I usually save the "Holy cow, look how tired these kids are!" pictures for later in the Trip Report, after several days in the parks and pools. But since we didn't get to the in-law's house until midnight, and the kids were all wound up to see their grandparents, sleep didn't come until the wee hours of the morning. And our little bundle of joy / alarm clock had us up around 6, so it seemed like as good a time as any for that picture.
(What's the deal with the sleeping arrangements, you ask? The kids love to have "sleepovers" with grandma & grandpa. They blow up an air mattress in the living room, and between that and the couch, they all find a place to snuggle. Until the kids fall asleep, anyway. Then grandma and grandpa sneak off to an actual bed.)
So, the original plan from the Pre-Trip Report (well, if I had done a Pre-Trip Report, this would have been in there) was to spend the morning and afternoon at Clearwater Beach, playing in the water and making sandcastles and stuff. However, the weather was not looking very cooperative. We checked the forecast and the radar, and neither looked conductive to a good time at the beach.
We did take an hour or so to help Bambi's cousin move into her dorm at Florida Southern College (home of the Fighting Moccasins! And no, I didn't make that up. If I had made it up, it would have been funnier.) We were hoping that killing time by hauling all of the worldly possessions of a college freshman up a flight of stairs would let the weather clear. We we wrong.
While the rain did eventually stop, we had no way of knowing if or when or how hard it would start up again, so we decided to forgo our beach plans and go to Downtown Disney instead. I know, the sacrifices we have to make to enjoy ourselves.
It was a bit past lunch time when we arrived, so we made a bee line to Earl of Sandwich for a Hawaiian BBQ and whatever everyone else had. I think they had sandwiches, but I can't be certain.
After we finished, I had a little more business to attend to at Guest Relations. It seems that when we were there at 11:00 last night, they assigned the adult Annual Passes to Madison and Evan and age 3-9 APs to Bambi and I. So I got that straightened out while Ryder gave his Grandmother dirty looks.
That Sorcerer Mickey statue with the brooms used to be over in Hollywood Studios in front of the Brown Derby restaurant. I made a mental note to see what they had over in that space when we went there in a few days. Don't get your hopes up that I'll tell you what it is - I completely forgot to look.
It was a rather warm day, and with all of the rain for that morning; quite humid as well. Evan got a bottle of water and finished most of it within a few minutes. Much like his cheapskate father (no, wait. Let's go with "frugal father." It makes me sound better), he decided to refill it for free. With Alien Spit.
He may have caught a little bit in the bottle, but not enough that we needed to worry about some kind of extra-terrestrial bacteria mutating him into some kind uber-strong super genius. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
A dance troupe was just getting set up on the Downtown Disney stage and Madison wanted to watch. Evan, however, knew was was just down the path. They're small, they're plastic, they hurt like the dickens when you step on them at 1:00am in a dark house with bare feet, but they provide hours and hours of entertainment - LEGOs!
(and as you can see, Stitch got more on him than in the bottle.)
After the "weird Chinese dancing" (Madison's professional review), they joined us at the
Lego store and together built an impenetrable lunar fortress! Or maybe it's a quaint cottage in the woods nestled between a babbling brook and a wild-flower meadow. I think they were working off of two separate sets of blueprints there.
After a little snack at Pollo Compero, we made like a banana and left. Or maybe it was split? Whatever. Madison went back with Grandma and Grandpa to bake cookies (hard to find fault in that logic) while
Bambi and her Boys loaded up the Big Bertha Drivers, Titlist Irons and Scotty Cameron putters and headed for...
Mini golf? Oh. Hold on while I put this big bag back in the trunk.
Being Wisconsinites (aka "Cheeseheads", "Sconnies" or "Completely Awesome People") we couldn't stay away from the snow for long, so we chose the Winter course.
I know you're asking yourself "how the heck did he putt with a baby hanging off of his chest?" Very well, actually. Ryder helped line up all of my putts - reading the breaks, judging with wind speed and direction, and making adorable cooing noises to encourage me.
The course itself is really neat. Santa and his elves have set up camp here after a freak Florida blizzard dumped a bunch of snow and ice every where. And no, those aren't Gulfstream trailers. They're Elfstream.
The hockey hole was a big hit with Evan. I sent one top shelf - where momma keeps the cookies - and beat him glove side. I then sent a wrister 5-hole that had too much pepper for his butterfly to catch up to. Hockey is just as fun to talk about as it is to play!
We got there at an awesome time. The sun was just starting to set, so we started the round illuminated in it's golden glow (fancy words, there, huh?) But as we played, the lights started to turn on, bathing the course in the multicolored beauty of Christmas lights. I have a thesaurus.
Slalom anyone?
And just to up the degree of difficulty, around the 14th hole Ryder started getting hungry. Yup, feeding a baby with one hand a putting with the other. I should be expecting my Ryder Cup (no relation) invitation any day now.
Ah, Evan's favorite hole. Sink a putt, and Frost starts squirting all over.
The final three holes are inside a really cool little pavilion, complete with stockings (er, flippers) hung by the chimney with care. And a nice hug from Bambi's big guy.
We finished up the round, turned in our putters, and headed back to Bambi's parent's house for an early bed time. Well, earlier than last night anyway. Tomorrow was going to be a big day!
Up Next: More LEGOs than you can shake a stick at.
Is it bad that I know that? I was going to take a guess at what Evan is watching, but I have no idea.
Hmmm... Let's go with "Barry is a fully grown adult who can take care of himself in case of an emergency. Also, his life insurance is fully paid."
But you didnt mention anything about an exploding diaper mid-flight???? Or being delayed on the runway for 2 hours after landing because they closed the airport down before your (extremely delayed) flight got there and they have to call someone to unlock the gate....
