Summer Vacation - Ocoee and Orlando

The boys and I had another 48 hours or so at my parents before Tim arrived.  We spent a lot of time in the pool.  Around lunch time we went with Mom, Dad, and M&M to have lunch (the pizza was bigger then the boys' heads!) and see Planes Fire and Rescue.  That evening Mom and the boys and I went to Downtown Disney to wander around and have dinner at Rainforest Cafe.  (Dad was only about a month removed from knee replacement surgery, so he skipped our time in the parks this trip, but was doing really well and joined us for a lot of activities.)

The next morning Mom and I got up and took the boys to Universal, specifically for them to run around in the Curious George water park.  We walked through just in time to meet Optimus Prime and see the tail end of a Minion street party.  We let them get as wet as they wanted and they had hours to play before we went to pick up Tim from the airport.  They both had a blast!  We got them dry and changed in time to rescue ET and take a picture with him before heading out of the park.

The next day was Baba's birthday!  Tim, the boys, and I went with Mom to the Children's Museum, where they had a Curious George exhibit.  The kids really enjoyed the whole thing, but the orange grove and the water table was everyone's favorite part!  We also got to touch a baby alligator and learned that gator's grow about a foot a year, so we can always estimate how old Chompy is.  We went home to change and pick up Grandpa and M&M and we all headed out to the Disney Coronado Hotel for dinner at the Maya Grill, then went to the Grand Floridian Resort to watch the electric water parade and have dessert at Citrico's.  The dessert was especially amazing!

Tyler begged for this Stitch car; his face was even happier when Tim first said yes, and he was so excited to buy it all by himself! 

The next day we had a slow start and relaxed around the house before heading to Universal with Mom in the evening.  We did everything on the Dr Seuss side, then Tim convinced Timmy to go on the White Water Rapids ride, Bilge-Rat Barges.  Tyler and I waited, and waited, and waited; Timmy loved it and it was empty, so they rode it multiple times without even getting off!

The next morning we spent some time in the pool.  Then Tim looked around for something new to do, and found a Monster Bus ride through an Orange Orchard.  It advertises as being the biggest monster truck in the States and the tour was a nice long trip around the orchard.  We didn't have much luck with seeing wildlife, but the boys and mom each had a turn driving the bus!  Timmy was offered the chance first and was very reluctant, we had to really push him to go drive.  When the tour guide offered Tyler a turn, he was barely able to finish his sentence before Tyler was half way up the aisle towards the seat!

The next day the boys were back in the pool, I did a little shopping with Mom and Grandma, and we made another evening run to Universal!  This time, right when we were parking at Universal, a huge storm popped up!  As we were walking through City Walk, it started to down pour and there was a huge bolt of lightening!  We ended up stopping in Bubba Gump's for dinner and then having a short time at the park.  We did the minion ride in the stationary seats, because Tyler's still too short, Timmy was still too scared, and the line was too long anyways! Then we rode the brand new Hogwart's Express and checked out Diagon Alley.  It was just the four of us this trip, so we took advantage of the Single Rider lines and Child Swapping to avoid long waits on any of the rides.  

Timmy took most of the pictures this morning, and was particularly proud of the top right one here, where he made Tyler look like Superman!

On our last day in Ocoee we went to Universal for most of the day.  We walked straight to Spider Man, not giving Timmy much chance to argue or be worried about it, we really wanted him to get over his fear and go on the rides.  We used the Single Rider and Child Swap again.  While I was riding Spider Man, Tim finally convinced Timmy.  When I got on the ride Timmy was in tears and a nervous wreck, when I got off the ride he stood up and walked into the ride on his own free will.  I still don't know what Tim said to him.  I do know we spent a while in the arcade immediately after!  After that Timmy willing tried the little Harry Potter coaster Gryfendor, which Tyler had already ridden and loves, we actually rode it twice in a row since they now both love it.  We rode Men in Black again as well, there, with Child Swap Timmy gets to ride twice, once with each of us!  The whole trip was a lot more fun for everyone once Timmy got brave!  Except of course for poor Tyler, who really needs a growth spurt so he can join in the fun too!