A Visit from the Wills!

On the 26th, the Wills arrived to visit us. Kayce bought the plane tickets before we even left Maryland so that we knew we would have a visit to look forward to, which made our leaving a little less painful. We lived across the street from each other for almost 7 years and our families are super close. They were our Maryland family, so we were very excited about the visit.

Their plane arrived around 11, and even though they rented a car, we decided to all go to the airport to greet them. I thought maybe we would go out to lunch, but the kids were too anxious to play and catch up and opted to eat whatever they could scrounge up at our house. So, we headed home. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing games and just hanging out. We had dinner at Tijuana Flats (Burrito Thursday) and it was a good, easy day.

Friday, we went to Sea World. We got there around 10 and went straight to Sesame Street. The kids rode all the rides without any waits. Then, we headed to the Sea Lion and Otter show. It was cute. Unfortunately, it was our only show of the day. We tried for a few others, but kept arriving too late. Everything was filling to capacity almost as soon as they opened the doors. That was slightly frustrating, but fortunately, there is still a lot to see and do. We fed sting rays, walked through the shark tunnel, saw the penguins and had dessert at the Shark restaurant. It was a pretty awesome experience. We had a table that bordered the wall of glass and enjoyed seeing them swim as we had our dessert. We planned on leaving around 4, but somehow ended up staying until almost 7. The kids were tired, but everyone said they had a great day.

Anyone else remember Jaws 3-D?

Soap is our only Florida snow

Saturday we went to Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland. It is only a few minutes from where my dad and sister live, so we have been several times, but not since we moved back here. We did a 2.5 mile hike and saw alligators, raccoons, snakes, tons of birds, and turtles. Luke and Ben (our littlest hikers) did not love all the walking, but the rest of us enjoyed it. From there, we went to an awesome park that my kids have been begging to visit. They remembered it from our 2017 trip and it was only a few miles from Circle B. We had packed a picnic and Luke and Ben found their second wind and all the kids enjoyed running around. After that, we went to Pelicans for Hawaiian ice. They had some special flavors including butterbeer--delicious!

Thomas got these two nature shots.

This one was my favorite. Sorry fish.

We got back to Orlando around 4, but decided more fun was in order. So, we went out to dinner at Pollo Tropical (a family favorite) and to a huge light display we had heard about. It was impressive, but the display was a little frenetic for my taste. It started to bring on a migraine for Kayce, so she had to go sit in the car. But, we had promised the kids s'mores and hot chocolate, so they sat by the firepit for a bit and all seemed to like the fast paced display. The family does it to raise money for a children's hospital, so we left a donation and called it a night.

Sunday was a beach day. We drove to Cocoa Beach, which is less than an hour from our house. We got there at 10 and the beach was empty. Everyone loved it! The water was cool, but not too cold to swim. The waves were much bigger than I expected and we had fun playing in the water. We had packed a picnic lunch and no one showed any interest in leaving. Until... Luke (maybe) got stung by a sting ray. He swears something got him and was crying hysterically for probably 25 minutes. Unfortunately for Thomas, it happened at the point where I was on a walk with Kayce. Thomas came and found me and hoped I could console Luke. Numerous good Samaritans came to check on him. From the way he was crying, I am guessing they were expecting a shark bite or something. He did have a red streak on his knuckles, so maybe he was stung? He had been happily playing football with Thomas when some other people pointed out a sting ray (not near Luke) once Luke saw it, he started screaming. So, Thomas initially thought it was all in his head. But, based on his reaction, something probably did get him. After that, Luke refused to go anywhere near the water and just wanted to go sit in the car. But, we had gotten a good 5 hours in, so I was okay with leaving. At this point, the beach was actually kind of crowded, I can't imagine a Saturday in July. The Wills and Jack stayed for about another hour before returning to our house.

Monday we went to Gatorland. It was a really neat place. I had somewhat low expectations, I thought I would like it, but I actually really liked it. We saw a couple of shows, rode the train, fed birds and alligators, saw lots and lots of alligators, crocodiles, flamingos, spiders, snakes, and other wildlife. I will definitely go back. Kayce and I went for a walk that night, which reminded me of all our evening walks in Maryland. It was another nice day.

Kara maybe liked feeding the birds

Don't worry, no children were harmed taking this picture

Luke got a little worried when the third bird landed

Throughout their visit, we played games (Settlers of Cataan, Clue, etc.) which Thomas and I always enjoy. The kids got along super well. No one wanted to say goodbye this morning, but I told the kids that was the mark of a great visit. If we were ready for them to leave, that would be even sadder. We will hopefully see them during Spring Break, but if not, I am sure there will be another trip planned. This was our third joint vacation and all of them have gone remarkably well. And, luckily for us, we still have another 6 days left of our Winter Break to enjoy.