(Danger do not feed the alligators)
I know we went to Florida like a month ago but I never finished posting about our trip. We went to Disney's Animal Kingdom, Coleson got a little scared on the Mt. Everest ride (there was a huge drop in the dark-he always tells people "wouldn't you be scared too if you were like 100 feet high and started dropping in the dark"). The Finding Nemo play was amazing. Another favorite was the Bug's Life 3-D show where you have the giant grasshoppers and spiders coming down from the ceiling and your seat move with bugs crawling under you. Disney did a great job at making you feel like you are in other countries to see the animals, but I think I would have rather gone to a zoo to see more animals.
Brian and I went to the beautiful Orlando Temple and then that night we took Coleson out by himself. We had so much fun. Our first stop was the Lego store-that is his favorite place. He has done chores for months to save up to buy another set. If any of you have never been to a Lego store, it is really fun. They have stations around the store to build your own creations. You can race your own lego car down a ramp, or make your own lego person. It's a free place to play, however we have to drag coleson out and explain why we are not going to buy every $100 box of legos. Then we went to Joe's Crab Shack to eat. We ordered a large steam bucket of crab to all share. We wore the bibs and sat together on the same side of the booth and never touched a fork. Coleson just loved it. Probably the eating with your hands and getting dirty part, although he really does love crab. We laughed and ate and it was fun just to be with him. Coleson doesn't really get alone time with us. Between Ammon and Brynn, someone always needs something. Coleson is my awesome helper and I know he gets burnt out too. To have one night without asking him to do anything to help with was so nice. For me just eating without holding anyone or feeding someone else at the same time was so nice. It was great to have our moms babysit!!
Our favorite day turned out to be the beach. I love the beach, I could go there everyday and be happy. Cocoa beach was perfect for our family. Coleson boogie boarded for like 2 hours straight by himself. Occasionally I would say let me take you out a little farther-no mom I want to do it by myself. In the past when we have gone to the beach I am right next to him every second to make sure the waves don't take him away. Or I pull him around with the leash. Not this time. Coleson was on his own. He caught some pretty good waves. There were some shark sightings so we had to get out twice. Brian and I saw a manta ray in the crest of a wave and some jelly fish. I loved the freedom of just swimming in the ocean and boogie boarding. Brynn and Ammon both ate a handful of sand. Ammon loved walking in the water. Brynn would not put her feet down-which is funny because she loves baths and water. Coleson learned it was a lot harder than it looks to build a perfect sand castle. When we go to the parks in our neighborhood, he always wants to build sand castles. So I tell him wait until the next time we go to the beach. He had been waiting for a long time. Well he had a picture perfect idea in his mind and my building skills just weren't cutting it. I thought I was pretty good, it had a mote and bridge and secret tunnel, but it didn't look like the picture. Brian and I got badly burnt on our backs which made the next day's airport adventures that much better. The kids did great on the flights even though we didn't get home until 1:30am. Thanks to both of our mom's help and Brian's frequent flier miles, we had a great vacation.
