First beach trip

This week Beth & I surprised the kids with a trip to the beach.  We took them to Bethany Beach, DE and stayed in a nice bed & breakfast called The Cedar Breeze.  They had a 2-room suite which worked out great, and they were nice enough to make extra pancakes for the girls to have at breakfast on the 2nd day.  They provided beach towels, chairs, and umbrellas, so we were able to pack lighter.  Very nice place to stay - we recommend it!

The girls really liked seeing the Chesapeake Bay as we crossed the bay bridge.  Although as we were going higher and higher, Anna asked me to get to the other side because she was scared.  It reminded me of when we lived in Florida in the early 80's - I remember crossing a very tall bridge over Tampa Bay, and you could look down through the road.  Plus one of the two spans clearly had collapsed, so that didn't help (I was excited to have recently been watching a show on the History Channel, maybe called Engineering Disasters or something, that actually had a segment about what had happened; I never actually knew till then).

Anyway, the last time we had gone to the beach was when Kylie was visiting - she was 6 at the time, and she was scared of the waves, which, to be fair, were bigger than her, and they were even knocking me around.  This time, she enjoyed playing in the waves, and the bay bridge wasn't as big as she remembered (kind of like how huge the Christmas tree seemed when we were little, but now it's so disappointing to realize it wasn't as magnificent as you remember).

When we went to the beach the first evening, we walked the girls right up to where you could see the waves crashing.  They took a little getting used to all the sand in their feet at first.  And when we saw the ocean, Anna was a bit scared and covered her ears.  Cara was fine, and Anna was fine after I explained the ocean would stay over there.  The girls had big fun playing in the biggest sandbox ever.

We saved going into the water for the next day.  For most of the day, Cara was content just playing in the sand and didn't want to venture near the water.  Anna was over her fear of the waves and wanted to walk into the water as long as I would hold her hand.  She laughed, screamed (with delight), and giggled when the water would rush over her feet and legs, then would quickly retreat, washing sand over her feet.  Cara eventually came down to the water, too, and also had big fun, until a big wave proved to be too much for her after sweeping her off her feet.  Then she was content to just play in the sand nearby.  The weather was cloudy and only about 80 degrees, so it was a little cool, but it didn't matter.  The girls insisted they weren't cold and wanted to stay more even though their hands and lips were purple.


It was a short trip, and the girls are ready to go back to the ocean.  On the way home, their stuffed animals were talking about going on a surprise trip.  Pics are on my Facebook page or in the picture gallery under Vacations and Trips -> 2009 Bethany Beach.  Maybe next year we'll try staying for a week.

Too far between

Last night I was going to put together a short video collage of the clips we took of the girls (1 and 3, at the time) "dancing" their little hearts out at our family reunion in Orlando last fall.  I did that, but as I was watching the clips and looking through all our pictures from that week, I began to really miss the fun time we had, all together, which are very few and far between, playing games, dancing, singing, relaxing, laughing, Titi Edna cheating at blitz…  I started to get that really sad feeling I had for the first hour when we drove away, heading for home. I don't know when (or even if) we'll get to see Abuela again. So this video contains the dancing clips I originally set out to put together, but I also followed it with a short slideshow of our time together.  I hope we see each other again soon.

You can view the video below, or click here to download a high quality version (~75MB) to play back locally on your machine (right-click the link in your browser to save the movie file locally).

The first couple of dancing clips are a bit dark, and the video clips were taken on our old digital still camera, so they’re a little choppy - sorry about that.  The slideshow begins around 3:30 into the video if you want to skip the dancing videos.  If you want to re-read all about our reunion, you can find my entries under October 2007 and November 2007 in the "Blog Archive" sidebar section.

SeaWorld

During the week that we were in Florida, it pretty much rained or was threatening to rain most of the week.  The best chance of having a dry day was the Thursday & Friday before we left, so on Thursday we took the girls to SeaWorld.  I remember visiting SeaWorld when I was very little and really enjoying it.  We were pretty sure the girls would enjoy it, since they both love animals (seeing the fish tank at Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney the day before was their favorite thing), and there would be a lot of animals there that they hadn't necessarily seen before.  It really was a big hit!

