OBX – The Outer Banks
We spent the last week of our vacation in Duck, NC. We (PaPa, Grandma, Uncle Charlie, Uncle Mike, Livi Shea, Ace, Momma, and I) rented a beach house about 500 ft from the beach…our little home away from home…
We were greeted in NC by Hurricane Bill with large bone crushing waves and high winds, but everything calmed down by the third day.
We did not do a whole lot there (isn’t that the point of going to the beach?).
Ace, A.K.A. FishBoy, and Olivia had never seen the ocean before so they were in complete amazement when the waves would crash down and roll over their feet…
We went on a Dolphin Cruise where we took a relaxing boat ride out into the sound and saw live dolphins in the wild… Did you know that wild dolphins have pink bellies? Me neither…
The Dolphin Cruise was a sunset cruise, so we got to see the sunset…it was breath taking to see the sun set over the water…
And the skies after the sun set were equally as eye cathcing…notice the moon peeking it’s head out into the daylight…
As fun as the dolphin cruise was, nothing beats playing on the beach. Of course someone has to be buried…
…and sand castles have to be constructed with precsion…
We even got to experience the beach at early morning and at night. At night the crabs run wild. We went down with our flashlights and chased the crabs across the sand back into the water. Those little buggers can scoot!
We got up early one morning to watch the sunrise. I have never in my life took time to sit down and watch the sunrise. I mean, I’ve seen it rise while driving to work, and I’ve been outside when it has risen, but to sit and watch it’s every move is something that I will have to try and do more often. The view was overwhelming…
All in all we had a fantasic time! It had to be one of the most fun two weeks that we have ever had. Momma is already busy planning next years vacation…
Two Year Old Wrestles Alligator!
On our last day in Orlando, we stopped in for an afternoon of Gatorland!
If your are weary of large bone crushing jaws equipped with flesh piercing teeth…you could not even get in the front door…
And once inside you better keep your fingers to yourself, or else you might go home looking like a veteran maintenance man. 😀
They also had a bunch of colorful birds… Apparently these little buggers will bite you pretty hard too. I did not get close enough to find out… 😀
But the least colorful, yet most intriguing, were the white alligators! Can you imagine seeing one of these bad boys running at you leading with their mouths wide open salivating as they imagine what you would taste like?
They are not albino, they are leucistic… They still have skin pigment around their mouths and their tails. Albinos are known for their red eyes due to lack of pigmentation. The leucistic alligators have bright blue eyes…
Don’t let them baby blues fool you… 😀 These guys are just as big and dangerous as the colored variety. 😀
We got to see some crazy dude wrestle an alligator too!
After watching for a few minutes, Ace and I decided it would not be that hard to wrestle an alligator if we worked together. 😀
I distracted the gator by making hand bag jokes about his mother. Ace ran up and jumped on the gator’s back, riding him like a rodeo cowboy. After Ace had the reptile worn out, I jumped on the gator’s back too and subdued him by grabbing his jaws…nearly losing a finger…and pulling his head back till he tapped out in submission.
Then I yelled, “Ace, look over at Momma so she can take your picture!”
And there he is the 2 Year Old Gator Wrestler. Sitting proud atop his defeated opponent!
What are you talking about? Tape? Where? I don’t see any tape around that gator’s mouth? That must be a glitch in the photo… 😀
Why Leave The Hotel?
The second day of our vacation we decided to just hang out at the hotel.
The hotel was more than just a hotel…it was a resort. There was over 100 acres with 30 buildings, a pool, a grocery store, a restaurant, a bar, multiple ponds, and three pools.
This main pool was the most amazing pool I have ever seen! Orlando has been built around entertaining kids, and this pool sure followed that tradition. There were fountains, waterfalls, and volleyball nets in the pool. Here’s a quick pic I took…
Pretty sure Ace is part fish… Once the kid got wet…we only took breaks to eat and sleep. 😀
After swimming in the morning, Ace went to feed the ducks…which was one of the activities for the kids. (There was a new activity every half an hour.)
And as a bonus we got to feed a few turtles that decided to crash the party and steal some bread…
On our way back to the room I snapped a few pics of some of the hotel scenery…not that kind of scenery…get your minds out of the gutter. 😀
I was talking about some of the fountains…
And to end the day the hotel had “Movie Night at the Pool”. They brought out a projector, lit a fire to cook some smores, and popped some popcorn.
We did some swimming, then chowed down on popcorn and smores. And on the walk back to the room, Ace gave up…. If someone was carrying me…I would’ve gave up too. 😀
Hello From Orlando!
Hi everyone! If you follow me on Facebook (my profile) you already know that we are on vacation in Orlando this week.
We drove 15 hours from our home to Orlando on Monday night and arrived in Orlando Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday night we just hung out and recooped from the looong drive.
Wednesday we got up and headed to Sea World! Ace was rarin’ to go!
We were there when the park opened and had Breakfast With Elmo and Friends…
While eating Ace got to meet all of Elmo’s friends. He got a hug from Telly Monster…
…and tickled by Bert…
…and his picture taken, on stage, with Elmo and Big Bird…
After breakfast we pet the Sting Rays…
…and pet the dolphins…
…and fed them too!
The Dolphin show was simply amazing with the acrobatics, high dives, and stunts with the Dolphins…
It was so cool that Ace sported this face for much of the show…
Overall the first full day in Orlando was a blast!!!
We have two full weeks of vacation planned including…hanging out at the hotel resort, going to Gator Land, and driving up to Duck, North Carolina where we will rent a house for a week and spend some time at the ocean!
Gotta go…Ace is ready to go to the pool! This kid is a fish! 😀