Universal Studios



Waiting for our lunch to come





On December 23 the boys and I spent the day at Universal Studios... my only complaints about the whole day were 1). the cooler than usual weather (which got really cold at night) and 2). an underlying headache that is not helped by all the spinning and jerking rides.


But overall, we had a great day and thanks to C.J. (who works there) we got in for free, we got free parking, and we got 50% off all food and merchandise!  So the whole day, which included lunch at a sit down restaurant, cost less than $30.00 for the four of us.

Merry Christmas

This will be short as I am about to leave for Daytona Beach to pick up my sister.  We will gather as a family for the evening, along with a couple who are friends with my parents, and are having a small prayer service along with food, drink, and christmas carols.. oh yeah.. and the opening of presents (which is Zack's favorite).  Tomorrow Chris and the boys will come over form Orlando for the day and my mom makes a traditional Thanksgiving dinner (because I miss that).  Then, at night, I may take Zack to the theater to see the Dawn Treader.




I have pictures will have to wait until Sunday when I go to the Ale House to watch the Packers play so that I can use their internet.


 Until then, I hope everyone has a very blessed Christmas and celebrate the fact that God sent his Son to save us from death!  He came as a baby... and he came for YOU... and me!


Merry Christmas

Another Beautiful Day

Weather wise it was almost a carbon copy of yesterday - only a bit windier.  I had pictures but after taking 10 of them I realized that I had forgotten to put the memory card in the camera - dumb... dumb... dumb! 


Anyway, it was decided that today would be Zack's best chance to swim so we began the day with a shopping trip to Bealls for a swimsuit (his were all too small - imagine that)!  So, I finally found a suitable suit plus a couple more Christmas presents... specifically I bought a swimsuit, a gator jersey for Zack, a gator wall decoration for Jon, and a bow and arrow for Zack and paid just $29.00 for everything. 


After lunch I took Zack to the pool where he swam...alone....because no one else was crazy enough to go in the water... for about an hour.  But he had fun... and I took pictures which will never be seen on here.... because of the memory card mishap.


After a great dinner of stir fry, we went to the Town Center and walked around the display of Christmas lights they had.  This is where I realized my memory card was absent... so there are no pictures of that... although I do have some posted from last year when we were here and it was basically the same this year.


Tomorrow Zack and I head over to Orlando to meet up with the other two boys for a day at Universal Studios.  We all get in free courtesy of C.J. who works there.  Ollie gets to stay home with grandma.  It should be a long... but fun... day.  And I've put the memory card back in the camera already.. so hopefully there will be pictures.

Trip to Blue Springs to see Manatee

there was a lot of beautiful scenery along the walk



A mother and her two calves






two fish resting on a manatee's back





the Plantation House on the property




Today we went over to Blue Springs park in Orange City to see the manatee.
They migrate from the river to the springs when it gets colder since the temperature in the spring is always a nice and warm 72*.  However, they are vegetarians and plants will not grow in the springs so they need to drift back out to the river for their food.  Even though we only saw a handful of manatee- the walk along the spring was gorgeous... and it was a beautiful 70 - 75 degree day


 
***Added next day - according to the morning paper, there were 270 manatee in the springs yesterday - but that was in the morning when the temperature was cooler.  By afternoon(when we were there), it had warmed up significantly and most of the manatee had drifted back out to the river.



St. Augustine

Last night we went to St. Augustine for the "nights of lights".   On the way we stopped at a beachside pizzeria for dinner.

Florida Time Again

So, once again, after a long - but smooth - 23 hour drive from the frozen tundra... the boys and I arrived in warm (kinda) and sunny Florida on Sunday night. 


Last night my parents took us to St Augustine for the "Nights of Lights" and today we are driving over to the gulf side (I think) to see the Manatee.. then tonight it's off to the Ale House with my sister.


I have pictures but they are on my computer and I cannot get internet at my parent's house.  Right now I am using my dad's computer to type. 


This evening I will bring my laptop to the Ale House and upload the pictures I have so far.

The View Outside My Door

 Thanks Blizzard Aiden