wilma-bride
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- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
- Messages
- 22,681
Day 8 Another Day in Paradise - Monday 16th October
Cast:
Me Joh, 33 OK, time to make up for those under spends
DH Gary, 39 Just because we havent spent it in the last 6 days, doesnt mean we have to spend it all TODAY!!!
DD1 Sian, 13 I wanted to ride Sheikra!!!
DD2 Rea, 12 Thank God I havent got to endure a whole day of rollercoasters
It was patently obvious to anyone who had seen the girls last night that we werent going to make it to Busch Gardens today but Sian was still mortified when she finally woke up and discovered we were going shopping instead. Placated only by the thought of spending some money, she spent a good half an hour trying to fit Busch into the remainder of our already-packed itinerary. We did say we would try to go another day if possible but, to be honest, I was quite relieved. I knew DD2 wouldnt enjoy it much as its mostly thrill rides and it would have meant she was waiting around a lot.
So, instead, we were going shopping. Once we were up, showered and dressed, we caught the trolley down to Premium Outlets, where we bought some Skechers for Daniel (2 pairs for $50). We had a cookie each from Mrs Fields and shared a couple of diet cokes, then wandered round the shops. I bought some Christmas pressies in Character Premiere and then we caught the Lynx bus up to the Florida Mall. Wed never tried the Lynx bus before and, although much cheaper than a taxi, it was very slow and took almost an hour to get there.
By the time we got to Florida Mall it was lunchtime and the girls were, of course, hungry. We got some food from Chick-Fil-A (another first for us). It was nice but the coating on the chicken tasted quite sweet, which was strange. The waffle fries were lovely though. After that, we arranged to split up and meet later on. The girls went off to look at sweet shops and other such teen stuff and Gary and I did a full tour of the mall. I loved the Playmobil shop and could have spent a fortune in there but in the end we just bought some little bits for Daniel.
I bought DH a G Shock watch for Christmas but he insisted on wearing it straight away. It was an absolute bargain, though, and much cheaper than any wed seen back in the UK. We treated ourselves to some posh chocs from Harry and David but, apart from that, didnt manage to part with any more cash.
We met up with the girls again and caught the Lynx bus back down to I-Drive, where we got off at Prime Outlets this time. We had a quick wander round but really werent impressed this place has certainly gone downhill since last year. By this time, it was almost 6 oclock so we decided to get an early dinner. We caught the trolley down to Bennigans where we were seated straight away. The server brought our diet cokes and took our order. Rea declared Im not very hungry, Ill just have half a rack of ribs and fries. For some reason, this cracked us up and, to this day, poor Rea has had to suffer lots of teasing and ribbing (pardon the pun) about it. DH chose ribs too, Sian had a club sandwich and I opted for the Guinness Glazed chicken. The food came quickly and was, again, lovely. We were determined to have dessert this time but we were quite full so asked the server to give us a few minutes, which he happily did. An enjoyable time was spent browsing the gorgeous dessert menu and trying to decide what to have. Rea, despite not being very hungry
, chose a chocolate ice-cream sundae thing which was for 2 to share. We managed to persuade her she wouldnt be able to eat it by herself and Sian opted to share it with her. The girls weren't impressed that they had to wait until I'd taken a picture before they could dig in!
Meanwhile, DH and I were torn between 3 choices Death by Chocolate, Chocolate Lava Cake and White Chocolate Chill-Out (are you spotting a theme here?) I pointed out that Bennigans offered a dessert combo where you could choose 2 or 3 different options, which I assumed was a bit like the dessert taster plates offered at Disney. So, of course, we decided to go for all 3. We werent in any way prepared for what actually arrived!!!
AND!!!!
But we managed to do it some justice!
Absolutely stuffed, we paid the check (a very reasonable $85 inc tip) and caught the trolley back to the hotel. As it was still early, the girls wanted to go swimming but I pointed out that we had another late night tomorrow (the much anticipated MNSSHP) and we decided to pack our overnight bags instead as we were staying at All Star Movies tomorrow night. That done, we watched telly and chilled out for a while before lights out at 11 oclock.
