Well
she went and did it LOL Despite me begging her to turn three, she decided to
turn seven. Great now next year she’ll want
to be eight, and I only have 363 days to plan something to top this birthday
LOL The trip went great. She loved Orlando. We had sunshine galore, and the heat to
match. Thankfully my A/C in the car
worked well. We found our AirBnB condo
very easily, and bonus it was ready a little bit early. It was super cute, and located on a
resort. It seems that most places down
there are turning from apartments and condos into resort areas to draw
tourists. Quite a lucrative business if
can get a condo to rent out. So walked
into condo, and Staci had a surprise already, the owner had left her treats and
a Happy Birthday sign. Staci had biggest
smile and felt special.
We freshened up
a bit then went to Congo River Golf where Staci got to pan for gemstones. She found a haul LOL in addition to lots of
small gemstones, shark teeth, fossils, she found a piece of amethyst as large
as her hand. She was bouncing up and
down, she was so happy. Since amethyst
is purple it, of course, is her favorite stone right now. To finish off the first day we went swimming
in a perfect temperature pool. Day was a
total success. I will say Orlando has
cheap gas prices, mainly to counter the horrible traffic issues
everywhere. That and the local Walmart
was as busy as a Black Friday sale.
Next morning, we got up and Staci
immediately started bouncing. We were
off to Sea World!!! We got there just as
the park was opening, we even got to park right next to main entrance. Literally right next to it LOL This
serendipity was very appreciated at end of day.
That wasn’t first boon of the day.
We get in and everybody is rushing to the rides, while we
meandered. Guess who comes out? Shamu
the Whale for photo ops. Before they
were even set up they had snagged Staci to be first for pictures. She was so excited LOL we set a leisurely
pace as we looked at everything. We saw
a flock of pink flamingoes being herded down the pathway to their enclosure LOL
that was a funny sight.
Next up was the
sting rays; they were so sleek. They
glided through the water, popping up to give high fives to all the people
wanting to pet them. Staci was a bit
nervous, but she bravely put her hand in and one gave her a fin. After that the highlight of the day,
DOLPHINS!!!! The lady trainer was talking
about these beautiful creatures, making sure all was safe for them and the
people watching, when one swam up in front of us and stopped. The trainer said that was the dolphin’s way
of choosing us to pet her. Oh my
goodness I got to pet a dolphin LOL it was amazing. Staci’s smile lit up her whole face. I wish I had better pictures, but that was
against rules, if dolphin was there, cameras had to be put away for
safety. We stayed with dolphins for
quite a while. After that we went and
saw sea turtles.
 |
| Belle |
 |
| Stitch |
They made me want to
cry. These were the ones who had been
rescued from the ocean. One named Belle
had a huge chunk out of her shell and her back flippers were paralyzed from
being hit by a boat. Another was Stitch
who had a flipper missing after meeting up with a shark. They have nice lives now, but they had
endured a great deal. SeaWorld does an amazing job at helping sea
creatures. OK after that we froze
*brrrrrrrr* we went to see the Empire of the Penguins. Only place in Florida where you need a heavy
winter coat. We couldn’t really enjoy
the penguins because it was about 30 something degrees inside and we were in
shorts and tank tops. The only bad part
of the day was the Wild Artic helicopter simulator. It was so bumpy that I almost lost my lunch. In
the end it was worth it because we got to see walruses, a beluga whale, and
seals. When we went out there was a
place where you could pet a shark. Guess
what I did LOL I have galeophobia
(excessive fear of sharks) yet I actually pet a shark. No picture proof, but I
really did it!!! We didn’t go on many
rides. Or see shows, we just enjoyed looking at the animals and the shops. By the end of the day we were spent and
sunburned. The pool felt wonderful that
night. We did a lot more, but that is for the next post…
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