SeaWorld Orlando

This past weekend we got to fly down to Florida for Andrew's brother's wedding!  While being super excited for them, we were also eager for any opportunity to leave Michigan in November!  (No snow though yet....knock on wood....)

We flew down on Thursday evening, 11/3, picked up our rental car and headed for the hotel and some sleep!  Unfortunately, Eve had an "I'm away from home in a strange room and a strange bed and I'm going to sleep HORRIBLY" night.  We didn't get in bed ready to sleep until around 1am and she woke up about 8 times between 1 and 4:43am (yes, I remember the exact time).  Then she got up for the day around 6:15.  We were so tired!  Not the best way to start a vacation, but we had an eventful day planned so had to put it behind us!

Andrew's family also got in on Thursday night (even later than we did!) so we all met up after some hotel breakfast for....a day at SeaWorld!!!!  I wanted so much to go to SeaWorld while we were living in San Antonio, but we just never had a free weekend to go.  I've been to the one in California before, but that was several years ago and I was ready to go again!

Shamu greated us on our entrance to the park:

Eve got her own special SeaWorld stroller, which she didn't spend much time in.  Who needs a stroller when you have a willing grandma, two aunts, and an uncle close at hand?

Aunt Lisa hit it off with Eve right from the start!  Of course, they've met before, but Eve has a short memory....

People too!....Or so I hear....not that I would know from experience...

Our first stop: Shamu Stadium and the killer whale show! 

Eve spent most of the show with Grandma, so Andrew and I could focus on the whales.  Maybe that's why this was my favorite?  ;)

A few shots from the show:

So cool!  Next up - a kangaroo?  At SeaWorld?  Hmmm....ok!

 

The whole weekend in Florida we had two - TWO - pictures of the three of us.  Here's one - too bright for Eve!

The weather was perfect!  Sunny and cool.  Too cool to brave the Journey to Atlantis water ride, but that's ok :)

We visited the sharks and went down the cool tunnel with the sharks swimming all around us. 

Even Eve was impressed!

Then we saw some sea lions (not the ones in the show - that comes later).  They were barking up a storm and getting a little fiesty because a woman next to us had purchased some sea lion food and they wanted it!  One of them in particular totally flipped out until she threw some to him.  Another one raised his flipper, hopping she would call on him! 

Our next stop was the dolphin show - Andrew's favorite!  This one was cool since the trainers could actually get in and swim with them and do tricks. 

Then they had crazy acrobatic type performers doing dives and jumps off the super high platforms.  Brave!

By this time, Eve was beyond ready for a nap, so Aunt Laura stepped up :)

I think Eve might have missed the penguins while she slept.  They had some crazy molting going on!

And finally the sea lion show - I think this one might have been Andrew's mom's favorite!

We were entertained by a mime while waiting for the show to start.  He'd make fun of the people as they walked in.  Glad we got there early!

The two sea lions were part of the pirate show and did a great job!  This show was more comical and had us all laughing!

 Our group split at this point - Lisa, Laura, and Danny (Laura's finance) headed off to the roller coasters and the rest of us opted for the quieter activities.  Like pictures by a waterfall with Uncle Lance!

Or pictures by the creepy dolphin bushes with Grandma!

The alligators were a dit disappointing - they were so tiny!  I thought they'd at least be big enough to bite someone's head off!  Not that I'd want them to - just saying...

One of the coolest parts for Eve (probably second only to the upcoming aquaruim) was the underwater dolphin viewing.  Anything that she could press up against the glass to see was popular with her!

The stingrays were pretty neat too!  I wasn't brave enough to touch them (or to let Eve!) but Andrew's sisters did.  Yuck!

Be good, Eve, or I'll feed you to the rays!  :)

And of course, turtles!  Also kind of a let down, but when have turtles ever been very exciting?

Our final stop was one last aquarium while the rest of the group finished with their rides.  This was perhaps the coolest part of the day and no one saw it but the three of us!

Eve got to go inside a fish tank!  With Daddy's help....

It had tons of other fish, sea horses, and very crazy looking water dwelling animals.  I don't even know what to call them!  No pictures, but really fun to have been there!

Laura and Lisa went for one last roller coaster ride - not for me!  I get sick even looking at a roller coaster!

Then we were done with our day at SeaWorld!  We went back to the hotel and met up with Andrew's dad (who'd stayed back because he was feeling sick) and cousin Jennie and headed for some dinner at Denny's.  It would have been more enjoyable if the waiter hadn't said, "Welcome, little senor!" to Eve.  She was even dressed in pink!  I really don't think she looks like a boy anymore, but apparently some people still think she does.  She also got a "hey buddy" from our pilot on the way home and a "what a handsome little guy" from the flight attendant - while wearing a dress!  Come on people! 

Anyway, we hit the hay early on Friday night in preparation for our big day on Saturday!

