Let me start by saying that we all had a fabulous time! Eliot had so much fun, he didn't know what to do with himself! I had been telling Eliot for weeks that we were going on an airplane to take us to our vacation in Florida. I think he caught on pretty quickly because from then on, whenever "plane" or "Florida" came up in casual discussion (with him or anyone else), he immediately pointed (and still does point) up to the sky. He did really well on the plane. He slept for about an hour and spent the other two looking at all the people. We flew JetBlue so they also had screens on the backs of the seats... I set his to Animal Planet. He loves Animal Planet.
When we got to our rental house, we couldn't have been more pleased! It was beautiful! Five bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and plenty of running space for Eliot. He even got his own room for once... AND for the first time ever, he slept from 8:30pm to 5:30am.... well, for one night anyway. I was shocked. He loved his room. He loved jumping on the beds in his room (woops).
Day two we attempted Sea World. It was the day after the awful incident with Dawn Brancheau and it was cool and WINDY so we practically had the park to ourselves. Eliot really enjoyed the dolpins. As I said, hardly anyone was there, so he really got to get up good and close to them. We also tried to sit through the Sea Lion show, but we didn't make it the whole way through. I guess those shows aren't made to hold a 17 month-old's attention. I think his favorite thing to do (At SEAworld) was chase the birds. Thank you, Nana for those expensive Sea World passes, when all we needed was to go to the park and chase birds. All kidding aside, though, Eliot loved Sea World! We got him a red hat with a dolphin on it that he now wears all the time.
Day three we went to Gatorland. Day 3 was supposed to be our down day, but it was so nice out and we didn't feel like just hanging around so I did a little research to see what was in the area and we chose Gatorland for a few reasons. I thought he would get a kick out of the "giant lizzards," but once again, he was more fascinated with the birds. Gatorland actually had an aviary with parakeets that you could feed for $1. We had Ted hold the seeds and Eliot and they all flocked over to them both. They had birds all over them! Eliot didn't know weather to reach out and pet them or shoo them away. Gatorland also had a "chooch" (Eliot-speak for train), so of course, we had to ride it! He loved it and made the sign for "more" when it was all over.
Day four was my day for flea markets. I wanted to get a fake Coach bag since I had heard that that's the place to get them. We went to one flea market in the morning with little luck-- nothing I was interested in owning. Then we tried another and although, they had cool things, we still didn't get anything and all the fake coaches were either too fake or just not my style. With one flea market left to try, and a tired baby and a cranky husband, we decided to just quit. Later that day is when my cousins, Lois, Shelby & Billy (who live in Ocala) came down to visit. Eliot took to Shelby immediately. For the rest of the trip, they were best buds!
Day five we went to the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens. We all got in for Free because Ted & I have a membership to a group of zoos and science centers and this one was included. It was your pretty typical zoo, although, I really enjoyed the elephants & the kangaroos. There was another chooch here, so of course, we had to go for another ride. After the zoo, we all decided that we would go to the one flea market that we hadn't been to the day before. Just after we got there, Eliot discovered a booth that had used toys... and specifically, a little ride-on, bright pink, Strawberry Shortcake bus. He would not leave that bus alone, so I said "what the heck," pulled out the $3 and bought it for him. It was quite possibly the best $3 I have ever spent. He rode it the whole rest of the way. I finally found a fake Coach that I liked. And it broke the next day. WORST $38 I've ever spent. When we got back to the house, I had Lois give Eliot his dinner while I took Shelby outside to do a quick photo shoot. We ended up getting some beautiful photos! And in our photo shoot travels, we found a patch of melons. I had no idea what they were so I picked one to bring back to the house. Lois then informed me that they were called "musk melons" and that the cows ate them. Interesting!
We were having such a good time that we decided to stay a few extra days. Although we didn't have our house past Tuesday, Lois said that we could stay in her sister-in-law's camper that was parked at their house. So on Monday (the 6th day) we said good bye to Lois, Shelby & Billy and we went back to Sea World for the second time (since our passes were good for two days). The weather was better this time and it was definitely more crowded. They were doing the whale shows again (which after the incident they had canceled for a few days) so we got to see that and it was awesome. I went to Sea World when I was 14 (with the marching band) and I remember the whale show being the best part... and it still was. Ted and I also managed to make it over to the penguin exhibit the during our second trip to Sea World. Eliot, however, tuckered out from the whale show, was too sleepy to stay awake, but we tried! The temps outside reached the low 70's so we decided to try for a dip in the pool since Eliot had been dying to do that since we arrived. It was still too cold for me (the ultimate wimp when it comes to water temps), but Ted & Eliot enjoyed themselves.
On day 7 we packed up and said good bye to our beautiful rental house and headed for Ocala. We settled into our camper and then introduced Eliot to Rusty, their 85 lb doberman. Eliot loved him! Well, I think (like his Mama), he would have been OK without all the kisses. Rusty also helped himself to Eliot's Strawberry Shortcake bus. I guess because he could squeak the horn, he thought it was his toy. This was sort of a power struggle between Eliot & Rusty for the remainder of the trip.
We didn't do much on day 8. We drove around a little to see what was around. We tried to go to the Discovery Science Center, but it was only half open because they were moving and there wasn't anything for Eliot's age group up yet. That night, we went to the playground, where we were the only ones there. Eliot had a BALL playing with Shelby. He also loved climbing up the small slide by himself!
Day 9 Ted, Eliot, Shelby & I visited Silver Springs in Ocala. It is an amusement park with animals and a petting zoo. It was awesome! We all really enjoyed it. We went on a glass bottom boat ride over the Springs and got to see so many cool fish in the clearest of clear water. It was so cool, although Eliot wasn't 100% sure about it. We got to feed a giraffe! Eliot rode on the carousel with Shelby and just thought that was the best thing ever. Then we went to the petting zoo part and walking around, feeding the animals. After that, we went out for Pizza and then we went to see Billy's baseball practice where Eliot finally got to meet William (Lois's husband). He had been leaving for work before Eliot woke up, and getting home after Eliot went to bed and he had been dying to meet Eliot. It was so cold that night, and nearing Eliot's 7:30 bedtime, so we only stayed for about 20 minutes. Then we went home, put Eliot to bed and packed up for our morning flight the next day.
It was so sad to leave. Ted starts his new job this coming Monday (the 15th) so we know that we won't get an opportunity like this again for a long time. We are so glad that we did it. We wish we could have had nicer weather while we were down there, but it was definitely a vacation that we will remember for a long, long time.
*Click on any of the photos to see them larger
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