Our Vacation to Florida - Day 5

Today we went to SeaWorld. This was what I was looking forward to the whole trip! Our first encounter was at Turtle Point. We got to see endangered and threatened species of Sea Turtles. They were turtles who were injured.

Our next stop was Stingray Lagoon. They are slimy little buggers!! They have a mucus covering to help them against disease. Sean and Ray fed them. Katie wasn't interested in touching the little fish.

We wandered over to Dolphin Cove. The dolphins were so close! You are able to feed the dolphins for an additional cost. (Don't forget to bring cash... they don't accept Visa or MasterCard) We decided to come back and feed the dolphins the next day after we stopped at MAC to get cash. We did go to the underwater viewing section and saw those magnificent animals playing. They are so graceful and beautiful!

Next it was onto the Manatee Rescue. We lucked out. It was feeding time. It's amazing to know they only eat spinach and lettuce!

We had the awesome experience of feeding the sea lions and seals. They are loud creatures, especially when they are hungry! The birds were trying to grab the fish before the seals and sea lions. They are definitely pests!

Our timing was pretty good! They were about to start the "Blue Horizon" Dolphin Show. There were acrobats, dolphins, and birds. Katie and I sat in the front row of the SPLASH ZONE! We got wet, but it wasn't too bad. Katie posed with some of the actors after the show.

Onto Journey of Atlantis. It is a water coaster ride. Ray, Sean, and Katie got the "pleasure" of going on this ride... I was more than happy to sit this one out! The ride lets you off in the gift shop (like they all do...). Inside the gift shop is an aquarium. There are fish in the floor, ceiling, and walls. It was really cool!

The kids decided they needed to "kick it up a notch" and go on a REAL ride! They went on the Kraken. It is the longest roller coaster in Orlando! It has twists and turns and it made me very nervous!!! The kids had a blast!

After the Kraken, we journeyed through the Penguin Encounter. The Fiordland Crested Penguins were hysterical! They were diving and swimming around like little kids. The King Penguins moved in miltary like formation.

Our next adventure was going into the Shark Encounter. The moving sidewalk through the shark tank was great! The sharks were swiming aside and ABOVE us. When we went outside, Katie got to feed the some of the smaller sharks. They didn't seem too hungry. It was a little dissapointing.

We decided to take in a show... A'lure - The Call of the Ocean. The acrobats were AMAZING! It was a great show!

They have some Clydesdale Horses on site. Those horses are stunning! They are so large and powerful. Ray and Katie got their picture taken with one (named Kelly). They also got to pet it.

Next stop was Katie's favorite: The Wild Arctic. There was a brief exhibit of the Polar Express. Then it was off the the Beluga Whales, Polar Bears, & Walruses. They have to keep it cold for the animals. There was actual ice on the walls! Katie did a report on Beluga Whales earlier in the year at school, so she was THRILLED to see actual Belugas. We spent a lot of time there! It was hard to take pictures there because of the lighting.

We were able to make it to the Shamu Christmas Miracles Show. It's amazing what those whales can do! We made sure NOT to sit in the SPLASH ZONE for this show!!!

We did A LOT this day! Katie just passed out after her shower.

Our Vacation to Florida - Day 4

Day 4 - this was the last day at The Hard Rock. We got a few pics in front of the guitar fountain. We just got everything packed and headed over to the Marriott.

We got to the Marriott and decided to take the day to chill out. The boys stayed in the room and took naps. Katie and I went down to the pool. Katie met a girl from California and played with her for the afternoon. I got to read my book and just relax.

For dinner we took the I-Trolley down to Tony Roma's Restaurant. (The I-Trolley runs up and down Universal Blvd. and International Dr. It is a neat mode of transportation.)

Our Vacation to Florida - Day 3

Day 3 - We returned to the Islands of Adventure. Katie wanted to see what she looked like as a "Jamaican-Mon". Too funny!!!

Our first ride was Spiderman. We have no pictures from this ride because it was INSANE!!! I got so sick! It whipped and turned me around like a rag doll! It took me a while to recover. The kids went on Dr. Doom's Fear Fall next. It was VERY HIGH! Then they went right on the Hulk. Luckily neither of them take after me! I am so glad they can ride tough rides without getting sick.

Ray and Katie went on Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges. They got SOAKED!!!!!