Happy Halloween!

We had to think long and hard about what Eve should be for her first Halloween.....

A nerd?

A puppy?

No!  A ladybug! 

And even though she is small, she picked up on the holiday quickly! 

"Basically, I reach into this bucket....

....pull out a piece of candy....

...and eat it!  Right?"



You got it!  What a pro!



We couldn't  have asked for a cuter or happier little bug!



She's been trying her hand a walking on her own, but of course stops when the camera rolls.  Figures!



Since the weather was nice - just chilly - we took Eve out trick or treating in a neighborhood nearby our condo.  She had a blast!  

She didn't last long in the stroller - we carried her and she kept a TIGHT grip on her candy bucket.  Wasn't about to let that out of her sight!



She seemed to enjoy going house to house, being complimented on her cuteness, and being given free candy.  What's not to like?!

When we got home, we stopped by to see our super nice neighbor across the hall.  After Eve got a few treats for her bucket, we stayed to chat a bit.  Eve played on the floor with her candy and was so cute about it that the neighbor kept giving her more!  She must have got 10 pieces at that one stop!

But finally the night had to come to an end.  So it was off to home to count her loot....



"I think I did pretty well for my first Halloween, Mom!  Look at all my candy!"



And she even went right to bed afterwards - leaving the candy up for grabs.  Now that's a successful holiday!

Weekend Visitors!

Last weekend we had two, not one, but TWO visitors!  My friends Morgan and Wong both came up for the weekend.  Morgan and I met in NJ while I was doing my internship for AT&T and she was nannying.  She lives in Muncie, IN now and is in grad school.  Wong recently finished dental hygenist school in Pittsburgh.  So both are about 4 1/2 hours from us, making for pefect weekend visiting.  And it just so happens they could both come at the same time!  Twice the fun!

Happily, the weather cooperated and we were able to get out and see some sites!  I couldn't decide exactly what I wanted to do, but knew that 1) I didn't want to spend a lot of money and 2) I wanted to see something of downtown Detroit.  Andrew doesn't really care about it, but I want to see something of each of the major cities we live by!  I worked in both downtown San Antonio and downtown Dallas, so was able to see a lot just walking around during lunch.  But I work in a suburb here in MI (thankfully!!) so besides driving to the airport, we haven't really seen much, or anything, of downtown Detroit. 

So, with that in mind, I went online (plug for Bing!) and found out about Belle Isle, an island right in the middle of the Detroit River between Detroit and Canada.  It's a public park and is free!  (As compared to our rather pricey trip to Mackinac Island a few weeks ago....)  On the website, it sounded like there were lots of fun things to do there, so we figured we'd give it a shot!

On the way, we stopped at a scout shop downtown to get Andrew a full scout uniform.  He is now the Webelos leader in our ward and we decided it was time to get him an adult uniform/badges/knots/etc.  I don't know all the technical names, but we've figured out that sewing all those badges on the shirt is a lot of work!  And yes, we already know about the sticky stuff you can use instead, but it doesn't come off easily and with all the ward-hoping we do, some badges will have to be swapped out frequenty. 

Anyway (I think this is the longest I've ever gone without a picture), after that quick stop while Eve napped in the car under the watchful care of Morgan and Wong, we drove out to Belle Isle.  I wish you could here Wong pronounce it correctly with the French accent.  Very beautiful :). 

It being the end of October and a little chilly outside (but sunny!), there weren't many people on the island and surprisingly little to do.  Let's just say it was a tad underwhelming....but we had a good time nonetheless! 

Our first stop was a "nature zoo" at the far end of the island.  As Morgan put it, I think they just put in a cage anything they could catch themselves on the island.  We had a good laugh about it, but Eve thoroughly enjoyed herself, so what else matters?
 

We were greated at the entrance by a big frog!

Oh, the anticipation.....!

More frogs!  But this time Eve got to touch!

Next came the bees.  Now normally I am not such a fan of bees (and/or, they terrify me!).  But once you got used to the idea of swarms of them, it was kind of cool to look at.  Behind glass.  Just as they should bee :). 

I didn't take pictures of the other "exhibits" but the consisted mostly of snakes, spiders, small lizards, and slugs. 

Next we were off to the park!  Definitely the highlight of our time on Belle Isle!

The park was large, and spirits were high, so Wong and Morgan agreed to pose with our reptilian friends. 

So maybe frogs aren't reptiles, but you get the idea. 

Eve got the dinosaur by default because no one else wanted their picture on it. She didn't seem to mind! She got a little too close to it.....

And because parks are for learning and not just playing, we had a quick geography lesson.  Wong showed us Canada and Eve represented Detroit.  Kind of.

Eve had the time of her life at this park!  Tons to play on, she got to be out of her stroller, AND she had two fun friends to play with!

