Orlando vacation 2011 day two

 After a really good night's rest we all woke up and my Dad was at our side making us breakfast! My Dad loves to cook, and we love to eat, so it was a match made for little Jack when he saw what was on his plate...  

 After eating there were some more surprises from Edith and my Dad, they had a car-shaped box filled with Cars 2 talking cars, including Jack's favorite Mater! He took those cars and planted himself in the middle of the living room and made us all do races with him. Cutest thing ever and he was one happy little boy!

 Kisses and thank you!

 Once the sun came out there was no guessing what we would do next, the pool was first on Jack's agenda!

 The weather was really nice while we were at the pool, but Florida is known to have afternoon rain showers, which we got caught in a few times. It started to sprinkle so we headed up to the room to put Jack down for a nap.  On our walk back there were tiny lizards that would run in front of you. A few of them were kind enough to stop for Jack, and he wanted desperately to make new friends.

 He didn't quite understand why they would run away and would say "whereditgo".. it always took us a while to walk back, but that's ok we were on vacation time. :)

Jack went down for his only nap on the entire trip. Jack is usually a great sleeper and loves to take a nap, but Florida just had too much to see. So after he woke up we went to Downtown Disney to go check out all the fun stores and interactive areas. It's free to go but we all know there is nothing free about anything with "Disney" in the name! It was worth the time though and it was fun for us all.

First stop was the Disney Magic Store which had all the main character items for sale and it was huge! Jack was in awe and looking everywhere and touching everything.

 Then we strolled over to our favorite store... Lego

Outside they had the coolest Lego displays set up and Jack was so curious that at first he didn't want to go inside because he was too busy studying the Legos.. but once we got him inside he was in Lego heaven!

 We found this super cool room that had a giant free-for-all Lego table. These Legos were soooo small, I don't remember them being that little but Jack figured them out fast enough and was building and concentrating really hard :)

 Papa trying to help find the good pieces to add to his masterpiece

We all thought the Lego store was pretty cool but then it just kept going and the stores were so neat! They were hands on for the kids and it was nice that Jack was able to touch whatever he wanted.

Next up we all went over to the T-Rex restaurant/store. This place was jammmed pack! It had giant motorized life-like dinos inside, at first Jack wasn't a fan but by the time we left he was kicking and screaming not to leave. We had so much food back at the Villa and the lines were bananas here so we decided not to stay and eat but we walked around and took our time checking it out.

 Then it was over to Team Mickey, which was everything sports.

Our last stop was the Mr. Potato head store,

where Papa and Jack put together their own version of Mr. P

 What a fun day with and so much more to come - up next is Day three, it was "magical"!

So many great pictures to share tomorrow, can't wait!

Orlando vacation 2011 Day One

Our Labor Day vacation to Orlando to visit Papa King was magical! We had such a great time with my Dad and his family, and it all went by just way too quickly, but I snapped a ton of pictures so I'm happy that I can put into pictures our time together!

We woke up on Saturday morning bright and early and headed to the airport. Kevin and I were both nervous about the flight, but this was not Jack's first time on a plane, as we went to Hawaii at 4 months and Montana at 1 year. So we knew a few tricks to keep him busy! 

Good thing we got there early because Jack was Mr. Independent and wanted to walk on his own!

He loved the moving walkways. 

Early morning for us all, but seeing the airplane up close was "wow cool" for Jackson!

One of our tricks is for Kevin to go on first on the pre board and set up the car seat and then text me when he was ready for us to come on down. I think the stewardess thought Jack and I were traveling as a duo and she was so incredibly helpful getting all my stuff down the jet way, she then asked if Jack wanted to check out the cockpit! I of course said yes for him and the pilots were nice and even let Jack touch a few buttons, eek! 

A+ for Continental Airlines!

We finally found our seats got settled and off we went.

This picture is funny, the people behind us don't seem as happy as us...but I assure you this little love was one angel on the plane!

He was happy as a clam due to the fact there was the following: 

1. TV right in front of him

2. Tons of new random cheap $1 store toys/puzzles to check out

3. Unlimited use of the MobiGo & iPad

4. Snacks galore

Our flight was direct from Houston to Orlando, and the first thing you see when you come into the Orlando airport is a giant Mickey! Jack was not interested in taking a picture.. Mom pleeeeeease get out of the way so I can see this giant Mickey Mouse!

We really tried to pack light but we still had a lot to carry. My Dad rented a large SUV so that we would have more room...but let's just say we were packed like the Griswold's! I'm so sad that I did not get a picture of it, but because we had luggage for 6 people, we had stuff tied to the roof!! Awesome!

Thank gosh the resort was only 15 minutes away!

The drive was short to the resort and I can't say enough wonderful things about SPG Vacation Villas!! Kevin's parents own in Hawaii and I used my persuasive skills to call the manager of the Orlando location and get us upgraded to the same level of ownership for free! If you are ever thinking about a vacation ownership, SPG is the way to go! Now that we have a child, staying in a hotel just isn't enough room. I love being able to feel like we are at home but with resort style amenities. It has always made for such easier travel and I'm all for that when you have a toddler along.

My Dad was so awesome, being that he lives an hour away from Orlando, he went grocery shopping for us. It was so nice to not have to bring a case of diapers or anything else than snacks for the plane. 

So the villa was fully stocked and ready to go!

Each balcony was screened in and had a great view of the pool, love!

 

This place is huge and has 4 or 5 different villages with 2 large pools. We had a double lock off, so we had two kitchens, two living rooms, 4 beds, and 2 baths. I'm pretty sure it was the same square footage of our house, which again was sooooo nice to just feel like we could kick up our feet and not be on top of each other. When we got tired we could go to our side and relax and same for my Dad and his family. 

When we wanted to eat, the food was there.

It was just perfect and we shall be back!

After lunch we suited up and headed to the pool, I wanted to check out the other pool too, but you will see why we never made it. Jack was in love with this pool and there was NO leaving it!

 

Ta-Da!! This is the reason...a toddler heaven, The Santa Maria! This pirate ship had cannons, slides, steering wheels & tunnels...Jack would not stop saying "Daddy turn, Mommy turn, Papa turn". Basically anyone that he could grab a hand with, it was your turn to take him down the slide. We loved every minute of it and I know my Dad looooved being able to take Jack as many times as he wanted. He wore us all out...but guess who didn't take a nap? Jack! He was so excited and was not interested in going to sleep.

Not only did Jack love having his Papa near, it was so nice to have family with us, as Kev and I were able to frequent the pool bar and relax a little more with the extra hands. :)

Daddy going down the big slide, which of course Jack really wanted to go down. 

Sorry love, not tall enough yet!

After hours of playing at the pool, I thought we were good to go inside, but someone spotted a playground, so we dried off and played some more! :)

We went back to home base and got ready for dinner.

 I told you baby boy was going strong while we were all wiped out! ha

My dad had cut up fresh veggies with beef tenderloin and chicken. So we worked to kabob them and went down to the grill to 'cue them!

  It was the perfect ending to an amazing first day of vacation. We had a yummy dinner and were all so thankful to be together! Big hugs were given and with that it was also nice to hit that pillow!

Day two was just as full and I will recap on tomorrows post!