We then went into Jurassic Park. I was a little disappointed. It was ok, but nothing special.

Ray, Sean, and Katie went on the River Adventure. They didn't get too wet. There was a T-Rex right above them and to "avoid the dinosaur" they dropped into the water. There was also a spitting dinosaur in the ride.

We went into Poseidon's Fury. It was an awesome show! Lots of water and fire.

Sean wanted to head back to the hotel so we went back to the Hulk one more time for them to ride it before he left the park.

After Sean left, we went back to Seuss Land. I just loved it there so much!

Our Vacation to Florida - Day 2

We went to Universal and Islands of Adventure on day 2. We were having lunch and a bird was in the restaurant. All of a sudden we heard a "WHACK"! A bird ran into the window! It was hysterical!!!

Ray, Sean, and Katie went on the ET Ride, the Simpson's Ride, and the MIB ride. Then all 4 of us went on the Jaws ride.

Katie got her face painted. She was so cute!

We then went into the Disaster and the BeetleJuice Shows.

Sean and Katie got to climb a "New York City Wall". They were getting ready for the Macy's Holiday Parade while we were walking to the Return of the Mummy Ride. Some street performers grabbed Katie and Sean. It's amazing what a pretty girl can get Sean to do!!!

Katie, Sean, & Ray then went into Revenge of the Mummy and Twister.

We decided we did not want to wait another 45 minutes to watch the Macy's Holiday Parade, so we went to Islands of Adventure.

Sean is always connected with friends... even in Florida.

Our first stop was SuessLand. I must admit, this is my favorite part of the parks. Dr. Suess just makes me smile. Everything is so magical! Ray and Katie went on One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. They got soaked!

Right next to the ride was the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. It was TERRIFIC! They had a slight audio malfunction at the beginning, but the narrarator thought quickly and played it up. They even had a real dog playing Max!

The carousel is called the Carol-Seuss-el! It's adorable!

One of Sean's favorite stories from Dr. Seuss is "The Lorax".

We had dinner at Circus McGurkus Restaurant. The tran went around the top of the restaurant and out into the park. We jumped on that after dinner. It was an amazing view, especially in the dark.

Sean headed off for the hotel and Ray, Katie and I walked around City Walk. There are some great restaurants there. This is the World's Largest Hard Rock Cafe!

We took the water ferry back to the hotel. We stopped in front of the hotel to check out the guitar fountain at night.

It was a very long, but AWESOME day!

Our Vacation to Florida - Day 1

Imagine my surprise when Ray called me on his way to work in April telling me he won a trip for 4 to Florida. I thought he was just entered into a drawing for the contest, but it turns out he did win a trip! It was a 4day/3night trip to Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure, 3 night stay at the Hard Rock Hotel, and roundtrip airfare on Southwest Airlines. THANKS WMGK 102.9!!!!

We decided to take the trip in December when Sean was finished his first semester at Shippensburg and it wasn't extremely hot in Florida. We figured since we were already going to be down here we should extend the trip and go to SeaWorld and Aquatica (their new water park).

We got a 7am flight on Saturday morning out of Philly. Having to be there at 5am was no picnic, but getting to watch the sunrise as we were taking off....PRICELESS!

Our pilot's name was JR. He was very nice. On our way out he let Katie sit in the cockpit for a picture.

We got to the Orlando airport in good time and the flight was smooth. We hopped a ride on a shuttle van (Mears Transportation - also part of the prize). John, our driver, was awesome! He was very knowledgeable and shared a lot of info. He even took us past the upside-down house. (It's called the WonderWorks and it has interactive exhibits) We got to the Hard Rock and it was very impressive! The palm trees were gorgeous! Since we were early, we kept our bags there and walked over to Universal (yes, it's that close!)

We went over to Universal to "check things out" and ended up going on a few rides. (Shrek 4-D and Jimmy Neutron). The best part was having the Express Passes because we were staying at the Hard Rock. You get to bypass the LONG lines and go right to the beginning of the line. It is AWESOME!!!

We then went back to the hotel to chill out. It had been a very early day for all of us. Ray and Sean took a nap and Katie and I went to the pool. Katie went down the 260 foot water slide! She LOVED it!!!

We ended up just chillin' out by the pool, relaxing in the hot tub, and the kids played guitar hero and ping pong. It was a great beginning to the vacation!!!