Our vacation began late Thursday afternoon. We finished packing our clothes and things that we'd be bringing with us and we headed to the Cities. We would spent the night at the Hampton Inn of Richfield because our flight was at 7:30 in the morning! It was so hard to fall asleep because we were so excited about what was going to happen in the morning!

Friday morning we woke up very early and got our things together and went down to the lobby of the hotel. We had a quick breakfast and waited for the hotel's shuttle to bring us to the airport. We left our truck at the hotel so we wouldn't have to leave it at the airport all week. The airport was very busy. There had been a storm a couple days before and there were lots of people hoping to rebook their flights that had been cancelled. After we checked our luggage, we headed for the gate, and before we knew it, we were boarding the plane bound for Orlando!

We arrived in Orlando at about 11:30 in the morning, and it was about 51 degrees at that time-Much cooler than I had hoped for-but warmer than Minnesota, nonetheless! After we got our rental car we made our way to the hotel, but check in time wasn't until 4:00, so we decided to take a drive over to the Tampa Bay/Clearwater area to see the Gulf of Mexico. Here we took a walk along the beach and picked shells for our friends back home. The sand on the beach was white and very fine-almost like sugar. It reminded me of walking thru the Minnesota snow, but you didn't sink when you stepped in it.

Josh also met a very nice lady who shared bread with us to feed to the gulls. It was unbelieveable how these huge birds actually swarmed over you to get a bite to eat, and if you threw the bread into the air, they would even catch the bread in their beaks!

After our shelling and gull feeding adventure we were going to head our way south to another beach, but we decided that we'd had enough for the day and headed back to Orlando-Just in time for rush hour in Tampa! Well, we got back to the hotel around 7:00 or so, and decided to have supper at the hotel restaurant.

Saturday morning, we were off to visit the Kennedy Space Center. On our way to the space center, we stopped off at the airport to return our rental car-a warning light had come on and we didn't want to take any chances. As it turns out, if we'd kept to our original schedule, we would have met up with some online friends. We had talked about a meeting, but our plans had never been finalized before we left. They spent the entire day at the space center as well, but we didn't know that they were there! If only we'd known...

At one time, we would have been in Florida just in time for a shuttle launch-then perhaps a landing, but as it turned out the missions had been postponed-as they tend to do. We did get to see the shuttle on the launchpad, however. Here is a photograph of the shuttle on the launchpad as we saw it from the gantry observation deck. This is as close as civilians get to the space shuttle. You can't actually see the shuttle itself, but you can see the orange booster. The scientists have found that by not painting the booster, they can save 600 pounds of weight-which they can then use to carry additional payload or cargo into space.

From the observation gantry, we could also view the Vehicle Assembly Building and the crawler that is used to transport the space shuttle. There are not words to describe how huge these things are. The VAB has a United States flag painted on the side of it and just one stripe of the flag is 13 feet wide-large enough to drive a bus down! There is also a garage door on the VAB that is 13 stories high! I guess that they've got to get the shuttle out of there somehow! Also in this picture is the crawler that brings the shuttle to the launchpad. When the shuttle is on the crawler, it moves at 1 mile an hour--and on it's way back, it moves at a much speedier rate of 2 miles per hour! The "road" that the crawler uses to get to the launchpad is similar to what a freeway looks like-two lanes far apart-this piece of equipment is BIG!

There was so much more to see at the KSC. Another part of the bus tour was the Saturn V exhibit where they virtually take you back in time to the moments before the first manned Apollo rocket launch. You watch as each of the systems are tested and checked-and it feels like you really are there. Then, after you've experienced this, you're lead into a room-a building, really, where the 363 foot long Saturn V rocket is kept. The building was built to house the rocket. It's impossible to capture the vastness of it on film-believe me, we tried!

There was an IMAX theatre at the KSC, and we also saw a replica of a space shuttle-you could go inside it and see what the shuttle looks like on the inside-and here you can see how big it is on the outside!

If you're interested in visiting the Kennedy Space Center, or would just like more information about it, the tours and exhibits there, you can visit their website at Kennedy Space Center.

