Florida Summer 2011, Part XII
We’re at Grandma Sue’s! The kids are sharing the iPad! See this image larger.
The morning of the 23rd, Ian grabs the morning paper. See this image larger.
Melissa and I sighed about how much older he looks. Seems to be happening a lot. It’s ALMOST… like he’s constantly growing. See this image larger.
Grandma Sue got as many hugs in as she could, because we were on our way out of town shortly. See this image larger.
Smiles, everybody! See this image larger.
Best one I could get with Nina in the picture… she didn’t want to be held… See this image larger.
…she wanted to run! See this image larger.
And before we knew it, it was time to go home! Thanks for joining us on our Florida adventure, 2011! I might have ONE video to share from the trip; most of them didn’t tell enough of a story to be included. See this image larger.
Dialogue
When Grandma Sue, Ian and I were at Walmart, talking about Dora the cartoon character –
Me – Do you like Dora, Ian?
Ian – I LOVE Dora.
Me – Would you marry her?
Ian – No, she’s not on the earfth.
Me – Well, where is she from?
Ian – She’s not real life she’s imaginary person on the show, not real life.Me – Would Nina like this? (toy)
Ian – That would be AWESOME!When Ian tried a new flavor of ice cream.
Me – Do you like it, what do you think?
Ian – I LOVE it.Later the adults were laughing about the line above.
Ian – It wasn’t really funniest thing I ever said, it was only a little silly. Like halfway.
Back at the Sesame Street section of the park! We told you we’d come back Nina! 
We posed for a shot with Elmo. Both kids immediately freaked out at the big, non-speaking Elmo, we’re lucky we got us all in the same shot. Some photoshoppery on the part of the technician at the park resulted in us magically being transported from a room with a green screen, to Sesame Street! 
This one turned out much better and was free! I really do think that it was Elmo’s scale-change that bothered the kids. Big Bird didn’t scare either one of them! (The internet calls the sneaking of one’s face into a photo where one is not expressly meant to be the subject of the photo a “photobomb.” Thus, Grover, looking at us through the window, is photobombing us. You might have to look at this larger to see what I’m talking about — regardless, it is a good shot of all of us, so it’ll be worth the click!) 
Time for another run on the Air Grover! 
Ian’s third time, and he loved every second of it! 
Gramma Barb was on Nina duty during the ride, thank you! 
Ian managed to get to a place where I had to run all over to catch up to him… and in fact at one point I didn’t think I could get to him at all. 
Cousin Connor to the rescue! He helped me keep an eye where I couldn’t go, and gave me status reports. SUCH a good kid. On the way out of the park, Connor played a basketball game and won a bunch of little basketballs. A park ride manager asked Connor if he’d like to exchange them for one big professional-sized ball. HE REFUSED. “I’m going to give them to my cousins and sister.” Awesome. Just awesome. 
Hard to see, but Nina got a little rope burn on her face… it was amazing how quickly it went away. Ah to be young and quick-healing! 
*Merry-go-round!* Nina took a couple rides on a merry-go-round, and I don’t think anybody got pictures of that. 🙁 
These three ended up on a big bouncy inflatable trampoline thing for awhile, I did get some pictures of that, but decided not too many of them were keepers. 
I have no idea what I’d call this ride, but I’m going to guess it wasn’t much fun. It just rotated around a central stem. It didn’t rotate sideways at all… and it took about 5 minutes to load the kids because the person manning the ride had to secure and lock the gate as she returned each kid to a parent. The kids look a little tired, no? 
On the other hand… good ride for this little girl, one of the few that she could actually go on. So I’m glad they had it there! 
Ok, so… next time we go to an amusement park, I’m going to explain that we have to leave in a different fashion. You can’t just spring “we’re going to leave now” on a kid. The trick is good cop/good cop. “Mommy, do you think we have time to squeeze ONE more ride in?” “Yeah, I guess so. It’ll have to be quick.” Generally Melissa and I fall into this rhythm automatically. It is much better than what we had to do here, which was more or less giving him another ride to stop him from crying. 
So here’s Ian’s one more ride! He loved it! 
And took it very seriously! 
At long last, time to go back to The Villages. They slept very well that night. Thank you again Grandma Barb and Grampa Ray for an excellent vacation, your hospitality and generosity! 
Not too many photo-ops of Nina in an amusement park at this age. She surrendered to a nap that had been calling her name since it started getting hotter. In other weather news, eventually there was a thunderstorm, and the lightning was enough that they stopped the rides for awhile. 
I rode the log ride once, and when the group decided to go again, I hung back and took pictures, which turned out to be a good plan; it made room for everybody to ride in the right spots, etc. I cropped in tight on this picture, they were pretty far away; thanks for waving, ladies! 
