April 4, 2009
It’s my turn. We got up pretty early today. Steve drove me to Cracker Barrel to have breakfast with Tifkie and her husband, David, and their son, Carter (the cutest 22 month old boy!!!). It was so nice to sit and chat with them and watch Carter. I couldn’t have a 2 year old again. I don’t have the patience to teach patience anymore. After they packed up the truck, the whole Miller crowd came to meet the Marshalls.

Cracker Barrel is cool. I’ve never been to one. I had great biscuits and hash brown casserole with my eggs. Everything is served with grits in Tennessee. I didn’t have any this time, but I am going to order some when we’re in Tennessee next time and I’ll make everybody try them. I love the big rocking chairs that line the outside of the store. If anybody has money sitting around, burning a hole in their pocket, they could buy us seven of those chairs for the cabin.

We went back to the hotel so everybody else could eat breakfast. Breakfast at the Best Western in Franklin, Tennessee is not served a minute after 9AM, so get there early. The woman behind the counter will wave the time information in your face as a not-so-friendly reminder. McDonalds down the street is a 1 minute drive, but a 20 minute wait for the wrong order. Steve was not happy.

Then we continued on our way to Orlando. We stopped at Ruby Falls for a quick walk and some rock candy. You can see forever up there.

We arrived at our resort after midnight. Our condo has 2 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a tiny stacked washer and dryer, a kitchen, balcony, pool, and a playground. It’s a great place to call home while we’re in Orlando.

Sunday, April 5, 2009
We slept in today. Steve went shopping for groceries for the week and the kids and I went to the swimming pool. Everyone had suggested that we get up early and get to the parks before the crowds, but we just couldn’t do it. We took the I-ride trolley to Seaworld. We saw some big old turtles and a sea lion show. We took a shuttle over to Aquatica. Katie and I played in the wave pool and found some little kids slides. The big kids enjoyed some big water slides. There was something for everybody. It was lots of fun! We got back to the resort around 9 and Nick went straight to bed. He was hot and tired and hungry and just couldn’t stay up for cheeseburgers with us. Steve grilled and Anthony made a salad. We had a great dinner. Day 1 in Orlando was over.

Monday, April 6, 2009
Today was Disney Day! I’ll let the pictures tell the story. The craziest thing was that we ran into two other Duluth families at Magic Kingdom! We ignored everyone’s advice about going back to the hotel to eat and nap halfway through the day. We persevered and got through the whole day. Katie fell asleep on the way out of the park. We picked up some frozen pizzas and ate dinner at 11:00. We all slept hard Monday night!

Favorite Parts of the day:
Steve: Dreams Come True Show
Cindy:
Nick: Parade when we first got there
Anthony: Splash Mountain
CJ:
Andrew:
Katie:

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 - - my half-birthday
We slept in and went out for breakfast at Denny’s. It was 58 degrees when we left the hotel. We got to Universal’s Islands of Adventure right around noon. The park is cool because you walk through a bunch of adult restaurants and Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville and places like that (that were sleeping when we came through the first time). Then you come to a separation for Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios.

We split up – some to water rides and some to Dr. Seussville. We loved the carousel in Seussville. At 5:30 we went to the truck for some ‘lunch’ from the cooler. I’ve never had a better turkey sandwich! We went back to the park for round 2. Steve and Nick went on the Duelling Dragons roller coaster and the rest of us visited Jurassic Park. The boys went on the water ride a couple times and Katie and I took pictures.

Favorite Parts of the day:
Steve: Spiderman Experience
Cindy: Spiderman Experience
Nick: Incredible Hulk Roller Coaster
Anthony: Jurassic Park water ride
CJ:
Andrew:
Katie: Spiderman Experience


Wednesday, April 8, 2009
We slept in again and had breakfast at our hotel. We had to go to Ron Jon Surf Shop in the Festival Bay mall. We loaded up on t-shirts and surfer stuff, dude. Then we were off to Aquatica. Katie and Andrew and I played in the wave pool and went to the two kiddie parts of the park. It was really cold, so after a couple of laps in Roa’s Rapids, we sat on the beach. Katie took a nap under a towel. We all were sunburned today.

At 5:30 we headed to SeaWorld. We were all already tired and crabby because of the sunburn. We headed straight to the dolphins. We watched the dolphin show. They had added some Cirque de Soile tricks to the show. Then Nick and Steve went to ride on the Krakken roller coaster. The rest of us went to see the penguins and puffins and we met at Shamu Stadium for the Shamu Rocks show. It was the favorite of many.

Favorite Parts of the day:
Steve: Shamu Rocks
Cindy:
Nick: Shamu Rocks
Anthony: Shamu Rocks
CJ:
Andrew:
Katie:

Thursday, April 09, 2009
It’s beach day! We left the resort around 11:30 and drove around Orlando for a bit. We got to Daytona at 2:00 and visited the Daytona 500 Speedway. We walked up to the grandstand and saw where the cars go fast and turn left. We asked the locals where a family of seven should go to get good, fresh, seafood. She sent us to a place that’s under the Dunlawton Avenue Bridge called The Deck Down Under. We had clams, shrimp, flounder- all fresh from the Atlantic Ocean - fries and onion rings, and a cheeseburger for Nick. I had a yummy margarita!

Buzzed blogging on the beach..... that’s what I’m doing! Or is it beach blogging with a buzz. Whatever you call it, I’m doing it. The margarita did the trick!

The kids had a lot of fun in the half hour we spent at the beach. It was pretty chilly, but they swam and played in the sand. I took lots of pictures. Now we have sand in every crevice!