Orlando, part 2: Science, Disney and Dad!

Here's where my photo taking gets ree crazy.

TUESDAY
We read online that Orlando has a great Science Center with age-appropriate things for 1 year olds.  I wasn't sad at the thought of breaking up the sun exposure with an indoor activity, so Tuesday morning, Nolan and I made the 20 minute drive to check it out.

First, we had to get our morning routine out of the way.
1) Send a Giant Headshot "Good Morning" Selfie to Still-Sleeping Steph in New Zealand.  Check.

2) Wake up slowly with our morning beverages and electronics, all the while pants-less.  Check.

Great.  Let's go.

We ended up getting to the area about 45 mins before the museum opened, but that was fine.  There was an absolutely beautiful park just adjacent to it where we were happy to run and explore.
(I was so mad that I ran off and forgot the real camera for this!)

In the center of the park was the. biggest. tree. that I have ever seen.  Now, I'm not one to necessarily stop and notice trees just for being trees, but this one you couldn't miss.  Photos don't do it justice, but I had to try to capture it.

The massive limbs extended 360-degrees, sweeping the grounds like long ribbons.  Maybe I was extra stunned since we barely have trees in Phoenix - much less, trees as majestic as this!

See the little indentation on the left of the trunk?  That was about at the level of my neck.

Pretty amazing.

Okay, enough about the tree. (Maybe you had to be there...)  The museum was open, so off we went.  They have a new Curious George exhibit, which Nolan has never heard of but was still fun.

He was still just a bit too little for most of the activities.  But don't try to tell him that.

This little girl kept following him around saying "Hat! Hi!" and giving him hugs which he valiantly fended off in the name of being too busy.

We spent a long time playing with this outlet cover.  Figures.

Blurry but cute with his new friend George, who he kept calling "Khaki",  ?

Exploring the rest of the museum.  This place had some impressive kid areas.

OF COURSE the water was a hit.

I loved that the smock was way too big.

Climbing the treehouse

Finally we moved on to see all of the animals.

It just so happened that we caught them at lunch time.  Nolan kept saying "MMMMMM!" super loudly while eyeing the turtle grub.  I have to admit -- lunchtime was approaching and some of their colorful salads did look tasty!

So glad we made the short drive to the science center -- it was a great time!
Once back to the villa, he went VERY willingly to nap while I took advantage of the balcony, my book and some ice cream.  ahhhhh.

2 hours later -- Mikel was home and we were back at it!

Mikel hadn't had a chance to go to the pool all week, so we headed that way.  Love watching these two buds play together.

This little squirrel was super brave!!  It wandered up as we were chowing some chips.  Clearly they get fed routinely by the poolside visitors.

 

*****

WEDNESDAY

The conference ended (for Mikel) on Tuesday, which meant we had all day Wednesday and Thursday to hang out in Orlando as a family.  Because we are gluttons for humidity + huge crowds + an overly tired child, we chose to spend the entire (and I do mean 'entire' -- 12+ hours) day Wednesday at the Magic Kingdom.  It was a lot, but so glad we did!

Since it was obviously just the 3 of us there, we spent our time on the rides that Nolan could do.  They are all actually pretty fun!  And when you are wrestling a little squirmer, they are a welcome/air-conditioned break for weary parents.
Someone brilliant designed some of them with indoor play space / diversions available while you wait in line.  SO SMART.  It was early in the day at this point, but the humidity was climbing and we weren't sad to spend 10 minutes at this slide!

On our first ride of the day: Dumbo the Flying Elephant.  I had to wonder --- do little kids even know who Dumbo is anymore?

Mikel is a fun dad and took Nolan on the teacups.  I respectfully declined.  Ick.

Nolan rode perfectly on every ride; sitting super still on our laps and taking it all in.  I think we rode 7 or 8 rides with him, in all --- more than I was expecting!

More in line distractions: Winnie the Pooh's honeybees on the handrail.  Germy, but brilliant.

Half way through the day, we paused for him to take an hour-long Ergo nap.  It was a needed, air-conditioned break for all parties.  

Sadly we realized after he awoke that we somehow, sometime, somewhere lost his fedora.  I still have no idea how that happened! So after stopping to buy him a hat ($15 - not too bad), we geared up for more.

It started with more random on-the-floor playing.  (glad we paid $200 for him to play with the crack in the pavement)

Before dinner, we hit up the Country Bear Jamboree -- which was preceded by a sidewalk song and dance sesh with the characters.  N was stunned!

Waiting to get in.  Love this wiggly boy.  He made friends everywhere we went.

How old do you think these bears are?
I recall being kind of bored by this show as a kid -- but as an adult, it was actually quite funny!

After dinner, we climbed the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse, which I thought it was one of the most lovely areas of the park!  After waiting in lines and being strapped in the stroller/Ergo for most of the day, Nolan was glad to run around freely for part of it.

We knew we were encroaching on having a tired guy... but by this point it was nearly time for the lights parade, so we opted to tough it out since Nolan was holding it together fairly well, considering.

(that's a lot of people, lights and noise!)

Pausing for a snack while we wait for the parade.

And if a day spent at Disney wasn't spoilage enough, Nolan even got his first taste of cotton candy...

...which he found disgusting.  (I'm with you, Buddy.)

Then it began!  Mikel and I were saying -- can you believe these people do this every single night as their job?  Crazy.

I don't think Nolan blinked through the whole thing.

After the parade, we headed for the monorail and got out of Dodge in record time before the crazy fireworks-watchers had a chance to clog up the parking lot.  We were back at the villa in 20 minutes --- and this pretty much sums up our feelings:

It was a great day, but we were glad to only do it once this trip!

*****

THURSDAY

Our final day in Florida was a chill one.  We toyed with possibly going to Sea World, but it was clear that Nolan (like us) had enough craziness the previous day -- he was kind of a mess in the morning.  An extra long nap helped a lot, though, and we were all able to enjoy the afternoon at the pool and just out exploring the resort grounds a bit more.
Showing off hats.

And wanting Dad to wear both!

Watching the big turtle!

One more play time on the big kid playground.  It's a lot more fun with Mikel there!

We seriously can't handle humidity.  So sticky!

Creating bad habits that Mom will later have to break.

Too hot.  Let's hit the pool.

*****
FRIDAY
Homeward bound.  Thanks for having us, Orlando!