There’s a camera off to the side that these guys were posing for, the picture turned out great! 
Splash! 
To think he was scared of the mini-log ride bump, if even for a moment, look at Ian now! And Kaylee’s lovin’ this! 
Don’t smile too much, here it comes! 
Splash! 
Nina was awake again and squirming! 
Air Kunzes! 
Ian and Kaylee rode the same ride that they started the day out with… both were pretty tired, but I got Ian to smile with a couple noises and faces. Good kid. 
*Can you tell me how to get, how to get back to Sesame Streeeeet?* Alright Nina, we’re on our way back to Sesame Street, next entry! 
Here’s that animated GIF of Ian’s faces!
For lunch we went to a nice place with some shade but had a weird rat-like creature that some nearby-folk freaked out about even though pigeons didn’t set off those same alarm bells. I guess because a pigeon doesn’t run up your pantleg? It was actually a pretty cute little bugger and it didn’t actually bother anybody… anyway… uh… where was I. Oh, here’s the many facial expressions of Ian. (And one with Kaylee!) I set the camera on the table, tipped it up, and turned the flip display around so that Ian could see the pictures as I was taking them. Enjoy! 
Someday I’ll make an animated GIF out of all of these, just for fun. Please feel free to view on, mostly without caption interruption! 
(My favorite shot of the bunch!) 
Still in the Sesame Street area, the kids cooled off in the water park. (cousin Connor, Grampa Ray and Uncle Ben went on their own to do more Connor-appropriate things. That worked out well!) 
I told him not to run. There were no casualties reported. 
Somebody red and fuzzy walked by, here. 
Ian and Kaylee had a lot of fun in the water, but it was time to move on. 
This was a special show with the tall Sesame Street characters… the audience was feeling a bit hot. I can’t even imagine how hot it was in the Elmo suit. 
Nina explains the identity of the red fuzzy gentleman currently dancing on the stage. 
I asked Ian to smile as this was his first official train ride. Later when I asked him about his first train ride, he had no idea what I was talking about. A good daddy would have dragged him to the front of the train so he could see the engine. Alas, we moved on before I had thought about it, so he’ll probably tell you he’s never been on a train. 
Ian and I had our own row thanks to the people that were sitting behind us, who moved for Ian’s sake. Those were some good people! 
All the ladies on this side of the family in one row! (Grandma Barb’s taking the picture, and that’s Aunt Mel’s chin!) 
Hi Puddin’! (Or Sweet Pea, or Punkin’… she’s got a lot of nicknames.) 
Hi Mommy! (Or Melisasa, or Dissy, or Sweetie!) 
Now some “mood” shots of the ride… 
There’s three giraffes in this picture. Look at it large and see if you can spot them! 
Z is for… 
Rhinos are Daddy’s favorite animal. True story. 
They had some big sleepy kitties on display as well. 
This white one was gorgeous, but looked a little thin and unhappy. (Although I guess all cats look unhappy and thin when wet, right?) 
July 21st continues for the next couple of entries, we have a lot of pictures. Granted some of them are “mood” shots (like the next one, below) just to give you an idea of what the kids were seeing to make faces like this. (Keep in mind that the blog is for you and I for now… but someday this is for the kids. They’ll probably want to see things in context.) 
We happened to be in time for a show with a bunch of trained wild critters. 
Ian loved it! Kaylee loved it! 
Nina loved it! 
The weird lady in charge loved it! (This kangaroo-like animal, called a wallaby, was not nearly as in love with it.) 
It was honestly enjoyable, even for adults – mostly because of the array of trained animals that they had there. 
We left the show happy and perhaps a little cooler than before. Mommy posed with this happy boy! 
It was around here that Nina noticed a familiar face on a nearby banner. 
“ELMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” 
Yup, Busch Gardens has a whole chunk of the park dedicated to Sesame Street! Of course, as a toddler, meeting the six foot tall version of your heroes is different than the one on TV, that appears to be about your size. Tears were involved. Ian wouldn’t even stay in the picture! 
From that previous ride, Ian graduated immediately to the Air Grover. 
If you squint, that’s us there in the background. 
The Air Grover goes up, steeply down and to the left in a tight circle, then right in a tight circle, and is done. It is, for all intents and purposes, a very real roller coaster. So this counts as Ian’s first roller coaster ride! 
Did he like it? You tell me! Wait, don’t tell me, I’ll tell you: He loved it. A second, and much later third ride on the Air Grover was in high demand by our little man. 
Kaylee and her Aunt Dissy were right behind us on that first ride! 
