Orlando!

Chris had to go to Orlando on business, so Clare and I bought some tickets and went too. We look forward to going on trips with Drew in a year or two, but it was definitely the right decision to leave him with Nana and Papa this time.

We stayed on the Universal property at Royal Pacific Resort. It was awesome! Too bad I didn't take any pictures of the resort. Clare and I saw the Blue Man Group while Chris was busy with his company. That was so cool too! It was so much fun to just hang out with Clare. We will have to do it more often!



We went to Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom for a day and a half. What a perfect age Clare was (6)! She loved the little kid stuff and was old enough to go on Splash M0untain, Thunder Mountain, and Space Mountain. The first time we went on Splash Mountain at night when it was pretty cool outside, and we only got a little wet. Clare LOVED it! We had no idea that when the weather is warm, you absolutely get soaked. She hated it the next day wen it was hot out, and she was crying through the whole ride since we got drenched at the begining. Poor Clare was still wet hours after.

Aside from the getting totally soaked issue, we had such a great trip! I think that's why we didn't take very many pictures. We didn't want to take the time when we were having so much fun!

It was so much fun as a parent to see how excited Clare was to see the characters. When we were watching the Main Street Electrical Parade, she saw Alice (from Alice in Wonderland) coming toward us, and she was on her tippy toes waving and yelling, "Hi Alice! Hi Alice"! You should have heard her squeel with delight when she saw Minnie's house in Toon Town.

Clare was so good the whole trip and never complained about walking so much. We were all exhausted. Here she is at the end of a day and a half at The Magic Kingdom. What a trooper!

One thing that blew us away was how many people push around huge stollers (Disney rents) for their older children. I swear, we saw kids who looked about 8 years old riding in them! What is it with people today? (We even took a picture of a very plump older girl in one of them, but I decided not to post it.)

On our last day we squeezed in a visit to Universal's Island of Adventure. It's the amusement park right next door to Universal Studios. The Harry Potter section just opened in the summer, and because we were staying on the Universal property, we got in an hour earlier than the general public, and our room keys wer like fast passes for a lot of the attractions and rides.

The did such a great job with the entire Harry Potter thing, and if you ever go there, buy some butterbeer. It's delicious!

They also have a neat Jurassic part section and a cute Dr. Seuss area.