As we were making our way into the park on the first day, we saw a bunch of pink flamingos, then some big sea turtles and other birds that like to stick close to water.  No, I have no idea what kind of birds they are.  But apparently there are some native Florida birds (i.e., not owned by SeaWorld) that hang around and try to snatch any fish you try to feed the animals.  One even tore into a bag of trail mix that was in our stroller while we were in a show - we discovered the evidence afterwards.

Stringray Lagoon

After the flamingos and turtles, we visited the stingrays.  It's a giant, shallow pool full of stingrays. There were some huge ones in there.  You can pet the stingrays as they swim by - they feel like wet mushrooms. Anna said she wanted to pet one, but then changed her mind when she had a chance. Beth chose not to pet them, either. You can buy trays of little fish to feed the stingrays, so I got a tray.  You're supposed to hold the fish in the water so the rays swim over your hand and suck the fish out.  So I did that while Anna watched.  Then she actually tried to feed them, too - she dropped the fish into the water, basically, but I was impressed that she even touched and picked up the fish.

Dolphin Cove

From there, we went to the dolphin cove.  In hindsight, we should have gotten in line to feed the dolphins on Thursday, but we didn't, and the line was way too long on Friday when we went back (you get a 2nd visit free with your tickets). That would have given us a better chance to get to pet the dolphins, too.  But we just stood by the edge and watched the dolphins swim by, play, and jump. Anna got startled a couple times when all of a sudden a dolphin would come out of the water right in front of us unexpectedly, but she still liked watching them and trying to pet them.

Pets Ahoy!

SeaWorld's shows are actually pretty good. I remember loving them as a kid, but I still enjoyed them going back this time. The first show we went to was one where cats, dogs, ducks, other birds, and a pig are doing all kinds of scripted things on a stage.  I know I do it no justice with that description, but it was very cute and very well produced.  For example, one of the props is a hot dog cart, and a dog runs up and cranks the handle, causing a door to open, and 5 or 6 weiner dogs run out.  It was definitely the girls' favorite show - they had big smiles on their faces and clapped all through the show. Of course, I couldn't get a good picture in there.

Penguin Encounter

From the pets show, we went to the penguin encounter.  It's basically a large, enclosed area that is really, really cold inside, with a big glass front where you can see penguins both on "land" and rocks and underwater.  There's a slow-moving walkway that you stand on while you observe.  There were lots of penguins standing, jumping in the water, zooming through the water, looking at you through the glass…

This was Anna's absolute favorite exhibit.  She wanted to go back to see the penguins again and again.  Since she loved it so much, we got her a stuffed penguin, and her famed kitty and blankets were rejected when we got back to the car.  She even slept with penguin instead of kitty that night.  We wondered if maybe the penguin would be the "new" kitty - and for a day or two, it was, but as much as she loves penguin, she eventually remembered kitty, and now holds both of them all the time.

Pacific Point Preserve

We then went to the area that held the seals and sea lions.  This is another exhibit where you can buy trays of fish to toss to the animals, which are in a very large pool with rocky cliffs to climb on, on the other side of a glass fence.  I got some fish, and the sea lions definitely knew when someone had food, because they would all swim as close as they could and even prop themselves up on the barrier and ask for it.  Anna wanted to try feeding the sea lions, but these fish were much bigger than the ones for the stingrays (that is, much slimier, too), so Anna quickly changed her mind, but enjoyed watching.

Shark Encounter

We then went to the shark encounter - a very cool exhibit where you literally walk through the tank of fish & sharks, looking up and around through very thick plastic.  There is semi-creepy music playing, as if something's going to get you. When you first walk in, you're looking at a variety of fish, amongst some rock formations with many holes for moray eels to hide.  Here, Anna told me that she was scared of the holes. Who knows what lurked inside - maybe the giant dead lizard from our villa!  I told her not to look at the holes.