Today's budget - $250
Total spend today - $268.66
Over budget - $18.66
Cast:
Me Joh, 33 OK, time to make up for those under spends
DH Gary, 39 Just because we havent spent it in the last 6 days, doesnt mean we have to spend it all TODAY!!!
DD1 Sian, 13 I wanted to ride Sheikra!!!
DD2 Rea, 12 Thank God I havent got to endure a whole day of rollercoasters
It was patently obvious to anyone who had seen the girls last night that we werent going to make it to Busch Gardens today but Sian was still mortified when she finally woke up and discovered we were going shopping instead. Placated only by the thought of spending some money, she spent a good half an hour trying to fit Busch into the remainder of our already-packed itinerary. We did say we would try to go another day if possible but, to be honest, I was quite relieved. I knew DD2 wouldnt enjoy it much as its mostly thrill rides and it would have meant she was waiting around a lot.
So, instead, we were going shopping. Once we were up, showered and dressed, we caught the trolley down to Premium Outlets, where we bought some Skechers for Daniel (2 pairs for $50). We had a cookie each from Mrs Fields and shared a couple of diet cokes, then wandered round the shops. I bought some Christmas pressies in Character Premiere and then we caught the Lynx bus up to the Florida Mall. Wed never tried the Lynx bus before and, although much cheaper than a taxi, it was very slow and took almost an hour to get there.
By the time we got to Florida Mall it was lunchtime and the girls were, of course, hungry. We got some food from Chick-Fil-A (another first for us). It was nice but the coating on the chicken tasted quite sweet, which was strange. The waffle fries were lovely though. After that, we arranged to split up and meet later on. The girls went off to look at sweet shops and other such teen stuff and Gary and I did a full tour of the mall. I loved the Playmobil shop and could have spent a fortune in there but in the end we just bought some little bits for Daniel.
I bought DH a G Shock watch for Christmas but he insisted on wearing it straight away. It was an absolute bargain, though, and much cheaper than any wed seen back in the UK. We treated ourselves to some posh chocs from Harry and David but, apart from that, didnt manage to part with any more cash.
We met up with the girls again and caught the Lynx bus back down to I-Drive, where we got off at Prime Outlets this time. We had a quick wander round but really werent impressed this place has certainly gone downhill since last year. By this time, it was almost 6 oclock so we decided to get an early dinner. We caught the trolley down to Bennigans where we were seated straight away. The server brought our diet cokes and took our order. Rea declared Im not very hungry, Ill just have half a rack of ribs and fries. For some reason, this cracked us up and, to this day, poor Rea has had to suffer lots of teasing and ribbing (pardon the pun) about it. DH chose ribs too, Sian had a club sandwich and I opted for the Guinness Glazed chicken. The food came quickly and was, again, lovely. We were determined to have dessert this time but we were quite full so asked the server to give us a few minutes, which he happily did. An enjoyable time was spent browsing the gorgeous dessert menu and trying to decide what to have. Rea, despite not being very hungry
, chose a chocolate ice-cream sundae thing which was for 2 to share. We managed to persuade her she wouldnt be able to eat it by herself and Sian opted to share it with her. The girls weren't impressed that they had to wait until I'd taken a picture before they could dig in!
Meanwhile, DH and I were torn between 3 choices Death by Chocolate, Chocolate Lava Cake and White Chocolate Chill-Out (are you spotting a theme here?) I pointed out that Bennigans offered a dessert combo where you could choose 2 or 3 different options, which I assumed was a bit like the dessert taster plates offered at Disney. So, of course, we decided to go for all 3. We werent in any way prepared for what actually arrived!!!
AND!!!!
But we managed to do it some justice!
Absolutely stuffed, we paid the check (a very reasonable $85 inc tip) and caught the trolley back to the hotel. As it was still early, the girls wanted to go swimming but I pointed out that we had another late night tomorrow (the much anticipated MNSSHP) and we decided to pack our overnight bags instead as we were staying at All Star Movies tomorrow night. That done, we watched telly and chilled out for a while before lights out at 11 oclock.
Today's budget - $250
Total spend today - $268.66
Over budget - $18.66
