SoF Week 4

TUESDAY - We were off to see Gram Mac and the family. So we thought that we would try something different this time with getting to the airport. We started with getting a ride to DART and taking DART to downtown.

We then transferred to the TRE, which was a double-decker train and Kenzi loved it!

From the TRE we took two buses to get to the airport.
We then took two airplanes to get to Tampa.

Here is Kenzi on the Shuttle rail that takes you from you terminal to baggage claim.

And then we took a car to Gram Mac's house.

I thought it was so cool that we were taking so many modes of transportation. I thought it would even be cooler for her to take a boat, but no such luck. And with the exception of the shuttle rail, Kenzi rode everything twice. So fun!

So while we were waiting at the airport we were able to look at an exhibit. It featured jewelry that an artist did. Kenzi thought this one was funny how the head was a whole bunch of flowers. Oh the things that amuse us when we are small!

WEDNESDAY - We took it easy this day and went swimming at Gram Mac's pool. This is where our little girl turned fish! Well a flying fish in this picture!

Every night Kenzi gets a story as part of her bedtime routine. She learned really fast that if Gram Mac read to her she would get anywhere from 2 to 4 stories read to her. And of course Curly Bear and Duke had to get on the bed for story time too!

THURSDAY - We went to Mote Aquarium today. It is a great place to visit if you ever find yourself near Sarasota. We took a boat tour where we saw some dolphins. You can see Manatees too if they are around.

This is Kenzi looking at the aquarium on the boat. They put a net in the water and see what they get. It was great because they let people hold anything that was safe.

There is an island where we got off the boat and were told about the vegetation. Kenzi actually did not want to get off the boat. But after Gram Mac asked her to hold her hand things seemed to be better for her.

There are three small islands that people are not allowed on and so the birds habitat there. We saw a lot of Pelican babies among other birds.

Kenzi deciding to take a rest.

This is a crab that was VERY pregnant. Needless to say we did not hold it because the Marine Biologist said it was pretty mad at us for taking it away from home. It was interesting to see the red pouch that was big and full of babies.

Kenzi liked this one but still would not hold it. This is a Sea Urchin. It was trippy to hold.

"Quick get a picture, she is holding this one!" The Sea Star was the only creature she would hold. She did like the trip even though she would not hold anything.

After the boat ride we went and tried to pet some sting rays, saw a Giant Squid that was sealed and later she informed Aunt Joy and Uncle Len that it was not a zombie and it stayed in its case.

Kenzi's favorite was seeing the Dolphins. These are two dolphins that came from the Medical center for Dolphins, Whales, and Manatees. They will not be released into the wild. Here the trainer is try to get them to swim a certain way. So she was doing it and they were mimicking.

I want to say this one is Harley.

Kenzi also liked the turtles. One of the turtles is blind and kept swimming along the wall. Kenzi thought that was funny. Here she is trying to get a turtle shell on her back.

Here we are waiting for the boat. I got the hat to hopefully help not get sunburned and what do you know, it worked!

FRIDAY - This was the first time we came to see Great Goog. We took her to her favorite restaurant - McDonald's. Of course, Kenzi was all in and felt a connection as soon as she found out that Goog has the same favorite restaurant.

Here is Goog and Kenzi with Great Goog's work. She is known as the craft lady where she lives. So there were quite a few places where we got to see what Goog had done. It really is a nice facility. Everyone we met was so nice.

So with Facebook being so nice to get back in touch with old friends - Carter asked if anyone wanted to get together and a couple did. I have to say, It was SOOO nice to meet his old friends. They are so great and fun! From left to right is Deanna, her husband Rick, Melody's husband Matt, Melody, and of course, Carter. Seriously gang, we will have to do it as often as we can! Love you guys!

SATURDAY - We went to visit Great Goog. We brought a puzzle with us that she could help us do. It was so wonderful to see Goog, Kenzi, Carter, and Gram Mac all work on it. I am pretty sure Kenzi will remember this for a long time! We love you Goog!

The group very proud of the finished project.

We had a wonderful visit with the family. I will post the rest of our trip in next weeks post of SoF Week 5. I hope you enjoyed, we surely enjoyed making the memories! Kari

On a roll now...

So this actually marks the half way point of our vacation. From Orlando we traveled to Sarasota Florida which is on the West Coast in the Gulf. Everyone was so happy to see us and we had a swim party the next day with the whole family. I am so utterly grateful for how much the family loves on our daughter! She got a ton of presents and loved hanging out with Gram Mac, Uncle Len, Aunt Joy, cousins Cody & Adam, and Curly Bear and Duke - the fluffy dogs! We had a lot of fun and doesn't Gram Mac have a GREAT pool! Thank you for the fun time and warm hospitality!

Animal Kingdom...

OK, So this was my absolute favorite of everything we did. The weather was much nicer and I really did not feel like I was in a theme park so much. I think that is mostly because we were walking a lot of the park looking for animals. The had a very cute Safari parade, which we almost got to be in. Kenzi was to young. But other than that we had a wonderful time. There is one VERY memorable ride. It is Expedition Everest. It is Disney's self proclaimed #1 thing to do at Disney World. My brother-in-law JT went 4 or 5 times. My mother-in-law, Robyn hurt her back riding it 2 or 3 times. I most definitely wanted to puck after riding it once! (Man I am getting old!) Again Kenzi liked the characters. She REALLY wanted to talk to Stitch but we were unable to since they closed the line before us. She also liked looking at the animals on the Kilimanjaro Ride. You ride a big jeep and tour "South Africa" on a much smaller scale. We closed this park out too, however, it closed at 7 pm. Much easier to close a park when it is still light outside! Well, again, there are a million pictures, ok maybe a hundred. I know it seems like a million when you have to endure someone else's trip! I tried to edit better this time, Keri. Enjoy!

About time...

Hello all, I know I promised this a week ago! I was trying to be all fancy and it blew up in my face. So now I am just going to stick with what I know works. So over a month ago we took a family vacation. We drove through Louisiana (stopping overnight in Baton rouge), Mississippi, Alabama, and then Florida, with our final destination being Orlando. We met up with Papa and Gramma G., and uncle JT. Uncle Alex stayed home for basketball camp. On Monday we went to the Kennedy Space Center. We actually had a lot of fun and Kenzi liked it too. We were able to see the Endeavor on the launch pad as it was set to launch the following Monday. Has that launched yet? Kenzi liked running around! She especially like the Snoopy dressed as an astronaut. The thing that Kenzi was bummed about was... there was a simulation ride and she was not tall enough to ride it. Try explaining that to a 4 year old that wears size six clothes! We had a lot of fun playing with gramma and papa and JT. And seriously Alex, you were missed! There are a lot of pictures so you get the full effect of our visit! Enjoy!