Next in the exhibit was a tank holding a lot of scorpion fish, other tropical fish, and an unusual-looking stingray that had purple spots all over it. Across from that was a tank full of pretty large barracuda.  Anna and Cara referred to them as the "cookie monster fish."  Anna really liked watching the barracuda for some reason. Then we saw a tank full of sea dragons, which I found pretty amazing.  They're just like sea horses, only they have lots of appendages sticking out of them that look like leaves - and it really hides them. You have to look kind of hard to see all of them among the real plants.

Next was the main attraction, the moving walkway through the shark tank. Very cool!  As you approach the tunnel, you walk past several sets of shark jaws.  Anna wanted me to walk as far away from the jaws as I could. In the tunnel, both Anna and Cara stared and pointed at all the sharks.  For some reason, Anna kept saying to me, "It's not scary! It's not scary, daddy!"  I would point out a shark to her - "look, there's one!" and she'd respond, "Yeah! And it's not scary!"  I don't know if she was reassuring herself that it wasn't scary, or if she was so relieved to be away from the holes that she really didn't find it scary!

Horses, whales, and walruses

SeaWorld is owned by Anheuser-Busch, so they had a stable with several of their clydesdale horses.  They really are pretty large horses.  After seeing the clydesdales, we went to the Wild Arctic exhibit, where we saw beluga whales, a polar bear, and a 2 walruses.  We got a better look at the walruses swimming underwater on the lower level - they were HUGE.  The picture we got doesn't really give you a feel for how big they were.

Whale & Dolphin Show

We then went to see another show involving lots of dolphins, false killer whales, some acrobats, high divers, and birds.  This was a very good show - Beth & I's favorite.  It of course had the dolphins and whales jumping and flipping, and it was cool seeing two dolphins push a trainer along the surface of the pool by his feet.  But the coolest move was when a trainer was being pushed by his feet underwater by two dolphins, while simultaneously twirling him around and around as they pushed him.

• Dolphin show clip 1 (high divers)
• Dolphin show clip 2 (swinging acrobats)
• Dolphin show clip 3 (skiing on two dolphins)
• Dolphin show clip 4 (the finale)

 

Manatee Rescue

After a quick meal and Shamu cookie which turns parts of Anna's face black, we went to the manatee exhibit.  Very fat animals that don't do much but swim slowly through the water and maybe sleep at the bottom of their lake for 20 minutes at a time before they get a breath.  This turned out to be Cara's favorite exhibit.  Both girls referred to the animals as "Barbara Manatee," because there's a Veggie Tales silly song where Larry the Cucumber is watching a soap opera about a Barbara Manatee.  We got Cara a stuffed manatee, which she loves to carry around, calling it "Matee!"

Shamu

The last thing we did at SeaWorld the first day was see the killer whale show.  It was 5:30 by this time, and Cara finally gave up and fell asleep on mommy.  The show didn't go as smoothly or as quickly as usual, because apparently the killer whales that were performing decided they were done halfway through the show, and the trainers eventually had to get them to go back to their holding area and get some different killer whales to finish the show.  The whales really threw the trainers high into the air in this show.

The weather cooperated with us perfectly that day - it only rained (and rained hard) twice, and both times it did, we were sitting in the stadiums watching a show, so we never got wet.

Back for more

Since your 2nd visit is free and Friday was a sunny, we went back the next day.  Anna squealed "Yeaaaaaaah!!!" when we asked if she wanted to see the dog & cat show again.  She, of course, wanted to see the penguins again, and again.  And although she wanted to see the sharks again, she did tell me before we even got there that she didn't want to see the holes.

We saw the sea otter show, the dog & cat show, and wanted to catch the whale & dolphin show again.  I got a little video of the whale & dolphin show - the girls still really enjoyed it, but were clearly much more tired than the previous day, so Anna, while she's clapping, isn't smiling like she was the first day. I should have taken the video when she had her big smile on. Oh well.

