Time for the vay-kay recap

We had a blast. I think I've already established that before, but now I get to show you some pictures... I had a lot to choose from. I won't bore you with all of them. Let's start shall we?

Saturday
We got to Orlando around 1:30 p.m. We met Klee and her family for dinner. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of us together (but I think she is going to post some). She is the sweetest, funniest person! Offspring is as sharp as a tack and has a wicked little sense of humor. Her mom and dad should be proud! She is absolutely adorable. And her hubby? A doll... he and J-man were BFFs by the end of dinner. They had a lot to talk about -- Star Wars, video games, magic, juggling. It was a riot to watch those two together.

We said our goodbyes after dinner and then took the kids to play putt-putt. This course was a lot of fun. It had hills, caves, waterfalls... I even hit my ball in a stream. You should have seen me and SweetTea diving for that puppy! And speaking of SweetTea... she made back-to-back holes in one -- while talking on a CELL PHONE! I'll never play her again. :)

After putt-putt we went back to the hotel and went swimming. The fun really began the next day.

Sunday
We got up bright and early and headed to Islands of Adventure on Sunday morning. It was Father's Day and, believe it or not, the park wasn't that crowded. We bought fast passes, but they really weren't necessary. The longest line was for Spider Man and it was only about 20 minutes.

J-man got an airbrush tattoo of a hatchett on his leg. He looked so tough!



I tried to talk Carl into doing the Hulk coaster first because I thought J-man would chicken out riding it (and I was right), but Carl wanted to head to Dr. Seuss land instead. We rode everything there... he and Bug rode One Fish Two Fish together while I rode with J-man.

You could see the Hulk across the bay... that is my ab.so.lute favorite roller coaster - EVAH. We didn't get to ride it the first day because J-man decided he didn't want to do it. We wound up going back on Wednesday morning to ride it. So freakin worth it. And see those two stalks next to the coaster? That is Dr. Doom's Fearfall. Bug rode it not once, but THREE times. She loves that ride!

About this time Dad and J-man started feeling bad. Dad's foot was bothering him and J-man's stomach hurt. (He had a couple of milkshakes for lunch and that didn't work with the Florida heat.) We went back to the hotel for a little bit then Carl, me and the kids took off back to the park.

Next was Jurrasic Park. Walking through the foliage into this part of the park gave me chills. You have to walk through the huge Jurassic Park gates like you see in the movies -- while listening to the movie's theme song. You feel like you are really there. And then you see the dinosaurs. J-man was in heaven... Bug? Not so much. The ride was a blast though and we got soaked!

After Jurassic Park is Popeye and Olive Oyl's land. In here you can take several funny pictures... (I wish I had Pioneer Woman's mad skillz with Photoshop on these... I want the background to go away)

Carl and the kids rode some sort of water ride (similar to Thunder River at our Six Flags) and they were totally soaked. You might be able to tell from Bug's picture... her shirt was basically see thru and her shoes squeaked when she walked. I don't do water rides and I am SOOOO glad I didn't do that one. After that we were worn out and decided to call it a day.

Monday

Monday was the worst of all the days; it was the day we had to sit through the timeshare spiel. I would have LOVED to own one of the timeshares, but we turned them down. After FOUR hours we finally got out of there.

We went to Downtown Disney to look around and have dinner. It started raining on our way there. We tried to stick it out but it was raining so hard we had to leave. Found out later that night that tornados had touched down north of Orlando. We knew it was raining HARD but not that hard!

Tuesday

This was the day we were looking forward to! We went to the Richard Petty driving experience. Here is a picture of me with my guys. My dad was smiling from ear to ear the entire time we were there.

The guys let me go first. It was a blast! Our driver, Derrick, got us up to 145 miles an hour and I was thrilled! I want to do it again someday... but for more than the three laps around the track.

Dad was in heaven. This is him getting in the car. Yes... we rode in Little E's car. I wanted Tony Stewart's but this was the only one running.

After Richard Petty we headed to Universal Studios. Again... it wasn't crowded at all. Everyone we met was so nice -- even the critters let us get close to them. Can you believe this little guy?

We rode all the necessary rides - Men In Black (and I kicked everyone A$$!!!!!) and ET - then we headed to the Mummy. J-man didn't want to ride it at first so I went with Dad and Carl. It is so much fun! Very creative and unique. J-man had pinky promised me that he would ride it (and we never break a pinky promise) so he decided to give it a shot. Bug wanted to go to, but as we walked through the rooms this guy was hiding in a corner.

He touched Bug on the head and that was all she wrote. She wouldn't go anywhere near the ride again. I don't blame her... I wish you could see this dude's eyes. He has on white contacts with vertical slits... very creepy.

After we went to Shrek and a couple of other things, we decided to go back to Islands of Adventure so Carl and I could finally ride the Hulk. We waited in line for 35 minutes and were 25 feet from riding when they had to shut it down because of weather. We were BUMMED! We went back to the car and headed to the hotel... as we got on the highway I saw the Hulk was running again. Figures.

Wednesday

We got up early and headed back to the park for one more shot at the Hulk. After waiting another 35 minutes Carl and I got to ride. It was SOOOOO worth the wait. Love, love, love that ride. (Have I already said that?)

Dad wanted to ride Jurassic Park before we left. I didn't feel like getting wet before an 8 hour drive so J-man and I decided to walk BACK to Men In Black to buy a Frank shirt that I fell in love with. (Yes, that is the pug from the movie... I'm a dork). Needless to say we walked from the back of one park to the back of another and then back out to city walk. J-man and I were exhausted, but it was fun to spend a few minutes with him. He's a nut.

See his little peanut head in this picture?

It was a fun vacation. We crammed a lot of stuff in a few short days, but it was worth it.

I hope this recap makes sense. There is so much more I could show you and tell you... maybe I'll break the stories down into more posts. We shall see.

Thanks for reading!