A Whole New World: March 2008

We were very fortunate to go to Florida with Gramma and Grampa Chugg (Ashley's Parents). We left on Feb. 29, and returned home on March 8. We had a ton of fun. Here are some pics and stories to go along with.

Our first day there we wondered over to the 'Ripley's Believe it or Not' Museum. It was completely Mat's idea; no one else wanted to go, but we had one day to waste before checking into our resort, so we figured we'd go. That place is creepy! I had my reservations about it before going, but now I worry that the girls might be warped for life. Kathryn had SOOO many questions, like 'how come that pig has two heads?' 'how come that person can bend in half and turn around?' 'is that shrunken head real?'. How do you explain these things to a six year old? Anyway, all I will say is, it was interesting!

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These are some pics of the Resort we stayed at. It was VERY kid friendly, and I would definitely recommend it for other families with little ones. They had a crafts and activities all day long, and the pools were very fun.

This is the view from the front door, out the back there is a huge lake.

They had a bar and grill by one of the pools that had great smoothies! We got lunch there a few times. It was fun to sit outside and enjoy the nice weather! Especially in March! (It was mid 80's most of the time, except for the occasional rainy night!)

This is the main room at the resort and the kitchen area. It was really nice to have more room than at a motel! We shared a bedroom that had two queen beds with the girls and played 'musical beds' each night. The girls had a hard time away from home sleeping I guess, and Kat snores!! My parents stayed in the other bedroom, next to us.

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On March 3, we went to Sea World! The girls loved it! So many animals to see and all of the fun shows that they have. We had a week long pass for Sea World, Universal Studios, and Islands of Adventure, so we were able to keep it really laid back, because we knew we could come and go as we pleased.

Kat loved the dolphins, especially when they jumped out of the water! She also liked the manatees (posing by one with Grampa). I think her favorite was the whale show, she loved Shamu!

Emma loved the whale show too, and seeing all of the fishies. I think her favorite was the rides, though. She loved the kiddie rides!

This was at the Shamu show. Notice Emma's "grumpy face" in the pic with Daddy! She loves doing that face!

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A sweet sisterly moment! They are so infrequent, I have to catch them when I can! (They were out on our screened in patio - no bugs and no need to worry about them falling off the balcony!)

On March 4, we went to Universal Studios. It was the one day it rained, so we didn't stay long. But we did go on a few fun rides and the girls got to play on the slightly wet play lands!

Emma's favorite of the day was a "TV Pets" show that we went to. It had a bunch of trained animals that did tricks for us.

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That's Emma behind the mask! She could only look out one of the holes at a time because it was so big on her tiny face!

Kat driving our 'ship'.

On of my favorite nights was at "Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville"! We had so much fun! The girls got cute little masks to wear and there were 'pirates' that made them balloon animals. We sat in a 'ship' and there were huge tv's all around us playing country music videos. The pirates were on stilts and would get the crowd going with dancing and singing and clapping. There was even a pretend volcano inside that would go off. Mat didn't like that there was so much going on (I think he was afraid that they might make him get up an dance!) The girls loved it and I had a blast. Plus, the food was real good too!

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After dinner, as we were walking along the shopping and dinning strip by Universal, Emma was drawn to the shooting fountains. We couldn't stop her in time, she ran right in and got wet! After that, Kat joined in and they had a blast trying to figure out which one would shoot them next! Emma kept trying to sit on them, and trying to get a drink! It was hilarious!
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March 5, we went to 'Islands of Adventure' today. It is kind of to 'Universal Studios' what 'California Adventure' is to 'Disneyland'. I have to say it was probably my favorite park. There was a ton to do for the girls and for us!

The girls loved Seuss Landing. It was SOOOO adorable! All of the Dr. Seuss stories came to life! The girls' favorite ride was "The Cat in the Hat". I think we went on that ride at lease 7 times that day! Emma loved the fish in the story cause it talked as in the book.

Kathryn would not go near the Grinch - he snuck up behind her and freaked her out! But she did decide she would get her picture with the Cat in the Hat, after deciding that it was her favorite ride!

Kathryn thinks this pic is funny because Mat said it looked the Elephant was pooing her out! Gross! I swear I didn't think of that when I took the picture!

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March 6, We took it easy at the Resort today. We swam all morning in the fun pools with the girls. We hadn't had a chance to just chill, so today was nice.

The pirate ship pool was the favorite. With the slides and sprayers, it was fun for Kat and Emma. We had a lot of fun there! The girls didn't want to leave!

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March 7, Today we went back to Sea World. I think mostly we went back for the rides there! Kat loved the kiddy 'roller coasters' and 'big kid rides'. While Emma loved anything than spins! Luckily, Gramma went on the spinny ones with Emma and Mommy went a few time with Kat, then let her go on them all by herself! (As I get older, I realize I can not handle certain rides! But hey, at least I went on a few, unlike Mat!)

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March 8, Today was our last morning in Florida. I let the girls have smoothies for breakfast as a last treat of Florida!

It was a windy day, but we took the girls for a last walk around the resort and down to the lake.

And then... we flew home. The flights weren't as bad as I had thought they would be. Emma took naps and we tried to keep both of the girls occupied. All in all, we had a blast! We made memories that, although I don't know how much the girls will really remember, Mat and I and my parents will never forget!