Our Vacation with Friends in ORLANDO!!! (This is a LONG one...LOTS of pictures!)

The end of June, we were very honored and privileged to be guests of my friend, Kristin, and her sister, Becky, at Becky's gorgeous home in a suburb of Orlando. We flew down and Zoie was so great on the planes...we had window seats and she loved watching us take off and seeing the clouds outside - I wish I would have thought to take a couple of pics on the flights but I had my hands kind of full!! She also liked playing with the air vents and lights above our seats! Light on, light off, light on, etc... I tried to time the flights so that she might want to nap or sleep and that worked out well too! Kristin and her husband, David, were there to greet as at the Orlando airport (at 1:30 in the morning!), we gathered our luggage and went to Becky's where a very comfy bed was waiting for us - and about that time, we needed it!

Kristin's mom, Paula, and her husband, Ralph, were there for the first couple days of our visit...I think it's the first time I've seen Paula in over 10 years and it was great to see her and meet Ralph - very nice guy! One of the fun things we did was, of course, go to the mall and shop a little! Ha! It wasn't actually anything too extensive (or expensive!), but they did have some fun little rides for the kids and then Kristin, her boys, Brendan & Josh, and Zoie and I went to dinner at a place call Mimi's restaurant...it was very good!





Most of what we did on 'vacation' was just veg out & relax at Becky's house...she has a lovely screened-in pool so there were no bugs and the weather really wasn't that hot or oppressing. We had a rain shower here and there but nothing too major. The space shuttle kept trying to land while we were there but couldn't due to the clouds, etc., so it landed in California. Zoie loved the water and while down in Florida, I bought her a little water buggy to use in the pool.









She had fun being in the water, around the water and just outside in general! It was great spending time with Kristin and each other's kids! Who woulda thunk it 30 years ago that here we'd be having a cold one by the pool while our kids played together!? Really a blessing! Zoie also liked Becky's very open and spacious home (so did Mommy! hee hee) with the tile floors that her bare feet and shoes made noise on.


And Zoie was fun for our entertainment too, as one evening, Becky and I put Becky's wig on her...it was hilarious and Zoie didn't mind the wig a bit...she just went on playing while she had this long hair on...it was a riot! Oh, and we had one very special visitor...I call him Becko's Gecko...keeping watch over us all from the moulding high above (he was fine as long as that's where he stayed!).



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ THE BEACH!!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Yes, on a lovely Saturday afternoon, we packed up sandwiches, cookies, & drinks in the cooler (Kristin did most of that!), beach toys, hats, sunglasses, an umbrella, towels, sunscreen, etc. and headed to Cocoa Beach, Florida!!!




On the way to the beach, I played a game with the boys to see who could find the vehicle I described first...they both did great and I gave them $.25 for each answer they got right and whattya know, they both ended up with a dollar a piece! Very even competition if I say so myself! We also passed Port Canaveral on the road into the Cocoa Beach area...this is where Disney, Royal Caribbean and Carnival cruises set sail from...and Kristin & David as well as my mom, her friend, Jim, and I have all boarded cruises there at different times so that was neat to see together. We were all feeling the 'cruise bug' as we saw the ship that was docked! Once we got to the area we were looking for, we parked, got all our gear and found a nice spot on the beach...there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun was a-blazin'! We were all dancing on the sand as it fried our feet! After we all got basted with sunscreen (except me...oops!), the boys and David headed straight to the water and those guys had no fear! They were diving into the waves and letting them carry them wherever! They're braver than I am! They all made a valiant attempt at constructing a respectable sand castle as well.



Naturally, I was so excited to share the beach experience with Zoie that I was going picture crazy on her! I took her down to the shore and put her down, and she was ok for a minute then got a little frightened by the surf, so I picked her back up! She sure did look really small next to that big ocean! We then had our little picnic - bologna sandwiches, chips, water/sodas, and chocolate chip cookies! Zoie loved the Doritos!






^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Downtown Disney ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Our last adventure of the trip was a visit to Downtown Disney - the area of shops, entertainment, and restaurants outside the actual Disney World. They have a spitting Stitch from Lilo & Stitch who squirts water on passers-by at intervals...there were kids just waiting to be "spit" on! We also saw Cinderella's Carriage on one store...so beautiful! And they also have a LEGO land with large LEGO creatures and little stations where kids can create their own LEGO masterpieces!



We ate dinner at a Cuban restaurant called Bongos - it's owned by singer Gloria Estefan and the food was delicious, which made up for the rude hostesses! While we were in the restaurant, quite the downpour started...and by the time we left it had been reduced to a light sprinkling so we got lucky there.

After dinner we walked around some more stopping at a store that has a replica of the Magic Castle, next at the Rainforest Cafe and then a toy store - with lots of characters from a Toy Story, and some other photo opps. Kristin took the kids on a train ride - which they all loved!! We were all pretty tired at that point and headed back to the hacienda for a good night's siesta!






Our trip home was a long one with a delay out of Orlando, missing our connection in Dallas and then sitting in the plane on the tarmac in Dallas for almost 3 hours, but we finally made it back to Omaha and Grandma Doxon & Lindsay were waiting for us! It was a GREAT trip, and I really want to thank Kristin and Becky for all of their hospitality and generosity and for a memory filled vacation! We love you guys!!