Spring Break

We spent Spring Break down in Florida this year with the Grotenhuis gang and had an absolute blast! It was the kids' first time on an airplane, and they did great. Grant, in true Grant fashion, was the inquisitive one - drilling my dad the entire way down with questions. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures on the plane.

The weather was just gorgeous - 80's almost the entire time we were down there. It only rained one morning and by afternoon it was beautiful again.

We spent time by the pool.

Grandma, Grandpa, and the kids

Grant could spend ALL day in the pool. Grandpa was such a good sport and played with him a LOT.

Brooke liked to wander all around. I loved the fact that there was a ledge inside the pool that you could sit on, and the pool had a barrier free entrance, so I didn't have to worry about Brooke tripping and falling into the pool while walking down steps.

We played on the playground at our resort.

There was a beach area by the playground that had a hammock. The kids loved Grandpa swinging them.

We spent some time at Downtown Disney. Boy, was that place busy!

The best we could do at getting all 3 of them to sit still.

There was no way we could leave that place without a picture of Grant by the giant Lego dragon.

Riding the train

We enjoyed the marine life and rides at Sea World. We had to chuckle, though, because when the kids were asked what their favorite part of the shows were, we were expecting answers that revolved around the animals - like "wow, mom, I really liked the dolphins" or "Shamu was awesome." Nope, instead, Grant said "I can't wait to tell Eli (one of his buddies at daycare) I saw a real pirate." (one of the trainers/actors in the sea lion and otter show played the part of a pirate). Brooke said that she just loved the "princess" (of course) in the dolphin show (one of the trainers in the dolphin show was dressed in a pink wetsuit and played the part of a princess). There you have it - pirates and princesses. What the heck?!

Grant loves his roller coasters. He is definitely not afraid of any rides.

Grandma riding "Ocean Commotion" with the kids.

The dolphin show - MY favorite part of Sea World. It was awesome.

We also spent a day at Busch Gardens. Another wonderful day. Not busy. Great weather. So many fun things to do.

Family pic (with some stranger to our left) at the 3D theater to watch Sesame Street. Such a cute show, but the live effects didn't thrill Brooke too much. During the show, we got squirted with water a number of times from jets in front of us. Grant thought it was great, but poor Brooke was eye level with the jets and got nailed in the face.

The wait for rides was so short. I think we only had to wait 10 minutes max for any of them. So nice when you have little ones who don't understand what it means to be patient!

Can you sense the girls' excitement about being held for this picture? (That was the story of our trip to Florida - Brooke wanted NOTHING to do with being in her stroller, but due to the crowds, she needed to be. One strong willed child vs. one strong willed mommy - take a guess who won, most of the time.)

The end of our day at Busch - all tuckered out.

I didn't realize until I started putting this blog post together that I didn't get any pictures of the kids by any animals at the park. Go figure. You only see giraffes, zebras, hippos, and elephants once in a blue moon, and I didn't get any pictures of the kids by them. That completely speaks to my picture taking abilities.

Our suite had a full kitchen, so we ate most of our meals right there, given the fact that eating out with young children isn't always the most pleasurable of experiences. We did venture out two nights, though - once to Subway and once to Chili's. Chili's had a "balloon artist" on staff, and Brooke was on cloud 9 when she received a princess crown made out of her two favorite colors.

In true Grotenhuis fashion, we made it through the entire week without getting a group picture, so the morning we were set to leave, we manged to snap a quick picture, dressed in our finest, as you can tell. :) Hey, who wears nice clothes for an airplane ride? Comfort, comfort, comfort. This picture, too, reflects my uncanny abilities to snap magnificent pictures - it is of course perfectly centered - NOT!

Definitely a trip that will be fondly remembered! Now, if this Michigan weather could just take a turn for the better, I might not be longing to be back in the Sunshine State!