to be in the hot tub.  That's a normal rule for the hot tub, so we took the boys out.  A bit later, I was sitting on the side of the hot tub holding Wade who was wrapped in a towel sleeping.  Jason was standing in the hot tub and holding Owen wrapped in a towel as well.  Neither boy was even touching water and the security guard came down and handed us a $100 citation!!!!  Isn't that crazy????  We tried to explain the kids hadn't been in the hot tub since we were warned, but they just told us that we would have to appeal the ticket.  My sis and bro have had lots of ridiculous citations like this.  I think the security guards have a little too much time on their hands!!! 

Yesterday we went to Savannah and had dinner with some of the friends.  We stayed the night there and then travelled to the convention grounds in Metter, GA for a Winter Special Meeting.  It was wonderful!  This week we have birthdays, sailing, fishing, etc to enjoy!