Florida Fun

Our summer vacation has come and gone, and June has just begun.  We flew to Florida and spent a weekend in Ft. Myers with Mom and Mike in their condo.  We got to see the lanai that Mom enjoys so much, and it was very nice.  Their place has a water view of a pretty river, and we all spent a lot of time out there enjoying it.  Saturday was packed with adventures to The Shell Factory to see animals and a trip to Sanibel Island's Bowman's Beach.

We loved our afternoon at the beach, and the kids had a magical experience pulling live 9-armed sea stars and many sand dollars out of the sand that was underwater.  They kept finding bigger and bigger ones.  We were shocked that the odd creatures with bristles did not give the little kids the creeps.  Out on a sandbar Henry had a handful of large ones when their legs started unexpectedly falling off.  I was approaching Robbie and the big three kids and witnessed Henry flip out and chunk several sea stars back into the water.  Even Robbie said that the defense mechanism of rapidly losing limbs was unsettling.  We combed the beach for neat shells and enjoyed the warm gulf water.  Henry gave us a tremendous laugh in the restroom by discovering a plentitude of crushed sea shells coating a certain bodily extremity.

After mass north of North Ft. Myers in which the children were four of only five children present in a large sanctuary, we headed toward Tampa and stopped in Apollo Beach to visit Ryan and Kendra Conlon for lunch.  They just moved into a new home with water access from a backyard dock, and it was great for the kids to see a different kind of neighborhood.  Aunt Kendra had not met Henry and Vivian, so they got acquainted.  From there we drove into Orlando and checked into the resort.

Santa gave Olivia the set of seven Harry Potter books, and Robbie agreed to read them with the big girls since they were a bit afraid.  The little ones and I have listened to part of what has been read aloud (or on audio cd) over the last five months.  Robbie got the kids the movies, so it has been Harry Potter world around our home since Christmas.  After an intense push, we finished the final book in Orlando before we got to the condo.  For Henry's birthday he received a magic Harry Potter wand, Harry's glasses, Quidditch uniform PJs, and a golden snitch (a special part of the Quidditch game).  He has been convinced that he is almost Harry Potter.

Monday we entered The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios.  The children got to ride the Hogwarts Express train from King's Cross Station in London to Hogsmeade Station.  The cool part of this experience was walking through a brick wall at the special Platform 9 3/4 (only visible to witches and wizards) to board the magical train.  The areas at Universal looked just like the scenes from the movies, and the kids recognized it all.  Henry used his May birthday money to buy Harry Potter's owl, Hedwig and a light-up broomstick.  We went into a shop that sold the long black uniform robes worn by the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  They were over $100 and would have been heat stroke inducing in the Florida heat.  However, the kind sales folk encouraged Henry to don a robe and tie.  He posed with his wand, and pure joy was on his face and shining in his blue eyes.  He told us that he was almost fully Harry Potter.  He just needed Uncle Anthony or Uncle Ryan to give him a rotten little cousin (like Harry's cousin Dudley).  My little Henry Potter was in heaven.

In the Harry Potter stories there was a man named Ollivander who helped the right magic wand in his shop pick Harry.  "The wand chooses the wizard."  We entered Ollivander's wand shop, and from the group of guests he selected Olivia as the young witch for whom he would let a wand pair up with her.  When she tried the first two wands she caused a thunderstorm and bells rang.  When she was handed the Vine wand, magical music played and a light shone on Olivia's head.  Her siblings were in absolute awe!  It was a really special privilege since she has been so immersed in reading the Harry Potter books.

Although we routinely explain to our children that their souvenir on vacations in the memory of the wonderful experiences we provided (not more stuff), Daddy was so enamored by the Harry Potter books that he indulged the children in some spending money for use in the shops from Diagon Alley.  They were so happy and grateful.

We went on wild roller coaster rides, and the thrills were many.  Evelyn is a smart one.  She'd let Henry ride with Robbie and Olivia while I waited with too short, 40.5", Vivian in the Child Swap room.  If Henry entered the room after the ride shell shocked or crying, then she'd pass on riding when it was Mom's turn.  There were amazing 3D effects with Transformers and villains from Spider-Man.  We were put into the worlds of dinosaurs in Jurassic Park and many Harry Potter scenes.  It was really fun.

After all six of us rode one ride we emerged into a high system of complex rope nets that were designed for climbing on various levels.  Henry was beyond thrilled.  He took off like a maniac running through rope tunnels.  We caught him and told him to slow down for safety.  However, in a minute he was lost.  We split up to search.  We looked and looked.  We called, "Henry."  I went to the bottom to wait at the slide exit.  Robbie climbed to the top to search from the highest level for Henry's bright orange shorts and lime green shirt.  No Henry.  Olivia kept trying to leave me to find him, and I was scared to death we'd lose her too.  It took way too long, and we were frightened he had somehow passed us and left the net area to quickly disappear into the terribly dense crowd in the park that day.  However, as I strained to scan over my head into the layers of nets for Henry a worker guy approached with crying Henry and calmly said, "Hey, here she is."  Henry told him his mommy had curly brown hair, a hat, a black skirt and pink top.  He said I told him to ask a worker to call my cell phone if he got lost.  I was so thankful to see my son safe and sound, but I was so mad at him for not listening, scaring us to death, and putting himself in harm's way.

The kids were thankful for us parents.  They said they were glad we didn't smell like rotten baby milk, sweat, toots, or dog food.  Honestly, the heat did not do many grownups any odor favors.  The people watching opportunities were extraordinary.  Evelyn is very straight laced in her opinions about wardrobe and bodily adornments.  However, at age 9 she was more discrete than during our trip to Disney World two years ago.

We had fun at both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure for three days.  We spent over 11 hours, and up to 12 in the parks each day.  The 4 lbs. of buffalo jerky that Robbie made in KC provided us a great protein source for our lunches.  Grandpa Mike, Ryan and Kendra joined us Thursday, and it was really enjoyable to share the kids' favorite parts of the park with them.  They bought the kids Butter Beer, a cream soda treat with butterscotch frothed cream on top, which was famous in the Harry Potter series.  We had a rain free park day, and the lines were short.

We spent two afternoons at the resort pools with a water slide and a trip on the lazy river.  Our last day in Florida I convinced my tired husband to drive us an hour plus to Cocoa Beach.  This was the sight of Henry's Memorial Day disappearance after chasing birds in 2013 in which Beach Patrol rescued him from walking away from our umbrella through the heavily populated beach crowd.  I was nervous to tempt fate, but I longed for the ocean waves in that warm water.  Robbie rented an umbrella, beach chairs, and two boogie boards.  The children took turns trying to catch big waves.  I think that last afternoon in Florida was my favorite of our whole trip.  We weren't the least bit hot with the ocean's breeze and the perfect water.  I could have stayed for hours and hours.  However, despite our efforts to cover our skin with rash guards and my one-piece swimsuit, we all managed to get a bit red in one spot or another.  The kids had odd abrasions from the boogie boards.  On a nearby beach in the city of Cocoa Beach the next morning, a boy's leg was severely bitten by a shark in waist to chest-deep water, just like the depth at which we played Saturday.  Shocking!

The huge difference with this family vacation was that the kids were old enough to be truly helpful with all of the luggage in the airport.  We have good rolling bags with swivel wheels, and they each took charge of one suitcase.  It was really a breeze.  Robbie was not completely overloaded, and they followed us like little ducklings.

We all enjoyed some southern sunshine, time with loved ones, and wonderful outings.  We are so blessed.