Erica and mommy had a great flight, again. She is such a great little traveler! Here we are in the food court in Orlando waiting for Daddy to come and pick us up. We had some lunch and then got some ice cream to share. See how many spoons Erica has? Mommy has none. That is not good sharing!
We got checked into the hotel and just went to the hotel pool the first day. Erica had so much fun and started jumping off the side of the pool by herself for the first time. This was fun, but a little shocking when she did it and we were in water so deep we couldn't touch bottom! The next morning Nate had a meeting, and after he was done we went to Disney World Animal Kingdom. We figured the other Disney's wouldn't have much that Erica would enjoy, and this seemed like a big zoo.
We actually stood in line to meet Mickey Mouse. As a kid I didn't like mascots, or Mickey, or any puffy creature, and Erica was similar. She liked Mickey from far away, but as soon as we got close she was not so fond of the big mouse, as you can see.
It was so hot that day. Can you see how sweaty my little girl is?
We got to the farthest reaches of the park and the sky opened up and it started pouring rain. No, we aren't sweaty anymore, we are soaked in rain. Here we are on the train back to the main amusement park. Erica loved the train. We had just finished seeing some animals, petting some sheep and goats and learning about owls. Erica loved the owl, and wanted to pet it too. The owl seemed to like Erica too, and wanted to eat her.
Erica also adored this giant dino. She wanted to take it home with us. I think it would have exceeded our carry on or checked luggage limit. The only ride I think she would have done in the whole park was by this giant dinosaur, but it was still raining when we got there, so the ride was closed. No ride for my little girl.
After an afternoon at Disney, Erica got to meet her cousins. (Second cousins once removed? I have no idea, so we'll go with cousins.) Here she is being chased around while her youngest cousin exclaims "I'm a monster." 3 months later she's still talking about it. She had so much fun!
Now, you'll have to excuse me for the barrage of pictures showing Erica's first time at the ocean. We went to the beach adjacent to Nate's aunt and uncle's condo. It was a beautiful day, and Erica had a great time. It took her awhile to warm up to the ocean, but daddy taught her that the ocean would spin you around if you sat in the right place. So the two of them sat in the water and laughed as the water spun them around.
Love the reflections....
So much to see in the water...
It spins you around!
So much fun!
Ah Nate's cousin got a cute picture of Erica and Mommy at the beach! I can't believe it!
Now my two favorite shots. The scenery is beautiful, and so is my daughter. It was such a fun day, and I love these pictures.
Isn't she such a big girl? I love the suit, the sand on her face, her determined look, and her purposeful walk. She's amazing.
The day after the beach we went to this wonderful zoo. It was small, but there were places the kids could feed the animals, and a toddler water park at the zoo. It was great. This is a picture of the giraffe I fed. Erica still seems put out that she didn't get to feed the giraffe, but I was afraid that wouldn't go well. Just so you know, giraffe's eat Rye Crisp crackers, just like we do. I wonder where they get them in the wild...
Erica checks out the giraffe she didn't get to feed.
Whoa, look at that long black tongue!
Just in case you think I am too adoring of my little girl, check out this shot that I took. What's up with that face? I think that giant bird wants her apple though. While we were there, a little girl threw him a Cheeto, and I told Erica that you weren't supposed to feed the bird Cheetos. She still reminds me, when we eat Cheetos, "Don't give these to the big birds."
Here is Erica and her oldest "cousin" feeding the birds at the zoo. One of them bit her, while Nate had her. I thought she wasn't paying attention and the bird bit her, but no. She was poking it with her finger and the bird bit her. Well, what do you expect kiddo?
Here we are at the water park at the zoo. Watch out for the huge sea monster in the window!
We are on a "nature walk" by Nate's aunt and uncle's house. It was supposed to be a nature walk, but really it was a HOLY CRAP THERE ARE BIG SCARY SPIDERS HERE walk. Honestly, if I lived in Florida, after this walk I would have moved. They were terrifying. We are cute though. This is mommy and Erica, and Nate's uncle and his cousin's son. (Again, Erica's "cousin".)
The whole gang after our nature walk (SPIDERS) before we head back to the airport. It was a great trip. Erica was a champ on the flight back, and momma loved having daddy to help her for this flight. We had a wonderful trip, and now Erica has finally met the entire family on her Grandma L's side. We still have family to meet on all the other sides though!
1 comment:
Great post!!!! Looks like you had a wonderful trip, and you got so many good pictures! Thanks for sharing! :)
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