Fun vacation

Here are a few pictures from the rest of our week in Florida. The boys had a very nice time hanging out around the house and doing some cool new activities. Almost none of my bowling pictures turned out, but the event was a blast. The boys all high-fived each other and took turns saying, "Go, Canon!" and "Yay, Malcolm!" This bowling alley was a bit nicer concept than I remember from high school and college - I think they've had to reinvent the concept a bit to keep it appealing. This was less a smoke-filled-greasy-food-card-table establishment, and more a clean, brightly-lit, family-friendly environment with a much better menu. To be sure, it was also more expensive than the traditional concept (like those high-end movie theaters now with fancy food), but I was still impressed.

We also had fun swimming and playing with toys. My parents have to have one of the best grandkid-friendly houses you could think of, with so many children's books and toys saved from when we were little that there is always something cool to discover. We really enjoyed the visit and hope to go back soon!

Fun swimming

Go, Michael!

High five!

Littlest grandchild with Papi-Pere

Merry-go-round at Downtown Disney

Magnadoodle

Storytime with Lita

Adventures in travel

In our first trip to Orlando in a year and a half, the vacation schedules didn't line up, so I got to experience the joy that was three children on an airplane, by myself.  This caused no little anxiety ahead of time.  Very fortunately, Mike was allowed to come through security with me in Dallas, and my mom was able to do the same in Florida.  That was a huge help, but still left me with a few hours in the plane.  Mike loaded some movies on the tablet and I picked up some kids' headphones at Walmart to cover movies, and I stocked up on snacks - four separate ones each trip, to be exact - to cover food.  We also bought calculators at the dollar store, which proved surprisingly popular.  It all worked pretty well, all things considered.  Michael and Malcolm behaved really well aside from some crabbiness, and Joseph only cried a little overall.

No nap on the way there made for a crabby two-year-old

Dora helped me out a lot

One of the nicest days there included a trip to Animal Kingdom.  Michael really liked the dinosaur play area.  Joseph was a cute little explorer.  Malcolm absolutely loved the safari and had a lot of fun sitting with Lita, but unfortunately we couldn't capture the real laughs, only the silly smiles.  We were thankful to the grandparents for such a fun trip.