Orlando and the Lovely Sunshine

It has been a LONG winter. As in, I knew if we didn't go get ourselves some sun soon that we might all just go stir crazy in our frozen winter tundra, where it still continues to snow daily and be single digit temperatures, below or near freezing every day. Thank goodness for an unexpectedly large tax return and Curtis' Spring Break. The combination of the two was just what we needed to get out of Rochester and the land of the eternally dreary and bleak gray skies and get to see ourselves some sunshine and warm weather.

I was initially thinking of going to Myrtle Beach, SC but then I checked the weather and it was around 40 degrees.  Not warm enough. So we looked farther south. That is how we landed on Orlando.  This was a totally last minute trip brought to you by Groupon deals and last minute airfare steals.  We got a super cool hotel, that was normally a time-share condo type deal, but they didn't have enough people booked, so they opened it up to regular people like us. It was cool because it had a King sized bed, jacuzzi in the bathroom, a separate kitchen/living room so Curtis and I could actually hang out and watch a movie or play a game at night after Kaden went to bed.  The kitchen was also way nice so that we could just eat first thing when we got up and not have to get ready first before going to breakfast.

Kaden was so excited to go.  He loves to be like Daddy so we bought him his own baseball cap and sunglasses.  He wore his monkey backpack, hoodie and baseball cap around all morning to be like "Dada."

The first day there was super rainy.  We actually ate dinner at a rather yucky restaurant as well, but it didn't matter. We were on vacation, we were out of Rochester and it was still warmer, even if it was raining.  We couldn't have been happier.

The next day we went to SeaWorld.  The weather was so PEFECT!!! Couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous day.  80 degrees, sunny, lovely. Ahh. Heaven! 

Kaden absolutely loved SeaWorld. He loved all the animals and the shows and the aquariums.  We loved it too.  I haven't been there in a very long time, but it sure was a fun park.   I love this picture. I feel like it comes as close to capturing Kaden's wonderment with all the fish as you can get in a picture.

We bought an all-you-can eat all day dining wristband for $30/adult and let me tell you, we got our money's worth.  We got a great lunch and dinner and all the snacks and drinks you could want.  It was awesome.  At lunch there were all these birds right by our table.  Kaden was having the best time chasing them and looking at the ducks and trying to catch them.  I don't know what kind of bird the white bird is, but it was really cool looking. (Any bird enthusiasts out there?)

 We couldn't wait to head to the beach on Wednesday.  The beach? You may be saying, "but wait, you're in Orlando, why aren't you going to Disneyworld or Universal Studios or Harry Potter World?" Two reasons: Kaden does NOT do well in lines. At all. Has zero patience. And he's too short to ride 90% of the rides, so we figured we'd save ourselves the money and go back in a few years when he's old enough to enjoy it more. He's only 1 1/2 so we'll have plenty of time to enjoy Disney later on.  He was so excited to go play in the water.

 My boy looks so grown up sometimes, it makes me sad. He's a little boy, not my baby anymore. (Can we just take a moment to appreciate my cool new camera lens too? I love the awesome bokeh (blur) in the background so this picture is all about my little bug's cute face.  Nerdy camera lady alert...)

Kaden was a little bit apprehensive about the beach (yet again, like last year in the Outer Banks), but this year we just decided to pick him up and set him down on the sand and back away so he could realize it's soft, doesn't hurt, it's not scary, etc… He had the time of his life digging and shoveling sand into and out of his bucket.

Kaden was loving the cold, ocean water (I think a lot more than Curtis and I were).  He just kept going in deeper and deeper.