Saturday, May 17, 2008

Orlando

I know this is really delayed, but better late then never! I finally got my camera to work and was able to download my pictures from the trip to my computer.

My trip to Orlando, Florida was a blast! I am so glad that I decided to go and that it worked out getting the time off from work. In the beginning I was a little bummed that I would only overlap one day with my parents and sister, but I knew I would still have fun with my extended family the rest of the trip. I flew out on Monday morning the 31st of March and had a whole day of travel and time changes ahead of me. All the flights went great and I got into Florida about 10:45pm. I met up with my uncle at the airport and went with him to rent a car. That in itself is one of the best stories from the trip. Whenever my uncle and I are together, something inevitably happens where I am laughing so hard I am crying and can't catch my breath. To make a long story short, we had some issues unlocking the rental, then we couldn't fit his huge suitcase in the car and then after asking three different people for directions, we finally found the correct way to the freeway!

After finally making it to the hotel around 1am, we still stayed up to visit and so didn't get much sleep that night. But we were ready to go in the morning since it was Magic Kingdom day!! Today was only my parents and Jenny and I! We headed to breakfast and then onward to the Happiest Place on Earth! After having some issues with my ticket to even get into the park(Let me know if you ever want to hear details!) we just about sprinted to Pirates of the Caribbean and ended up being the first to get on for the day. The rest of the day was spent riding our favorite rides, eating delicious food, loving the hot weather and just enjoying each others company. After getting back to the hotel, we hung out with the rest of the family and had dinner. Then Jenny, me and my cousins Eddie and Traci headed out on the town. We went to Paradise Island which is a collection of dance clubs, comedy clubs, movies, stores and places to eat. We went to a comedy show right away that was really good, then we walked around and ended up getting ice cream! Then we ended the night at the best 70's and 80's dance club. The music was awesome!! Eddie would hear the first couple of words and name the song and singer. Then I would end up singing the whole song while dancing to it. Eddie, Traci and I spent the majority of the time out on the dance floor getting our groove on. That shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that I was out there the whole time since I absolutely love to dance!!! It was another late night and we didn't get home until 1:30am!

Mom, dad and Jenny flew out the next morning and I headed off to Universal Studios with the rest of the family. I was able to spend most of the day with my cousins Justin and Ashley and Ashley's friend Mattie. We had a great time at Islands of Adventure and went on some great rides. We met up with everyone else partway through the day and headed over to the other part of Universal Studios. My favorite attraction had to have been Twister. They recreate the scene when the tornado hits the drive-in and you are standing right there. You can feel the wind whipping and the rain on your face. It was awesome, like you were right there experiencing it firsthand! We stayed there till the park closed and then headed back in for the night.

We were getting pretty tuckered out and so decided to sleep in a bit the next morning and didn't get to Sea World until around 10am. We immediately headed straight to the Shamu show. I think the adults enjoyed the show way more then the kids did. I took so many darn pictures trying to get the whales out of the water. Haha! Then we headed over to the Sea Lion show. I really enjoyed this one and it was really funny. Mostly we walked around and saw the penguins, sting rays, fed some fish, saw sharks and other watery creatures! I was able to go on the one rollercoaster at the park and it was awesome! Very worth the wait in line. Then before heading home, all 8 of us rode the water ride and came off it completely soaked! The picture was a classic and you should have seen the look of terror on my 5 year old cousin Hunter's face. After getting back, we cleaned up and decided to eat out that night.

I tried to get to bed at a decent time, but that plan of mine never seems to work. I was up at 3:45 the next morning to get ready and packed to leave for the airport. Uncle Ed was nice enough to get up early and leave at 5am so I could fly out at 7am. The trip was awesome and so worth it. It was great to just be able to see my family, Disney World was a bonus!