Last Day in Orlando

We had a shocker today. Since the kids are pretty much exhausted from theme parks, Taylor offered to watch all the kids at the hotel and take them swimming and stuff and let Roger and I go to Universal by OURSELVES today (since we had a 3-day pass and had only used 2 days, so far). After we got over the shock of the offer, WE TOOK HIM UP ON IT BEFORE HE CHANGED HIS MIND!

So Roger and I set off around 11 am for a final day at Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios to finish up what we couldn't do the other two days. The kids did good at the hotel by swimming, playing pool, miniature golfing and LOTS of TV, I'm sure. They even ate leftovers and made lunch in the room. We made it back to the room around 7 pm with Pizza Hut in our hands and Tropical Storm Barry beginning to bring some showers to the area. It's a good thing we are leaving tomorrow because it is supposed to rain all weekend!!

When we get back home tomorrow, we are getting together with Greg and Shell to watch them open all their wedding gifts.

Things we learned while in Orlando:

• Of all the months out of the year, avoid May, that's when the "mating bugs" infest the state.
• ALL traffic lights in Florida are EXTREMELY long, no matter where you are.
• If you fly to Orlando, you need a vehicle to get around - everything is so spread out (we put 400 miles on our rental van)
• If you are in Florida on the First Day of Hurricane Season (June 1st), there WILL be a tropical storm to start off the season.
• Don't get suckered into buy "discount tickets" to a theme park from one of the hundreds of locations you see - they are all just trying to sell you a time share (and we already have one, thank you) Greg & Shell took them up on it and got free tickets and still said "NO" to the salesman.
• Don't try to cram in as many theme parks as you can in a week, the kids will lose interest after about day 4!
• If you miss a spot on your body with the sunscreen, you know it later that night when your sunburn shows up! And everyone needs sunscreen, no matter what they say!
• Even fine white sand can travel places in your swimsuit that you didn't know existed!
• Salt water does NOT taste good when swallowed by the mouthfuls.
• It's COLD sitting in Olive Garden at 9 pm with wet clothes on (from playing in the fountains) & poor Cooper was without a shirt because his was so wet
• The ride, "It's A Small World" was a lot more magical when I was a kid.
• It IS possible to pay almost $50 for a lunch for 6 of us, not eat everything, and a few minutes later be told, "I'm hungry!"
• Character sketches don't always look like the subjects.
• Just because the concierge calls to make a dinner reservation for a birthday dinner for eight people doesn't mean that when you arrive at the restaurant they will have your reservation!
• Beware, on fast roller coasters, you WILL lose a contact (and it will be at the beginning of your week).
• It's not always a good idea to put four kids, ranging from ages 3 to 15, in one bedroom for the week.
• It's FUN crashing in on someones honeymoon!!!! (except it makes your husband WISH he was on his honeymoon!)