Well, we are home again but probably not for long. We may be getting away next weekend too!!! Or sooner???
The trip to Orlando was awesome. We saw Shamu, and more importantly, Barney!!! We hopped on a plane from Chattanooga to Orlando and arrived to nice weather. Summer immediately decided we needed to go swimming at the pool which you could see from our balcony. We had a 3 bedroom condo all to ourselves. So, we each had our own room...LOL. We cooked dinner every night and ate breakfast either in the lobby or our room. Clint even learned how to cook fish and baked potatoes! He was happy to leave the pool early so he could go put the fish in the oven when the baked potatoes were about ready. I would stay at the pool and convince Summer it was time to leave the pool. She really liked it the best of anything we did I think.
At SeaWorld, we first watched the sea lion and otter show which she was scared of. Then we went to a dog and cat show. It was cute. She really liked it and Clint took her up to the front to pet one of the dogs after the show. I think it was her favorite show of the day! Then we went to play in the kids area where they have slides, sand, ropes to climb on, and rides. We tried to get on one ride, but when they were fixing to buckle us in she decided she didn't want to ride. So, we got off and didn't try again on that one. We did finally get on one ride (teacups I think) and she was a little scared when we went up in the air and I spun the cup around. But, she did pretty good and didn't pitch a fit or anything. After that I tried to take her to the fountains where she could play. We put her bathing suit on, but she didn't want any of that either. Hmmmm. We decided to eat lunch and then go to the Shamu show. We fed some birds, some kind of Ibis, a few of our fries which Summer enjoyed doing. She got scared at this show too. We think maybe the music was too loud, but maybe the animals were just big. ??? I got quite a few good hugs during those scared moments so it was all worth it. She enjoyed the dolphin show. We were the closest to the front we had been all day at those show. Maybe she was just too tired to be scared. We left shortly after that and she was asleep before we got on the interstate.
Universal Studios was fun too. We mainly went there because Barney was there. It basically cost us about $150 to see Barney (and for Clint to be on Fear Factor Live). We didn't do much else at the park. We did try to ride a ride when we got there, but Summer didn't really enjoy it. It was really loud and we were sitting in front of a big screen, flying through the city with Jimmy Neutron or somebody. Our seats were in the front so they did not move like the others, but she still didn't like it. We decided that was enough rides for the day. :) I did get to ride on the MIB ride which was pretty cool. I had to shoot aliens as we went through the ride and spun around. I didn't even know we were supposed to be shooting until after the ride had already started....LOL. The man was going to let me ride again, but I figured I better get back to Clint and Summer. We walked by the Fear Factor Live set and they were doing casting for the next show. I convinced Clint to do it and Summer and I left him to get ready for the show. I beat three little girls at a water shooting competition and won Summer the biggest prize they had. It was fun. Then we went to see Barney while we waited for Clint's show to start. At first when we saw Barney and Baby Bop and BJ she was scared and would not touch them. I had to hold her to get a picture with them at first. They were in the playhouse the whole time we were so she kind of got used to them. We left and went and watched Clint come in 2nd place at the fear factor show. It was fun and he won two tickets back to both Universal Parks which is worth about $175 (oh yeah and a Fear Factor hat). He was happy he did it. He got to hang onto a bar and then drop about 30-40 feet when he lost his grip. He did several other stunts, but ended up getting beat bya 20 year old girl. :) After that we took Clint to Barney's playhouse and she was much more used to Barney this time. She actually got upset when he had to leave to go get ready for his show. We got a pizza and went to get in line for his show (which btw you don't need to get there early for - go for the back row when they finally let you stand outside the doors!!!). She enjoyed the show. We sang and danced and clapped. I even enjoyed it. We ended up going back to it again before we left, but she was too tired to sing and dance this time.
The day before we left, we went to Cocoa Beach. There were tons of shells on the beach which meant I was in SHELL HEAVEN!!! Summer even walked in the sand a little (with her water socks on), but she suckered Clint into carrying her to the shore line. She picked up shells and we found a few cups on the beach which we put shells in. She dumped hers out a few times, but I didn't let her dump mine when she tried (the 2nd time anyway...LOL). I caught on quick! We went out on the pier there and I fished a little. I didn't catch anything but one of the supporting poles. :) Summer got attacked by a pelican. Those birds were about her size and weren't scared of anything. She got tired so Clint took her to the car where she fell asleep. So, I packed up my fishing gear and left. We drove back to Orlando and grabbed a little lunch at Taco Bell. We went out for our final swim in the pool and then called it a vacation.
We headed out early Saturday morning. We got to the airport in plenty of time and Summer entertained some of the other people waiting around us. She was a good girl both ways on the airplane. We all three actually slept part of the way on the way back. It was nice to get away and make a few special memories. Bear and Blackie both joined us on this trip as you can see from several of the pics. They are definitely Summer's partners in crime.