We spent most of the day at the KSC, but we also wanted to see the Atlantic Ocean. When I was younger, I used to watch a show called I Dream of Jeanie about a Jeanie and an astronaut. The show took place in Cocoa Beach, Florida, and I thought that would be a great place to see! As it happened, we even found a street named I DREAM OF JEANIE WAY , so we just had to check it out! It was a beautiful beach and the sand was alot like cocoa mix-it was much coarser than the sand on Clearwater Beach, and it actually hurt your feet a bit when you walked on it barefoot. We just couldn't resist and kicked off our shoes and splashed in the ocean. We hadn't planned on getting very wet, but somehow the waves just came after us!

It was getting late on us, so we headed back to Orlando. I really enjoyed the driving in Florida. You rarely see homes along the highways. Instead, it's almost as though the roadways were cut thru the forests. Between the roads and sides, all the grass was mowed and cut back-you'd see no litter there, either. There was also alot of landscaping done to beautify the highways, and you'd see that palm trees had been planted everywhere. It was beautiful to drive thru during the daylight hours, but it was very dark during the night. It made it seem very erie and lonely. Another source of frustration for Bob were all the toll roads-it became quite a joke as we went back and forth thru them all!

Sunday was our first day at a theme park. We spent the day at Walt Disney's Animal Kingdom. The park consists of different lands. We saw Dino Land, Asia, Africa and Camp Minnie-Mickey. It was all connected by a Safari Village and the Oasis-places for shopping and eating, and in the center of it all was the great Tree of Life. The tree was incredible. As you get closer to it, you notice that the bark of the tree is really intricate carvings of different animals-monkeys, horses, deer and rams-even snakes and bugs! The more you look, the more you discover. It is truely a masterpiece. And inside it all is a movie theatre!

There was so much to see here. It was kind of a cross between a zoo and a theme park-with more emphasis on it's being a zoo. The first thing we did when we got there was to go down the Kali river raft ride-to beat the crowds, we thought. We got SOAKED. Well, there was no waiting-and why would there be? It was 8:30 in the morning and it was only 65 degrees outside. As there was no line, we decided to go ahead and do it again! We're from Minnesota afterall!

We saw many other things at the Animal Kingdom-including many endangered species from Asia and Africa as well as other parts of the world. We went on an African Safari and saw many creatures like lions, giraffes, gazelles and elephants in their natural-well, close to natural-habitat.

At the Dinoland, we also saw how they prepare fossils to make casts like the one that's behind Josh and Jenna here. There was a great Tarzan Rocks show-with singing, dancing and lots of acrobatics. A "monkey" even came over to us and played with Jenna's hair! There were also a Lion King show and a Pocohontas and Friends show, and a Bugs Life 3D movie to see. We certainly weren't bored!

At Camp Minnie Mickey, we took advantage of Disney characters being in one area so we could meet them all.

We couldn't leave without a visit with Mickie and Minnie!

It took us all morning and part of the afternoon to dry off from the Kali river ride, and just for good measure, we decided to go again. We stayed at Animal Kingdom until its closing at 6:00. Then we headed back to the hotel to change and get ready for the dinner show that evening.

Our dinner show was at 8:00-and that was just the beginning! When we arrived, the king and queen of the castle were greeting their guests in the hall. Later, we moved to an arena where we would eat our supper-entirely with our hands-and cheer on our good knight!

The dinnershow was wonderful. We were treated to a display of hand to hand combat as the knights used lances, swords and maces. The skill of the horses was amazing as well.

If you'd like to see more about the Medieval Times, you can check out their website Medieval Times.

It was very late when the show ended and we arrived back at our hotel that night, and even though Josh and Jenna were very excited about all their adventures, we really didn't have that much trouble getting them to go to sleep at night. We just plumb wore them out!

Monday was spent at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. We had a great time here-We were here to just let go and enjoy the rides and all they had to offer. It was a little rainy in the morning, but it really worked out to our benefit as that helped to thinned out the crowds. We rarely had to wait in line and went on some rides over and over again. It started raining when we were on Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls in the Toon Lagoon-and we figured that as long as we were going to be wet anyway that we may as well enjoy it-I can't remember if we went on this ride two or three times!

