Summer Vacation: Part Two - Disney Springs, Resort, Typhoon Lagoon, and Luau

We checked out of the hotel Sunday morning and headed back over to Disney Springs to see some sights and do a little shopping.

Then we had lunch at Rainforest Café, which was a first for the boys!

After lunch and shopping, we checked in to the resort. We have stayed at several resorts on property over the years, but this was our first time to stay at a value resort so I was a little wary. We stayed at Art of Animation in a Cars suite. We LOVED it and everything about the resort! It was amazing and there were several things about it that we enjoyed more than at the moderate and deluxe resorts we had previously stayed at!

First up after getting settled in was dinner, then a trip to the Nemo pool. The pool has underwater speakers playing music and cute little water areas for smaller kiddos.

We played until after dark and then...

walked to the other side of the pool to watch an outdoor movie.

The next morning after breakfast to headed to Typhoon Lagoon!

Their wave pool is CRAZY! Additionally, they had a kids area with their own tube water slide and tons of other things fun things for them to do as well as several other water slides. My favorite, though, was probably the lazy river :-)

We left Typhoon Lagoon early to return to the resort so that we could get dressed for the Spirit of Aloha Luau at The Polynesian.

Ben and I had not seen the luau in many, many years. It had changed but was still just as much fun!

They always get the kiddos (and sometimes parents) involved and Ethan was brave enough to go to the front!

Sweet boy!

Hot mess!

This boy was hot, overheated, and miserable the whole week. We definitely learned he is NOT a July vacation kid!

Luau pics

Fire Dancer

And, who would have thought but we saw a student from Ethan's kindergarten class at the luau! What a crazy coincidence! Same town, same school, same grade, same classroom, same Disney event on the same night!!

As we were leaving, the boys wanted a picture with the statue

We left the Polynesian and rode the monorail over to The Contemporary to visit our favorite gift shop and the best penny presses. One of the boys' souvenirs they get to take home with them each trip is a bag of pressed pennies from all of the places on property they have visited during their trip. Plus, the boys LOVE riding the monorail!

Then we returned to the resort for the night...

 

and had time to take a few pictures with the cast of Cars!

Next up...Hollywood Studios!

Daddy's favorite park!!

Summer Vacation: Part One - Sea World and Disney Springs

Due to summer camps, schedules, and activities, we had to wait until the end of summer for vacation. So, the afternoon after Ethan's surgery, we loaded up and headed to Alabama for the 1st leg of our journey...Mimi's house! After a couple of nights at Mimi's we all headed to Orlando!

We arrived in town, got our hotel room set up, and hit Disney Springs first! This is our 3rd Disney visit in 3 years and we are going on Disney hiatus for a few years after this trip so we made sure to visit some of our favorite places.

I LOVE this pic!

Checking out the sights...

Building and racing a car at the Lego store

Lego Dino in the lake

After dinner at D-Luxe Burger (yummy!), we had dessert at T-Rex. This was the boys' 1st visit to the restaurant and they loved the sights and sounds!

After a long day of travel and Disney Springs, we headed back to the hotel and get some rest for our next NEW adventure...Sea World!!! Mimi wanted to treat us to Sea World year since the boys had never been and she definitely spoiled us! It was an amazing day and an extremely generous thing for her to do for ALL of us! 

So the next morning we ate breakfast at the Sea World Hampton and rode the bus to the park. Ben and I hadn't been since we were children so this was a new adventure for everyone, including Mimi :-) It was a super hot day so we made sure to wear loose clothing that wouldn't be clingy!

A picture with Shamu

One of the greatest things about Sea World is that all of their shows are under covered pavilions, safe from the sun!  Our 1st show was the Sea Lion and Otter Show, themed around the last day of high school. It was probably the cutest show I have ever seen! We all loved it!

The tiny little otter has the document that announces the students scholarship and graduation information and runs away with it...

The sea lions are high school students trying to pass their last few classes to graduate...

Racing to get to school on time...

Team Huddle

Crunches in PE

Astronomy in Science

Putting together their plan

Hiding from the coach

The principal

After the show we headed over to see Antarctica and the Penguins, it was so neat to see them on the ice...and cold!

Then we walked below to see them underwater

After that we walked over to watch Shamu and his friends.

Again, so cool!

They are huge!

And cute!

After the show, the boys got to speak with one of the trainers. She was so sweet and answered all of their questions :-)

Then some fantastic lunch at Expedition Café and playtime at the LARGEST climbing playground I have ever seen!

After that, we rode a small roller coaster (no picture :-), then Ethan rode the carousel while Caden and Mimi rode the train

The last show was the dolphin show and it was a combination of dolphins and acrobatics

The performers did a great job and the whole show felt a little Cirque de Soleil-ish

It was neat to watch the trainers riding on the dolphins' backs

And the synchronized jumping was my favorite

After the show, headed over to get soaked on the Journey to Atlantis wet roller coaster (sadly there is no picture because I did not want to risk getting the camera wet which SURELY would have happened as I was completely drenched when we got off) then checked out the manta rays.

And saw the dolphins in the nursery

After those adventures, we had a great dinner at Spice Mill and then rode the Wild Arctic "helicopter" ride to base camp. I couldn't get any pictures of this neat walk through because the camera kept fogging up but I did great a sweet pic of Ethan at the bottom of the aquarium fascinated with the huge manatee.

It was a FANTASTIC and long day and I absolutely LOVED Sea World! In my opinion, it was the highlight of our vacation. Thank you Mimi for such a wonderful day!

Ethan's First Surgery

The week after Ethan's birthday, we started getting ready for oral surgery. He had an extra tooth coming in inside the bone line that was impacted and had to be removed and sutured. This was his first time to undergo anesthesia and he was nervous :-( We tried to play it down for him but Daddy was nervous, too, and Mommy was a little uneasy about how he would wake up from anesthesia.

We arrived bright and early and the whole process was amazing! He did phenomenally, was a total champ, the surgery went off without a hitch, and he woke up from anesthesia happy as a clam! WHEW! It was completely his day and we snuggled on the couch and he got to choose whatever he wanted to watch :-) Not to mention he got to eat all of the yogurt, applesauce, smoothies, and ice cream that he wanted. He was pretty excited about that part!

I enjoyed my snuggles immensely!

Time to get ready for vacation!