Although we took a break from the parks on day four, I’m not changing the title. I thrive on continuity. And even though we weren’t technically in Disney, we were just a few short miles so it still fits.
This might have been my favorite day of our trip. Crazy, right? How can a day in Orlando without any fictional characters or wild rides be so great, you ask? Because those parks are utterly exhausting. Fun and exciting, yes, but we needed to change things up a bit after the first two park visits and we thoroughly enjoyed the variation.
Prior to our arrival, my sweet uncle had made arrangements for him and D1 to play a round of golf on this unbelievable Jack Nicklaus-designed course so they headed out that morning while my aunt and I huddled up the kids {my three plus her two-whew!} and headed to the pool for a morning swim. {We actually were the first to arrive. Apparently some people actually sleep in while on vacation. Huh. Weird.}
After the pool, we drove over to this awesome water park inside the housing community. It had a contraption similar to that in the Great Wolf Lodge as well as a Lazy River, sand volleyball, soccer fields, and more. It really was pretty amazing. The weather was hot {and, for the first time all week, I was thankful for the heat!} and the crowds were light. We did everything a few times, enjoyed a nice, pool-side lunch and then did it all again. I didn’t take any pictures on day four from my real camera but was able to snap a few from the phone. If you’ve ever tried to take multiple children to a water park by yourself, you understand why. It’s not just difficult, it’s dangerous, especially when the smallest of smalls hasn’t quite developed a fear of deep water.
Not sure where d1 had disappeared to, no idea what d2 is doing in this pose and the pink hat on d3 was a fill in for the temporarily misplaced Royals hat....although I'm not opposed to dressing him up in pink....
Bless his heart, d3 was a little trooper, though – no nap AGAIN but you could hardly tell, as long as we were in motion. It almost made me forget the previous days with him. Almost. He did take a quick break to catch some rays…..
Handsome little booger, chillin' in the chair. Why does he look like a little man here?
Right before we were leaving, the boys asked me to play a little soccer game with them. Gosh how I wish I had just declined and dealt with their whining from my lack of participation. Instead, I got this…..
Look beyond the three hairs on the toe I missed in my morning shave. What you should be focusing on is the black, blue and purple tints that surrounded my largest piggie.
Now, I realize it’s my own fault, that I should have known better than to try and stop a soccer ball with no shoes on but I never realized it would hurt that bad. No, really. I went to my knees and held back the tears in an effort to not freak out the boys when what I really wanted to do was roll around on the grass and beg someone to cart me off to the ER. Don’t judge. It hurt and the picture still doesn’t do it justice. {And four weeks later, I’m still unable to wear anything other than sandals. I wore a pair of heels to work this week and considered cutting the digit off myself with a pair of nail clipper scissors.}
The day wasn’t over yet. Once we got back to the house, D1 and the unc had returned from their golf game. I was told to jump in the shower because I had an appointment for a spa mani/pedi. Really? Me? Alone? Wait - am I dying? No? Ok, later! That next hour was heavenly. Well, as soon as I pointed out the growing-by-the-minute big toe and asked Miss Mani to exclude from her amazing rub down, it was awesome. They even offered me some drink I’d never even heard of. It sounded tasty and sophisticated but I passed. I was just happy to sit in a massage chair, reading a recent issue of People without someone climbing on me or begging for a turn. Oh and the relaxing sound of Enya flowing through the speakers was a nice touch, too….
We ended the day with a dinner at Kobe’s Japanese Steakhouse, one of my favorite cuisines. I ate so much steak, shrimp and vegetables that I thought I might bust. I couldn’t stop eating, which explains the three pounds that came home with me. That and all the extra Cherry Dr. Pepper I consumed that helped to keep me going…..
According to d1 and d2, this was the best day ever. As much as it overjoyed me to see them so satisfied, I couldn’t help but think about how much money we could have saved by loading up the pink basket with junk, spending every day at the water park and blowing off the Kingdom tickets. Oh well. You live and learn.
Yep, I’m pretty sure day four was my favorite. Oh, I guess I should mention that it was my birthday, too. …..
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