Josh and Jenna's favorite part of the Islands of Adventure was without a doubt Seuss Landing. It was as though we'd walked into one of Dr Suess's books! We went on the Cat in the Hat ride again and again and again. We sat on "couches" as it took us through the story the Cat in the Hat with Thing 1 and Thing 2. We even were just in time to see a Dr Seuss show while we were at "Seuss Landing".

There was also a Jurassic Park "island" there-and we went on a few rides there, too. Jenna thought that the Jurassic Park ride was a little scarey, though, and wouldn't do that one a second time. We visited the "Lost Continent" where we went on a special effects adventure and Mom and Dad went on the Dueling Dragons-Fire and Ice-rollercoaster. It was wonderfully wild and thrilling-and it's left a desire to do that again! The 8th voyage of Sinbad was at the Lost Continent, too-a really neat show with fire, water explosions and pyrotechnics. Another island at the Islands of Adventure was the Toon Lagoon where we had a *genuine* Dagwood Sandwich for lunch. The Marvel Super Hero Island had a few rides that were more suited for bigger kids and grown ups. Jenna didn't like the Spiderman ride, and just Mom and Dad went on the Incredible Hulk rollercoaster and Dr. Doom's Fear Fall. Josh enjoyed the Spiderman ride the second time with Dad.

One of our favorite parts of this day was just running around thru Camp Jurassic where we wandered thru caverns and rope bridges, seeing waterfalls and lava pits amid a rain forest. I was struck by the amount of detail lent to each and every inch of the park.

It's amazing how one thing functions as another-the caverns for Camp Jurassic, for example, create a trail above them to get to the Pteranodon Flyers. No space is wasted! Another trick we picked up on quickly was how the exits to the rides would come out in a gift shop. If you were riding on a Cat in The Hat ride, you would have to exit thru a Dr Seuss store. Marketing genius on someone's part!

We spent the entire day at the Islands of Adventure. Many of the rides weren't running, throughout the day due to weather, and some other rides weren't operational yet as the park is still very new. Overall, we had a wonderful time here and look forward to going again. One day....

Our last full day of our vacation was spent at the Magic Kingdom. We arrived early and were able to go on a few of the rides before the crowds became too thick. We started off our day on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad-several times, as there was no waiting. We also took advantage of the thin crowds on the Pirates of the Caribbean and on Splash Mountain. As we began working our way to other parts of the park, however, the lines became much thicker.

Fantasyland was next, where for our second trip to a Disney theme park the It's a Small World ride was closed. This time, the ride was being refurbished. We did experience Cinderella's Carousel and Peter Pan's Flight, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Snow White's Adventures, the Mad Tea Party and of course the Dumbo ride! By this point the lines were fairly long, and a big part of the time was spent standing in a line. A new feature to Disney was fast pass-where you'd make a reservation to come back at a later time and go on the ride with little or no waiting. That way you could get your time in and come back at a later time. This was a great time saver for us!

We moved on to Mickey's Toontown Fair where we rode on Goofy's Barnstormer rollercoaster. This was just right for the kids. Not too big or fast. Crowds were thinner at this time, so we went on it again and again.

Next we moved over to Tomorrowland where we rode on Space Mountain. Jenna couldn't go on this one as she's not tall enough yet. But she did get to drive on the Tomorrowland Speedway, so that made her happy. We moved onto the Tomorrowland's Transit Authority-a monorail of sorts, and the astro orbiter that spins you around high in the air. We visited the time keeper-an imax type movie-it's a round screen all around the room and takes you thru time. The Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin was wonderful! You go to battle with Buzz to save the universe from the evil Emperor Zurg. You're armed with a laser that keeps track of your points which you get for shooting the targets. You also spin yourself around and see some wonderful special effects. This one is not to be missed. We went on this one twice and look forward to riding it again some day.

By this time, our day had been pretty much spent. The park was about to close, so we went on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad one last time before we made our way to Main Street to see the fireworks show and Tinkerbell fly down from the castle. What a wonderful way to end our day there!

We went back to the hotel after having supper because we'd have to be packing up our things and preparing for our trip home in the morning. Everything went smoothly on our departure-we returned the rental car, the plane was on time, and our luggage all made it back to Minnesota in one piece. We arrived home in the evening, and it was so nice to be home-even though it was much colder and there was snow on the ground!