Why Leave The Hotel?

August 23rd, 2009

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. 😀

Tags: ducks, hotel room, orlando, swimming, turtles, vacation
Posted in: Family, Fun Activities, Pictures |
Views: 6,187
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Sun, Sand, and Dirty Diapers

August 8th, 2008

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We live in Ohio…not usually thought of when you think about beaches, but beaches do exist here believe it or not…

One of my favorite things to do in the summer when I was a kid was to go out on the boat at Indian Lake with my my Mom, Dad, and brother. I remember pulling the boat up to the beach, hopping out, and swimming to shore to play in the sand…and the little waves that washed up onto the sand.

Keep in mind I had never seen the ocean, let alone swam in it or anything with decent sized waves. Even though these waves were less than a foot tall, I would try my hardest to body surf on them…if only for a few feet.

Most of the activities that we do such as the zoo, COSI, vacationing in Iowa, and going to see a ball game, were all Momma’s ideas. I’m a homebody. I am perfectly happy playing with Ace in the back yard on the swingset or in the pool, but a few weekends ago I got the bright idea of taking Ace to the beach…so Momma packed a picnic basket and off we went.

We went to a small lake about 45 minutes from our house and found this small beach after driving around for a while. We had lunch in the shelter house and then got ready for some swimming…

We could not find our pack of Little Swimmers diapers, so we just brought a pair of underwear and a pair of swimming trunks for Ace.

Ace was amazed as he and I walked out onto the sand towards the water…

Dad And Ace Looking From The Beach

Once the amazement had been washed away it was time to play in the sand…

Playing In The Sand

And what can be more cuter than baby feet buried in the beach sand?

Baby Feet Buried In The Beach Sand

After he got the hang of the sand he was off to bigger and better things…splashing in the waves…

Ace Playing In The Waves

And when a boat would go by, the waves got bigger…and more fun!

Big Waves

And then he crapped his pants…and crapped them good. The underwear and swimming trunks were put out of commission for the day and we had to revert to a plain old diaper…

I ran out to the car with bare feet to clean him up and put on a diaper. Ever tried to change a diaper while dancing on the sun beaten pavement to keep your bare feet from spontaneously combusting? Not as easy as it sounds… 😀

And then the sand…it was everywhere!! There was sand in the poop, and poop in the sand. If nothing else positive came out of this experience, his tush got a good exfoliation treatment as I went through a package of wipes trying to clean the mess. 😀

Once everyone had a clean butt I put on my trunks and we headed out to deeper water…

Heading Out To Deeper Water

Of course, since Ace had on a regular diaper now, he weighed about 50 lbs (25 lbs of Ace and 25 lbs of water that had absorbed into his diaper). 😀

It was a fun day that brought back memories for me, and hopefully made some memories for Ace. Just look at his face…it has HAVING FUN written all over it…as he splashes in the sun. 😀

Having Fun Face

BTW: We have some big news to reveal in the very near future…stay tuned. 😀

Tags: beach, Fun Activities, picnic, summer, swimming
Posted in: Family, Fun Activities, Pictures |
Views: 17,400
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Ace’s Ride

July 23rd, 2008

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: Ace’s Ride

Tags: pics, pool, swimming, wordless wednesday
Posted in: Fun Activities, Pictures |
Views: 6,749
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BEWARE! Swimming Children Have Super Powers!

July 15th, 2008

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Remember when you were a kid and loved going swimming? Did you have a favorite game that you played in the pool? Did you ever imagine you had super powers?

I always imagined that i had some kind of underwater jet pack that propelled me through the water at high speeds.

If you could pick a super power to have in the pool, what would it be?

If you wished you could shoot “heat rays” from your eyes like Superman does, you should come swim in our pool. Apparently swimming in our pool causes just this phenomenom.

If a swimming kid places both palms upwards and stares at their parent, a beam will shoot from their eyes and zap their parent right in the face! Seriously!

Take a look at the picture I took of the warning on the side of our pool… 😆

: BEWARE! Swimming Kids Have Super Powers

Tags: funny, pool, swimming
Posted in: Funny Stuff, Pictures |
Views: 8,909
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Dad’s Can Do Anything!

July 3rd, 2008

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Part of being a Dad, at least for me, is getting to fix things and put things together. Sometimes it can be fun! For example, putting together your kids first bike, easy bake oven, or something else that you know they will love.

However, sometimes it can be not so much fun. For example, crawling through fiberglass insulation in a 120 degree attic to install an attic fan. (I think I sweat about 10 gallons that day.) 😀

A few posts ago I told you about our good deal on the pool. Well, who gets to put this pool up? Dad, of course. (Momma helped too. I can’t take all of the credit.)

One of the important things about putting in an above ground pool is having the ground level. If it is not level the pool will be deeper on one side than the other. A few inches is no big deal, but much over that and you start to have major problems.

Our back yard already had a big dip in it where the people that lived here before us had a pool and took it with them. We figured our pool would go right there…because it is the most level spot in our back yard…so I thought.

It took us three days to till up the dirt and level it out with garden rakes to our satisfaction. While not perfect, it is close enough. Then we put down 18 bags of play sand. (The dude at Home Depot probably thought we built the biggest sand box EVER!)

Next the pool liner, support frame, pump and hoses, and finally the water…6000 gallons of it. (I’m dreading the water bill next month) 😀

After all of that we were left with a functioning above ground pool filled with water so cold that my nipples almost popped right off my body when I jumped in. 😆

After a few days the water temp is tolerable…about 76 degrees…and my nips are much happier now.

Looks like we have a summer full of fun in the sun ahead of us! 😀

Tags: being a dad, fun, Fun Activities, pool, summer, swimming
Posted in: Entertainment, Family, Fun Activities, Pictures |
Views: 9,915
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