Back To Reality

Emar and I got back last Sunday from a wonderful, relaxing vacation to Florida.  We decided to take off Friday the 15th and head to my parents in Hot Springs, AR a day early to see my aunt and my grandpa who were visiting. I figured the best way to tell you all about my trip is to recap by day.

Saturday, we dropped off the furkid and got into Orlando late Saturday.  Our flights were on time but we had to wait an hour in the baggage claim b/c there was lightening and they couldn't take the luggage off the plane for safety reasons.  It's a good thing that Emar and I are pretty patient people but I was plum tired by the time we got to the hotel.  Let me just say, the hotel we stayed at, and I know I have mentioned before was the Marriott Vacation Club Grand Vista was nothing short of A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!!  We checked in around 11pm so it was dark and we didn't really get to take it all in.

Sunday, Emar made me get up bright and early to go to Islands of Adventure park.  We stopped at McDonald's for a quick breakfast before we headed to the park.  It was actually the "World's Largest McDonald's."  It was 2 stories, had an arcade and a Bistro- funny seeing omelets as an option for breakfast at McD's. 

When we got to the park, we headed straight back to the Harry Potter area as I had read that you HAVE to get there early as it gets packed by the afternoon.  Disclaimer:  I am not a HP fan (I know, some of you want to shoot me now) but I enjoyed that area the most out of both the parks.  The rides were a lot of fun and we didn't have to wait over an hour for any of the rides we rode (which were probably 90% of them).  By far my favorite ride there was the Dueling Dragons (real name is Dragon Challenge).  We came back to the hotel around 4 or 5pm and took a little nap before we had a nice dinner & drinks at Bahama Breeze.

Monday was probably one of my favorite days.  We got up and had breakfast at the resorts main restaurant on the golf course.  I was rather disappointed my chocolate chip pancakes were not in the shape of Mickey Mouse but hey, they tasted good:)   We headed back to the hotel room to suit up and got prime seats at the main pool at the resort.  It was awesome.  EMar and I enjoyed drinks poolside all day long.  The water temperature was perfect and the weather couldn't have been better!  We had probably a little too much combination of sun and alcohol so we headed back to the room to take a nap before our evening plans.  We woke up and Emar played 9 holes of golf while I worked on my tan as I drove the golf cart and then had dinner at the resort. 

Tuesday, we headed to Universal Studios.  Again, Emar got me up bright and early to "be the first ones there."  We also had to get up early to pack up and check out as it was our last day in Orlando.  Unfortunately, the Jaws exhibit was closed for renovation.  I went to Universal back when I was around 12 years old.  The two things I remembered were Jaws and ET and I couldn't wait to share those with Emar.  Oh well, I was able to get my picture with the dead Jaws.  I learned that I am way too old for some of the simulation rides which Universal has  A LOT of compared to Islands. My favorite ride was the Rip Ride Rocket- I thought I was going to pee my pants waiting in line I was so scared.   Around 5pm that day we got in the car and headed to my grandma's which is Ormond Beach, near Daytona Beach- only about 1 1/2 hours away.  We stopped for dinner at a BBQ joint. We hung out for a little bit over her famous graham cracker pudding cake she made just for me- by request of course!

Wednesday, we headed to Flagler Beach which is about 3 miles from her house.  We drove around and then got out to feel the sand and water.  We had an scrumptious lunch at High Tides right on the beach.  I had Blackened Mahi tacos which were soooooooo good:)  That night we headed to the D.A.V. to play bingo.  There weren't that many people there so our chances were good - Grams won $50 and I won $50 - poor Emar was so close a number of times! 

Thursday, Emar and I went and hung out on the beach for a few hours sipping on some Bud Light Lime- my fav summertime beverage.   After that, we headed to High Tides- yes, we went again:)  I love the food and location, so why go anywhere else?  After our late lunch, we were exhausted from the sun and alcohol combo again and headed home for a nap.  We stayed in and played cards that night. I sent this picture to some friends, co-workers and my boss saying "It's a rough Thursday"



Friday was my 31st birthday.  I woke up to chocolate chip pancakes in the shape of Mickey.  I love my husband:)  Emar and I headed to St. Augustine to meet my high school friend, Paige for a relaxing day.  We spent about 5 hours on the beach.  Paige brought lunch and drinks for us and we caught up while Emar was playing in the water.  Emar might have forgotten to put sunscreen on his belly- oops!  That evening, my grandma made me homemade spaghetti sauce (straight from my Italian great grandmother's mother). It's something that takes all day to make so obviously you don't see me making it often ever.  She also made me a homemade cheesecake (per my request for my bday dinner and dessert).  I think she is losing it at her ripe age of 84.  She accidentally cooked the cheesecake in a bundt pan instead of her spring pan.  It was a good laugh for all of us.  Thank goodness it tasted just as great! We ended the evening and our last night in Florida with a few card games. 

You can obviously tell that Paige is a Floridian - me not so much!

We had a wonderful trip and it was very relaxing even though we stayed pretty busy.  We drove a lot and flew from Little Rock to Dallas to Austin to Orlando to Baltimore and back to Little Rock.  We are glad to be home but it's back to reality and we were sure happy to see Maggie who had been at my parents for a week!