Florida

What a whirlwind week!  Brian had a conference for work in Orlando so we decided to make a trip out of it.  He flew down and the boys and I made the long, long drive with the help of Nonna and Great Aunt Carmelina.  I have to admit I was really dreading the drive.  It went better than I could have imagined and after many, many hours in the van we arrived in Florida.  Unfortunately we still had a few more hours to go to get to our destination.  The orange juice samples perked everyone up and we survived all 1,000+ miles of the drive.

 When I was little I went to Florida several times with my mom and Aunt.  I remember visiting and alligator farm and getting a plastic gator that I slept with until my mom ran over him with the lawnmower.  I was all excited when I found Gatorland so my boys could have a similar memory.  Despite the giant gator mouth at the entrance it really wasn't so cheesy. 

 It was actually pretty fantastic.  It's not everyday you get to be up close with a gator!

 Will wasn't a fan of getting his picture taken.  In fact he was a  bit cranky - I don't think he likes the heat.  It was pretty hot. 

 Jack had a great time.  He kept hopping out of the stroller to point out fun things.  I think he liked all the birds just as much as the gators.

 All three boys were pretty thrilled that Gatorland had a train.  It was a nice little tour around the grounds. 

 I think their favorite part of the whole thing was the splash pad.  We weren't very well prepared so they just took off their shirts and ran around like wild men in their shorts.  They loved every second of it!

We knew Disney wasn't in the cards this trip but we couldn't go down without at least a little Disney time, so we visited downtown Disney.

 Day two was spent at Legoland.  Wow, it was amazing, such a perfect fit for our family right now.  All three kids had the time of their lives and it was pretty fun for the gown ups too. 

The big boys both got to display some independence by doing to driving school in Lego City.  Max even had to watch a safety movie and obey the traffic signs.  They were so proud of their new drivers licenses'!

We finished our Legoland visit with some time at the water park.  It was so fun!  The tubes on the lazy river had Lego platforms attached and there were giant Legos floating in the water for the kids to build with!  They had a blast!  It was a great but exhausting day.  We were all ready for some relaxation.  So up next. . . the beach!