As we were leaving the park, I got a little bag of gummy bears and gummy gators, which you can see below was very popular with the girls. Cara again couldn't stay awake in the car on the way to Titi Toni's and took a power nap with her manatee.

I think the girls had big fun at SeaWorld, and even though we didn't make it to Disney's Magic Kingdom this time, I think it may have worked out better.  We don't think the girls would have like standing an hour in lines for a ride - especially the 2nd day.  Anna may have done OK with the TVs and cartoons I hear they have playing as you wait, but Cara definitely wouldn't have been able to stay still that long several times in the day.  We'll come back when they're bigger - it wasn't our last trip to Orlando!

All our SeaWorld pictures and videos are in our photo gallery, under Vacations and Trips, 2007 Family Reunion, Seaworld.

Te Llegó La Parranda

I thought at least one of my aunts would appreciate this. Beth was out running errands this morning, and I started playing some Spanish Christmas music.  When the first song came on, Cara started dancing on the couch, and Anna started wiggling her behind, then started running around the coffee table. Then, while Anna was running and wiggling to the music, she yelled, "Just like Titi Edna!!"  She was also carrying many of her Disney buddies, and saying "Come on, guys!"

Not only that, but when a couple more songs went by, Anna said, "Umm.. how about…. Edna song?"  It took a try or two to figure out which song it was, but it turned out to be Te Llegó La Parranda - the official Titi Edna song!

Video of Anna and Cara "Dancing" to the Titi Edna song after coming home from the reunion.

Back from Orlando

We're back from our family reunion to Orlando, after another 14-hour drive, which we did over two days (I'll post a separate entry about our visit to SeaWorld).  The girls did really great in the car - of course, having the DVD players helps a ton. Anna loved the Angelina Ballerina mouse video that Titi Toni gave her - if it was up to her, she would have watched it over and over the entire trip, but we had to interject and give Cara a turn to watch Bob & Larry (Veggie Tales) or Curious George. Beth would probably have liked the trip better if Cara hadn't repeatedly thrown her blanket or manatee on the floor where no one could reach, then cry for it until someone (i.e., the non-driving adult) bent all over the place trying to get to it.

Neither girl slept in the car on the way down, even when we kept the DVD players off to try to lull them to sleep (which only resulted in an hour of Anna whining about wanting to watch Curious George in space and Cara yelling).  On the way back, though, each one fell asleep, right after being really cranky. They were tired.

It was really hard to leave - that's the worst part about vacation in general, but I think it's even harder when you're spending time with loved ones that you don't get to see often. It had been about three years, I think, since my side of the family got together in Orlando. Just like that time, I really didn't want to leave and was pretty sad for the first part of our trip. I hope we'll be able to get together again before another three years pass by.

For the record, Titi Edna's blitz wins (including her alleged, unbelievably high score of 36) were disqualified when Christopher discovered she had been playing with a non-standard deck of cards. This left me, again, as the blitz champion for the week. Winning the lowest score was Nicky, playing under the influence of NyQuil, with a final score of 1, with Abuela close behind wielding a score of either 4 or 5.  I hope we find that score sheet at our next reunion.

Thank you, Titi Toni, Uncle Curt, and family, for opening up your home to let us all eat and play together. What a fantastic location and beautiful backyard on the lake!  Thank you, Abuela, Titi Edna, and dad for making the trip out there to spend time with us. We love you and hope to see you all again soon!

Love,
Dave, Beth, Anna (the big one), and Cara (the little one/the other one)

More fun with family

It's been a few days since the last update - I'll see what I can remember.  Beth got to go shopping with my aunts and grandma while Anna and Cara stayed with me, Lelo, and Uncle Curt.  She had a really fun time. The guys pretty much played with the girls and watched videos with them that day.  Lelo fell asleep on the couch, and Uncle Curt & I failed to get Anna and Cara to take naps.  And I guess we forgot to change Cara's diaper all day.  Oops. The next day I got to come back and play some ping pong and pool with my dad, aunts & uncle while the girls took naps at the villa. I beat my uncle & dad at ping pong, lost at pool, and we had a pretty good matchup at 4-player ping pong with me and Titi Toni against dad and Titi Edna.

