Day 6 - Tubing at Rock Springs

Our original plan for Friday was to go to Disney but we weren't willing to pay the full ticket price. After we found someone on Craiglist who said they had 3 day park hopper tickets waiting at will call, we headed to the park. The tickets weren't ready yet and they assured us that they were working on finalizing them. An hour later, they finally told us that they couldn't get tickets as it was too short notice. We were not happy people! We paid for parking and had waited for over an hour in the heat. To try and make up for the situation, our contact promised us 2 day park hopper passes for free starting on Saturday. We were skeptical, but thought if the tickets didn't come through then we would just pay for tickets ourselves and go Saturday anyway.

With the day almost half over, we decided to travel up to Apopka and tube down Rock Springs. It was something that Devin remembered doing as a kid and thought we would all enjoy. He was right! While it was a bit cold, the water was crystal clear and blue. The surroundings were also really beautiful with lush green trees and plants on either side of the water. We saw lots of fish, birds, and even some turtles. It was exactly what needed after the long day we had just had at Universal Studios.

Two Years + 3 Months

The many faces of Zander. The last one makes me laugh. Not sure what I was doing that made him make that face at me.

  * He gives kisses, hugs, and says I Love You. * Always meets new people where ever we go. He makes a point of saying hi and goodbye to everyone. He'll point Devin and I out to people so they can meet his mom and dad. He has even started to flirt with girls. * Watches Dora, Blues Clues, and Teletubbies which is a nice break for us from watching Gabbas. * He is no longer scared of the MGM Lion, but we milked that for all it was worth. When he was naughty, we would tell him that we were getting the lion out and he was suddenly good. He thinks it's funny now, but every animal he sees is a lion. * He is quite the jet setter. Aside from visiting Florida this month, he's been to California, Utah, Missouri, and Arkansas. * Loves to eat cereal and would probably eat it for every meal. * Doesn't watch where he walks at all. He often runs into people and even has knocked people over. My favorite is when he'll go up to a stranger and put his head between their legs. * He is obsessed with belly buttons. I'll often find him sitting with his shirt lifted up and finger inside his. He'll even find our belly buttons and try and play with them too. * Calls me mama. * Loves One Direction. Anytime we hear "The One Thing" or "What Makes You Beautiful" he dances and sings loud. *

Day 5 - Rocket Launch & Universal Studios

 

When we first arrived at the beach, we found out there was going to be a rocket launch on Thursday morning. Since these don't occur often, we knew we had to stay another night to watch it. Devin and I woke up at 3:45am and made our way to the beach. There was a large group of people already there waiting for the launch. Even though we were close to Cape Canaveral, we couldn't see much. It looked like a ball of light move across the sky.

RockIt Roller Coaster. You pick your own music to listen to during the ride.

Harry Potter Land

After the launch, we got a few hours of sleep and then headed to Orlando.  We hoped to go to Disney, but ended up at Universal Studios for the day.  Going to a theme park with a kid is definitely different from when you go with just adults. We planned our day around Zander, looking for the shows he'd like to see and characters he'd like to meet. He was so excited to meet Sponge Bob, see the Barney show, ride the carousel in Dr. Seuss land, play in the water area with Curious George, and ride on Fievel's water slide. Devin and I didn't miss out on the fun either. Universal has the best baby swap system out of any theme park I've seen. We would wait in the line together which made it nice to have someone to talk to. Once we reached the ride, one of us would wait in their air conditioned child swap room with Zander while the other rode and then we would switch spots. It was fun to see Harry Potter land and drink butter beer, ride the RockIt roller coaster, see old shows that we remembered from when we were kids, and eat all the churros we wanted.

Day 4 - Beach & Air Boat Ride

We spent the last day in Cocoa Beach with just the three of us. In the morning, we went back to the beach as it was another gorgeous day. Devin went surfing for the last time before we had to return his board. Zander and Devin built a sand castle. I chased Zander up and down the beach.

After a few hours, we returned to the house to start packing up our stuff and then headed to Orlando for an air boat tour around Boggy Creek.