Since I wasn't in attendance on this adventure - one of these guys is going to have to step up and give an accounting of how their day went if they want it chronicled here. Until that happens, I can definitely say they all had a blast!
Our family wasn't that interested in going to Universal. Given it doesn't have the atmosphere of Disney, none of us got into Harry Potter (which inspired a lot of interest with Nati and Ellie), and John isn't a fan of rides in and of themselves, we opted to save a lot of money by staying behind. We volunteered to watch Whitley so Travis and Steph could have a day being totally carefree and soaking up the adrenaline rushes without having to worry about her.
I joined Whitley in her room once they left, but she was pretty much up and ready to go and not that interested in sleeping in. She was, however, interested in Mikayla's powdered doughnuts. =)
We had secured a Fast Pass to Toy Story Mania - so we opted to head to Hollywood Studios during the morning with her. In this pic, you'll note that Brayden is holding the base of Whitley's stroller on his head. This did not make her happy. Often, in the morning, whatever Brayden does - doesn't make her happy. They kind of clash in the mornings....(I have countless drives with the two of them to drop Brayden off at Marist to attest to that!).
She was done with the glasses by the time the ride began...
I'm too competitive to give up my own score to help her the whole time, but at least I managed to get her to 900. =)
Next up, a return to "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Playground". Obviously, she and Brayden made up by this point.
We crawled up the "Spider Web" net - Whitley got a little scared by the time we got to the top...
Her relationship with this ant...so precious. She'd whisper to it and stroke it...
She's doubled over laughing because of the water shooting up in the fountain area.
"Pizza Planet" seemed like a very appropriate choice for an early lunch.
It was so worth passing out quarters to the kids to keep Whitley engaged and giddy at the arcade games.
The kids and I got another back-to-back set of rides on "Tower of Terror" (thank you John!) before we headed out. A Starbucks had opened near the entry, so we did take a pit stop to try the new S'mores Frappacino.
We ended up with a S'mores treat for free too. =)
Whitley thought it was delicious....but, hey, easy girl...we'd like to see you take a nap this afternoon!
So, about that nap. Grrrr. She fell asleep in the car about 10 minutes before we got to the hotel. I thought for sure if I snuggled up next to her in the bed (like we do at my house), she'd konk right out. Nope. She did a lot of her "stuffed animal chatter" (she'll use these sweet voices to have the stuffed animals talk to each other), while I'm certain I nodded off several times. By the time we'd given up on her, John had fallen asleep and the kids had actually gotten into doing some homework. But, as you can imagine, Brayden was happy to abandon that activity and move on to what Whitley wanted, which was, of course, going to the pool.
I was VERY content to let the kids do all the interaction with Whitley in the pool, but she was having none of that - she would crawl on me and pull on my swimsuit to try to get me up.
So, I gave the kids a break and headed over to the splash pool with the other little ones. She loved it...
This is such a cute video that happened when we went back to where the kids were....
We then opted for some pool side dining. Whitley was very distracted by all the birds around...
John was loving the laid-back nature of the day as we strolled around the resort to check out all it had to offer....including and ice cream store.
As well as a bean bag toss board - that she thought was such a hoot! We hung out here for probably a half hour....
And, then, time to wind down...
And, just as her parents returned, this happened. Mission complete! A very fun family day with Whitley!
DAY SIX PRICELESS MEMORIES:
- Watching Brayden interact with Whitley - at the water fountains, at the arcade, and especially at the hotel pool. All three of these kids might interact with each other as siblings, but just like siblings - when the connection is positive, it is extraordinary and oh-so-special.
- Walking through the park and hotel property with John at my side - with our "enlarged family". It was a sweet day with him. =)
No comments:
Post a Comment