Friday, June 1, 2012

Family Vacation
to Georgia and Florida

As you can see, Dalton was not excited about flying.  We had to give him some Benadryl to knock him out so he would get on the plane.  His anxiety was so high, we didn't know if he was going to enjoy the trip or not.  Thank goodness for those plastic grocery bags.  He woke up just 20 minutes before we landed.
Daniel & Hayden enjoyed the flight trying to figure out where we were over the mid west.  We flew out of Denver and landed in Atlanta, our flight lasted 2 1/2 hours non stop.  It was great.
After landing we got our rental car, it suppose to be a caddy but they were short on luxury vehicles (DARN!!!).  I much preferred the minivan.  The cadillac was cheaper than the mini van to rent, but the substitution was much appreciated by all.   This is Stone Mountain.  We enjoyed our quick stop before they closed. 
Russell decided that a ride on the Duck was a necessity. The duck goes only 5 mph on water and about 40 mph on land.
The driver allowed each of the boys to drive while we were in the water.  Hayden was the first he asked.  I thought it was because Hayden told him he had a drivers license.  But as you can see, it wasn't.
Dalton was having the time of his life.
There was a sign by the door that said, "Tips Appreciated."  Russell felt like it was nice he let the boys drive, but we paid enough for the tickets to ride.
This was a drive by picture of the pecan trees in Georgia.  The orchards were just beautiful.
We experienced all the crops they grow there.  This is a field of cotton.  Russell  just had to stop.  But, that was okay by all.
This is Plains, Georgia.  Jimmy Carter lives in this town.  If you are there on the right Sunday you can hear him teach the Sunday School class in his church.  We tried boiled peanuts here.  Can't say any of us are big fans.
On the boardwalk in Plains, we all enjoyed some peanut butter ice cream on a bench outside the store.  The one thing we all agree on is that we do not like the gnats.  It was hot and humid and the gnats were horrible.  We kept swatting them to no avail.
We went to the Agri-rama.  The boys fed some animals and were able to grind some cornmeal that we bought and brought home to make some cornbread cake. 
This is one of the many tree lined streets.  They were beautiful, but it was nice to get out of the cover. 
On Sunday, we attended church with some friends that moved from Scottsbluff to Jacksonville.  The Burmiesters were great hosts.  Before we left the eastern side of Florida, we needed to see the Atlantic Ocean.  We drove right out onto the sand to get this picture.  Then on to Orlando.
My first request was to ride the teacups.  As you can tell Daniel and Hayden did not have the enthusiasm that I did.  I remember riding them when I was a child at Disneyland. 

As you can see, Dalton did not have the excitement either.  He threw up all the way to the entrance of Magic Kingdom.  We did not come all this way to sit at the hotel and miss out on the happiest place on earth.
As you can see, he did begin to feel better. It only took him about an hour of anxiety and he was back to normal.  This is the small world ride.  I loved it too!  So did Dalton!

You can't visit DisneyWorld and not take a picture of the castle.
I told you I loved It's a Small World ride.  Had to take a few pictures because I loved it sooo much!

Can't you tell Russell and Dalton loved it too?
Look, it's Goofy.  This is our one family picture at Disney World.
You can't forget Minnie and Mickey.  The topiary was cool.
For not feeling so good, he seems to pose for lots of pictures and looks fairly terrifying in this one.  Watch out for the mean guy.

I loved the parade in the middle of the afternoon.  The song played over and over as the floats, dancers, and Disney character went on by.  It was way too hot to be in those costumes.
The resort pool was fabulous.  The boys had lots of fun swimming at night when it was dark.
The beautiful sunrise from the 17th floor of the resort.  It was such a brilliant orange.   The final day we headed to Epcot Center.  We had a wonderful time there, but as you can see no pictures.  It was my job to get the camera, no one said, "Remember the extra battery."  And yes I forgot it.  This part of the trip was just as eventful as the rest:  Dalton threw up, we rode great rides, we had a few arguments, we left the park, we returned to watch the awesome fireworks show, we returned to the resort to sleep and then we went to the Orlando airport to fly back to Denver to sleep in our own beds.  We loved our vacation, but are happy that it is only a memory now!