We had a nice visit with him and a female friend of his. His house looks beautiful yet homey. It really is nice to go back and visit the house I grew up in although, I wish it looked like that when I lived there - I may not have moved out so quickly. He cooked us grilled steaks in the rain and served shrimp, baked potatoes and salad. I was very happy to see him so chipper. He looks great and I am so proud to call him my Dad. It was a really nice evening. We spent the rest of the night sleeping soundly with full bellies. Dad later said how much he enjoyed the fact that we made ourselves at home. Jerome even slept on the couch!
We woke up the next morning and headed over to Annette & Macs around 11am and loaded up again to go to lunch. Everybody let Charles pick the place so he chose Chilis. Why, I don't know. Charles had a burger/fries. Annette had ribs & steak, I had country fried steak, Jerome had fajitas and Mac had either a burger or steak. I can't remember. Carnivores? yes. Lunch was great and it was nice to spend a little quality time with Mom and Dad over some chow. (I do adore both of them to pieces).
After lunch they let me run over to Burlington to look for a comforter. Mom (Carroll) had told me that it was the best place to get one. I looked in Melbourne previously but to no avail. I wasnt going to settle for anything unless I knew it was the right one. Soooo, I quickly ran over and scanned the bedding section for something that would match my newly painted baby tropical blue walls. I ran across something that had the color in it and low and behold it was a king for a mere $29!!! It was gender neutral with baby blue, tan, & dark blue stripes. I hurried to make sure there was nothing else and grabbed it and hauled ass to the check out line as Annette was ringing my phone to let me know they were out front & waiting. (See the next blog for a picture of the bedroom.)
When we got back to Annettes, I opened my prize and found 2 shams and also noticed that it was VERY well made, 100% cotton and originally $180!! Nice one!
Later Annette and I went to the store during a really rainy day and bought some groceries and lunch for our picnic at Typhoon Lagoon. I got subs, fruit, gatorade, beef jerky and chips. I was worried that the rain would stick around for our play day tomorrow.
We had chili dogs for dinner - one of my favorites, chatted and just plain enjoyed being around each other.
The next day I wanted to get up and get to Typhoon Lagoon EARLY! I wanted to beat the Orlando traffic and the early bird spring breakers. I had read several reviews that said to get there early. The park opened at 10am so we left around 8:20 or so.
Well we friggin got there at 9am. So we waited out front with about 50 other people. When we got in we rushed to get a locker and then we had to wait in line again for the actual park to open.
So when that line opened we went to find a spot to "camp" thinking that it would fill up soon. We found a great little area that neighbors Tim and Debbie recommended with a cover in case it rained and it had a picnic table and lounge chairs. Lounge at a water park??? no way.
Our chairs were near the entrance to the lazy river (which basically takes you all the way around the water park) and the best water slides. The park is set up perfectly but the concrete on your bare feet gets tough. Jerome was preferring to walk in the sand.
We set down our stuff and took off for the closest water slide. Well we climbed, and climbed and climbed steps until we got to the top. Jerome was first, Charles was second and then it was my turn. They said the water was heated but Im not sure who's opinion that was cause it was damn cold!! Im not sure if I was screaming from delight or temperature. It didn't rain but it was overcast here and there which didn't help. Here, I captured the elusive sun.
The wave pool was HUGE and the waves looked bigger than they really were. It is where Jerome went "surfing in Orlando".
They have a really cool feature where you get to snorkel and it feels like you are inside of huge fish tank. They even have windows where other people can watch. It was really cool! We (Charles and I) swam with parrotfish, leopard sharks, puddingwife (a fish) and hammerheads. (ok, they were actually non-man-eating bonnetheads but same family right?)
They also have a "water coaster" that takes you UP and down!
We ate lunch and jumped at every chance to get in the sun when it was out. We walked, climbed stairs and swam. Forget the gym. If I lived closer I would just go there everyday. Im suprised Disney lets you bring coolers in. They didnt even check them.
We had a really nice time as a family and went home 1 hour before the park closed due to mere exhaustion. There was never any lines to wait in longer than 5 minutes. The longest line I waited in was to purchase a $12 picture of us. Charles and I opted for some mini doughnuts on the way out and we went back to Annettes to rest up for the ride home the next day.
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