We had a lot of fun with everyone including Christopher and Nicky playing the game Apples to Apples, with ice cream, Nilla wafers, chips, etc.  Plus a couple more games of blitz - which Titi Edna would like to point out she won. Last night we took several 4-generation pictures that included Anna & Cara, me & Beth, dad, and Abuela (the girls' great grandmother).  Beth had lots of fun helping Christopher with his algebra - I'm sure a lot more fun than he had. They were working at it pretty much all evening, but I think she helped him understand some things that were giving him trouble.  He hopes music majors don't have to take many math classes! I think Beth really enjoyed the part of teaching where she got to help the kids learn, but the hours and pay and politics were terrible enough that she won't be going back to that profession.

Anyway, Lelo left this morning to go home - I'm really glad he was able to see the girls and meet Cara.  Beth was glad that everyone got to see how hard it is to feed Anna firsthand, so that it sort of "proved" that it's not just us being lazy about it.  Dad recommended a few things to supplement what Anna does eat. She misses him already - I forget what she asked today, but it was something about seeing Lelo, and we had to tell her that he had to go home, which made her a little sad.

Abuela got cabin fever and had enough sitting around the house, and Titi Edna had some things she wanted to get accomplished, so while they were off doing their thing, we went to Downtown Disney and walked around the stores and marina.  We stopped at a toy store and go a box full of Mr. Potato Head parts, and we also stopped to look around the Legoland Imagination Center.  There were some pretty cool things made out of legos there, including a lego dragon coming out of the lake, a shark, crab, dinosaur, dogs, people… but the thing the girls liked best was the little clubhouse and slide in the back of the store.  Cara thew a huge fit when we had to leave it because it started raining.

Tonight Abuela and the Hortons were having dinner and visiting with some good friends that came back from a 3-month trip to Canada and were going to see fireworks tonight.  We just stayed at our villa and swam in the pool to get the girls to bed on time since we're going to Sea World tomorrow and we got them to bed really late last night (close to 11).  We think they will really like it - one of their favorite things about Downtown Disney (besides the lego slide)was watching the fish swim in the tanks at the Rainforest Cafe.  They'll get to see lots more fish, plus pet/feed dolphins, see whales, sharks, penguins, manatees…

Titi Toni/Edna, and Abuela are going to Epcot on Friday instead of tomorrow while we're at Sea World because their friends got them an unbeatable deal to get in, but it had to be Friday.  So it looks like with everyone's schedules, between Wednesday morning and when we leave on Saturday, we'll only get to see everyone for a little bit tomorrow evening, and possibly Friday evening.  I would have enjoyed getting to spend more time visiting and playing games with my aunts, but I'm thankful for the time we did have. And I hope the girls really enjoy Sea World tomorrow.

Oh, I forgot to mention how much the girls wanted to swim today. Ever since Cara woke up from her nap today, about the only thing she would say to me was "bool," asking to go to the pool, even at Titi Toni's house while I was picking up our things. Anna squealed "Yes!" when I asked if she wanted to swim.  But the funniest part was when we went outside, I saw a frog in the pool area, tried to catch it (I eventually caught at the side of the pool), and had it in my hands.  I kept calling the girls - "Anna! Cara! Look - I have a frog in my hands - come see the frog!" They ran right by me, with not so much as a glance in my general direction, to get into the pool. Who cares about a frog, daddy - it's time to swim!  We swam until Anna said she was too cold, then I kept swimming with Cara until I figured it was late enough to stop - Cara would have gone all night long!

By the way, Anna loves the snowman PJs that Titi Edna and Abuela brought from PR. Especially the slippers.  And she also loves her fingernails that Titi Edna painted, and her toenails that Christine painted. And she was wiggling her behind this evening to the Spanish music we had playing in the villa, while sitting on the potty.