Foster Fun House: Florida Fun

Look who made last minute plans to visit Gram and Pop in Florida!

Our PJ selfie to show we were ready for our night-time ride!

Yes, I braved the cross country airplane ride with my two angelic (ha ha ha) children all by myself. And it was our first red-eye... with connecting flights in Dallas, no less! I went into it with an optimistic attitude - we cozied up in our PJs, brought pillows from home and headed to the airport at around 10 pm. Getting on the plane was a breeze with no lines and extra help from the bored TSA agents, but once we were seated next to the "roughest" looking guy on the plane, and Addison decided her "nap" in the car was sufficient sleep for the next 2 hours, and we had 20 minutes from landing to make our connecting flight... I was pretty sure it would be all downhill from there. Luckily, Andrew was the best helper ever and cooperated with everything I asked him to do, which kept me calm, which in turn helped Addison to behave as well as a 1 year old during the hours of 11pm - 7am can be expected to behave. The second flight went well, both kids slept for the majority of it and we landed in Orlando with the welcome sight of Gram waiting outside of security. Oh, me? Thanks for asking. No, I did not sleep at all. :)

Day 1 - RECOVER.

Never happier to see Mickey!

Right into the pool!

Ahhhh.... this makes the trip worth it.

Goodnight.

The kids cannot get enough of the golf cart.

Day 2 and 3 - Mommy was sick with a fever (thanks to my lack of sleep, and the rest of the family's pre-vacaton sickness), so we stayed at the house and had visitors.

Gram and Addison spent most of our trip just like this.

Aunt Julie and Addison splashing in the pool!

Uncle Paul did not bring his suit...

Day 3 - I was feeling a little better, so we headed into town to get out of the house for a little.

The pirate ship playground in Sumter Landing

Feeding the turtles in the lake! No alligator sightings this trip... :(

Cooling off in Johnny Rockets with a milkshake and fries.

Can't take enough golf cart selfies.

Day 4 - LEGOLAND!! Gram and Pop took us to LEGOLAND. (Which apparently capitalizes itself every time I type it.) The kids really enjoyed it, even though Andrew is in a phase where he does not like "fast" rides (the kid will plow a million miles an hour into a bush on his bike, but can't manage to get on tea-cups anymore - ugh) and Addison was too small for the majority of the rides. Pop and I got on two roller coasters, both of which were plenty for Pop, but left me wanting more. We had a really nice day, but my overall review of LEGOLAND is: If you (the adult) are into rides and want to enjoy the park just as much as the kids, and aren't that into Legos... go to Disney. If you don't like rides anyway, played with Legos as a kid or are truly just along for the ride... LEGOLAND is a great alternative to the other Orlando theme parks. Seeing the Lego city was really neat, and could have entertained Andrew for a lot longer than we had time for.

Addison LOVED her first ride through the "farm".

Addison Ride #2

Driving his very own Police car.

Driving a boat!

Checking out the life size (for her!) Legos.

Legoland was built at the former location of Cypress Gardens, which the Elston family visited YEARS ago.
I had always wanted to be one of these "garden girls".

Waiting outside the pirate show.

Apparently, Gram had to pry Addison's hands off of this horse after the attendant let her stay on for a second ride. (Thank goodness I was in the gift shop when that happened!)

One tuckered out little babe.

And sleepy babe #2. With his new pirate Lego set.

Putting his new Lego set together with Pop.

Addison got her first Lego set too - ice cream!

Day 5: More relaxing.

Back in the pool....

My children gave Gram and Pop mini-heart attacks throughout our whole visit.

Luckily, they're pretty cute.

Day 6: Aunt Julie and Uncle Paul came over for dinner, then we headed to Spanish Springs for the car show.

Day 7 - Andrew got bit by an ant while walking through some gardens at Sumter Landing. Okay, technically, he had stopped walking and was poking at the ant hill.