Of the millions of ways I adore Ian, this is one of them. This was a mini-log ride. It was an extremely flat track, except for one bump, that Ian had apparently overlooked as he was standing in line. He went from looking a little concerned… to what you see here… flat out terror… *WHAT IS HAPPENING!!!!* 
…to understanding… 
…to relief… 
…and finally hysterical enjoyment! 
July 21st, we were treated to an amazing day at Busch Gardens. Let’s open up with a big thank you for a whole lot of fun. Thank you! 
This is us arriving in the parking tram, Grampa Ray pretended it was like a roller coaster! 
Welcome to Busch Gardens! 
Welcome to Busch Gardens! 
Grandma Barb gets a grin out of Nina regarding her zooey. Guy in background: *Pfft, babies and their pacifiers… mmm bucket of cotton candy!!!* 
Mommy talks Ian through being safe and brave on his first real ride. 
There’s a sweet smile or two! Hold on you guys! 
Ian tries to determine if this is fun. 
At some point, sheer terror starts to go away, and one learns to enjoy oneself and kick back and have a good time. You can see that moment here, but I’m not sure if we’re talking about Ian on the ride, or me letting him spread his little wings a bit. 
And there it is, the smile that will break 1,000 hearts once he gets to high school. 
Good smile, Kaylee! 
King and queen of the jungle! 
Nina may not look all that happy in this picture, but just you wait… because this day has just begun, and Busch Gardens has a secret… 
…a red, fuzzy secret. 
July 20th, there’s a properly exposed beach shot. Hi family! 
Consider this a mood-shot. 
These guys played together pretty nice most of the time. Good sharing, etc. 
*Seriously? Ok look, if you don’t stop taking my picture I’m going to pretend I’m sleeping.* 
Zzzzz. 
Many of the rest of our band of merry adventurers! 
Someday I’ll photoshop this picture of Ian smiling… 
…with this picture of Nina smiling. 
I should probably tell you where we are! This day we went from the beach to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, mostly to see Winter, the dolphin with a prosthetic tail. Apparently there’s a movie about Winter called “Dolphin Tale” that will hit theaters in September. 
Good smile on Connor. So hard to believe how big he is. 
The kids took a necessary break from the heat of the sun to do a little drawing. 
*I need a wipe.* 
A different dolphin says hello to Melissa 
Iandiana Jones found the secret door but could not translate the ancient markings… “S… T… O… P?” 
Kaylee does her best spokesmodel pose. “Shells.” 
Nina checks out the otters 
I dunno, Mr. Shark… I’ve seen that kid eat pizza. You don’t have a chance. 
Awaiting the dolphin show. 
Nina loved the applause more than the dolphins! 
At dinner, that night… *Hey, Mr., does your dog bite?* (I believe the classic answer to this is “No. (chomp) but that’s not my dog.”) 
*Good doggie!* 
July 19th, and we’re back on the beach! Sand-covered zooey in 3…2…1… 
Family lunch! 
The day went by quickly… Ian and I joined the ladies while the rest of the fellas went to a baseball game. (I had joined the expedition too late to get tickets with them.) 
We went to a nearby park after dinner, and the kids had fun! 
*The floor is made of waffles!* 
A couple weeks after this shot was taken, I bought her a toy stroller… she was having way too much fun with this one! 
Off for more fun! 
After that we went on the beach one more time before the sun went down… 
…to watch the sun go down! 
The kids had fun in the sand, and had a treasure hunt. 
And then it was time to go in. 
Grandma Barb read the kids a bed-time story! 
Nina moved back to her own room… 
Here Kaylee poses like a princess! 
I think Kaylee and I are the night-owls on this side of the family. She watched Scooby in her fort; I’d sit on the balcony and check out how everything was doing on the internet with my iPad, (Particularly checking the contest video, lol…) enjoying the cooler night. 
July 18th, and Nina decides all this warmth is good for a nap! (Must have been sudden… she couldn’t quite get that last goldfish cracker to her mouth, either!) 
Connor was a real pro with his boogie board! (And nice shot, Aunt Mel!) 
Here’s Aunt Mel, Kaylee and Connor making some sand castles! 
My beach shots that day turned out pretty sad, due to some erroneous camera settings, and being unable to see the LCD screen in the Florida sun. :-\ 
We had dinner at Crabby Bill’s that night. 
The manly men! 
I liked the smiles from the previous image, but I had to include this one, Ian’s sippy-in-a-mug is the icing on the cake!
The girly women! 
Off to the playground at a cool pier in the area! 
There are shades of Laugh-In with this picture, but I’m going to pretend I didn’t notice. (Actually James Bond, too!) 
Woohoooooo! 
Safe! 