The first tunnel we tried to get Eve to go through made her cry, but the second time around she got the hang of it.  This is the "tunnel to Canada".  Ok, not the real one, but the closest we got.  We have got to get our passports!

Wong emerges!  She has a passport....

And the "bridge to Canada" - making the crossing!

The slides seemed a bit long for Eve to master alone, but with help they were conquerable!

Not until we got to the end of our time at the park did I see this sign....5 years, 10 months, it's all the same....

Our final stop on the island was a quick photo shoot at the southern tip.  By this time, Eve was sleeping again; or maybe we just didn't want to get her out again?  I can't remember, but either way, she and I waited in the car while Andrew, Morgan, and Wong went a shootin'!

What a view!  Right side = Detroit, USA; left = Windsor, Canada.

Each representing her country of birth:

On our way off the island and on to lunch, we passed downtown Detroit and I snapped this quick picture.  Cool buildings!

Don't ask me why (I may have mentioned this before), but Detroit-ers have some strange fascination with Coney Island.  There are Coney Island restaurants EVERYWHERE!  You can hardly spit without hitting one.  I think I have mentioned it because we went to one with Eric and Stuart when they were in town.  We decided that would be an appropriate "Detroit" thing to do for lunch. 

The food was delicious!  Morgan and I both had a "coney taco" - basically a taco with chili in a hot dog bun.  Who knew?  I was a big fan.

Since the day was only half over (we spent less time on Belle Isle than we anticipated), we had time for something I've been wanting to do this fall: a cider mill!  Or as Wong kept calling it, a "cedar mill". 

There's a large and old cider mill only about 10 minutes from our house, so we settled on that one as our destination and started out on phase two of our Saturday.  On the way, we passed this house.  I pass this every morning on my way to work and think it is just adorable!  It's been for sale since we moved here and I just love looking at it every day.  I'd never actually want to live there because it's right on a busy road, but still, a treat for the eyes!

I knew cider mills were popular in Michigan, but I think we were all shocked at just how busy it was when we arrived!  Parking was crazy!  Tons and tons of cars and a full parking lot.  But we got lucky and snagged a spot towards the front just as someone was pulling out. 

So not being from this area and having never heard of a cider mill before, I'll enlighten those who are thinking, like I did, "a what?".  It's exactly as it sounds.  They make and sell fresh apple cider and hot donuts (apparently the two MUST go together).  There's a lot of other things you can buy too, but that's the gist of it.  None of us wanted cider or donuts (still full from lunch!) but didn't want to miss the experience!

Eve was doing surprisingly well for such a busy day with little time for napping.

The best part about the cider mill?  Eve got to "pick", with a little help, her pumpkin for Halloween!

Just the right size!  And yes, it's technically a pie pumpkin, but we're not planning on carving it anyway, so it'll do.

Wong found a pumpkin just her size too!

Our other purchase at the mill?  Some freshly roasted cinnamon almonds.  Yum!

I don't know if you can read the sign in the picture, but it says "pumpkins for craving".  Who knew that people craved pumkins?!

Eve got to play in the pumpkin patch and it was completely futile to get a picture of her looking at the camera.  Between the pumpkins and other kids to look at and the sun in her eyes, she would not look at me.  Too much else to do, Mom!

Wong, however, would nicely pose in the pumpkin patch!

Eve was the only one who didn't get to try the nuts, but she enjoyed holding them for us!

Our final stop of the day was the Detroit Temple on the way home.  It was erected in 1999 and is only about 10 minutes from our house. 

This is not the best picture of us (with me peaking over Andrew's arm and Eve leaning backwards) but is the only one I got.  Sorry.

This tree on temple grounds I promptly named the "Wong tree" because, like her, it reached a certain height (not very tall) and just stopped growing!

Another unsuccessful Eve picture.  Again, the combo of sun and distractions.  Don't pick the temple flowers, Eve!

Since we never ate together many times, Morgan and I didn't really have any food traditions, but Wong was happy to make suggestions!  What else for dinner on Saturday except breakfast burritos?  A weekly tradition from our time in Provo.

We enjoyed our food, but it wasn't quite the same without Marinda, Brittania, and Renee!

Don't worry, I'm almost done.  We went to church on Sunday morning, then Morgan had to head home shortly after lunch.  Wong was able to stay until Monday morning, so we had a few more hours with her. 

On Sunday evening, we indulged in a Canasian feast!  If ever you have Wong over, you have to take advantage of her culinary abilities!

What a pro!  On the menu: pork dumplings and sweet and sour chicken!

The meal was delicious and we all ate a little too much, so we need to rest afterwards. 

Again, Eve had a great time with all the attention she got from Wong and Morgan!

We ended our Sunday evening with some authentic Canadian candy!  Thanks Wong!

We had so much fun with Morgan and Wong and were glad they were able to come see us!