Saturday, November 21, 2009
Heading Home
Here's Victoria after the Security checkpoint. It went pretty smoothly in Orlando. We're about to head over to the tram to go to our gate.
Victoria was fascinated by the trams. She sat up on the seat this time rather than standing.
The best part about the airport... she got a chocolate chocolate chip muffin to eat before the flight to tide her over. Luckily, the cafe also had bananas.
On the airplane heading home, she spent most of the time watching her cartoons on the iPod clicker.
Labels: beach, fall, vacation
Back to the Airport
So, it's the end of our vacation. We're all packed up and heading to the airport. Here's Victoria modeling her backpack.
The only way to travel.. with iPod. She's watching My Friends Tigger and Pooh right now.
We're pretty sure this is the new jewel in the Carnival fleet, the Carnival Dream. It's supposed to be the largest cruiseliner to date. It really is impressive. We could see it from the 528 highway on our way back to Orlando.
And, still hooked up to the iPod as we got on the Hertz shuttle to the airport. Been there, done that already. LOL!
Labels: beach, fall, vacation
Friday, November 20, 2009
Afternoon
We spent a lot longer at the pool than I thought we had. So, we were late getting out for lunch. Headed off to the Pizza Hut again. Not so many choices with a picky eater like Victoria.
She's getting pretty good with those word searches. They're handy to have around when the restaurant doesn't have kids menus with games or coloring on them.
A little on the tired side after getting back from lunch. So, she worked on the Cars watercolor book from her backpack.
Victoria re-found her energy when I reminded her that she wanted to visit the game room. She and I played the air hockey game while Daddy played an Old West-type gunfight game. The one she really wanted to play was this Gauntlet Legends. She started playing and then Daddy joined her. That games takes a lot of tokens. Victoria did pretty well, even if it did eat up all our tokens.
Once we'd used up all the tokens, we went swimming again. No pictures of that because I was actually in the water the whole time. I got my exercise swimming the length of the pool. Victoria hitched a ride at one point and I pulled her across with me. That was fun. Very tiring, but fun.
Here she is at the end of the night. Not the best picture of Victoria. She's really flagging by this point. But, you can see the crescent of the moon behind her. We'd managed to play in the pool until sunset.
Labels: beach, fall, vacation
Adult Pool Swim
We've moved over to the adult pool now. Victoria's becoming more confident in the water without either the floaties or the ring on.
She made up a new game of ring toss. LOL! She's allowed to defend and put her hands up to knock away the ring. Daddy can't do that.
So here he is being ringed by Victoria.
The margarita Jeff brought me back last night was just as delicious. I didn't share that one. Mmm!
And here I am.... your friendly neighborhood photographer. I just love how crystal clear aqua blue the water was.
This drink was absolutely marvelous. From the pool bar, it's a Cherry Bomb Smoothie. Yum! Yum! Victoria and I shared it. Not too willingly on either side after we'd gotten a taste. Wow! Wish I'd known this yesterday. Best $6 non-alcoholic drink I've had in a long while.
The margarita that Jeff brought me back last night was delicious too. I didn't share that one. LOL!
Labels: beach, fall, vacation
The Pirate Ship Pool
There are probably more pictures of me on this vacation than on the last 2 that we've taken before. Helps to have a fancy new point and shoot that I can hand off. :)
I'm being given instructions by Victoria here. I was supposed to stand to the side of the slide and toss the ring over Victoria as she slid through.
I had just as much fun with the water bomb as Victoria. It was just like playing fetch. I got to really wing it and Victoria would rush off to get it.
She was trying her best to get some good throws. Definitely need to work on overhand tossing. Most often it landed just a couple feet from her. Good for her because she always got the water bomb back.
She also experimented with going down on her tummy. Being the worrying parents, she was only allowed to do it feet first. That worked okay on the pirate tunnel slide with all the water shooting out. Not so good on the other two slides. She didn't know enough to really push off to get her momentum going down the slides.
Labels: beach, fall, vacation
The Second Day Begins
Victoria really enjoyed being able to run around without shoes. Here she is on the Promenade, walking back to our loft after breakfast at the Captain's Grille.
Victoria and Daddy almost always leave the room before me at the beach. Victoria has no patience for waiting. And, if I end up getting hurried putting on my sunscreen, then I get sunburned. The compromise is that I get Victoria all ready to go, make sure Daddy has sunscreen on his back, he makes sure I've got some on mine and then they head out to the pool. Leaving me to finish up my sunscreen.
This time I arrived to find them playing water bomb.
I couldn't find Victoria's inflatable ring from our trip to Ocean City. We were lucky enough to find one in the gift shop here. It's very precarious to balance on though. Not meant to be used as a seat.
Ah, there she is with the water bomb. Another $2 dollars well spent. Found it in the gift shop. She really wanted the water pistols. Wasn't ready to go there yet. LOL! Cheap and flimsy, but it served its purpose. Victoria had a blast with it.
Labels: beach, fall, vacation
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Oh, wow, the beach...
Just look at that beach. Just perfect. And it was late in the day. Look closely, you'll see Victoria and Daddy out there. :)
She was right there in the waves. As soon as we dropped our stuff, she grabbed Daddy's hand and away they went. Pretty brisk in terms of temperature. Again, didn't bother her one little bit. She wanted to jump waves. And, she did.
Look at that face. I got a "Mom!" from that one. She can't be distracted from watching the next wave coming in.
It looks like she's collecting seashells here. And, she is. Except she's collecting them to throw in the surf. :)
Labels: beach, fall, vacation
First Day Continues
And, eventually Daddy joined us in the pool. Here she is without her floaties or the ring. Daddy tried teaching Victoria how to swim. She just doesn't get it yet. We'll have to keep working on it.
This was Victoria's game. It was a ring toss. Only it had to go over a person's head. She was giggling like crazy as she tried to toss it over Daddy.
Drove around quite a while looking for a place to have lunch. Surprisingly, not too many eateries here. I guess all-inclusives must be big in the this resort area. Finally found a Pizza Hut where Victoria dug in and ate the entire kids pizza.
Next door to the Pizza Hut was a Surfware/Beachware shop. We stopped in to see if they had any cheap and decent towels. Victoria loved a dolphin towel. Daddy found a really cool shirt. While he was trying on clothes Victoria and I headed outside for a walk. Nice area. You can see her in her cool sunglasses. Behind her, way in the background, is a trolley car.
Labels: beach, fall, vacation
Kids Pirate Pool
This is where Victoria wanted to be all morning. She kept asking when she could go to the Pirate Ship. The water was a little on the chillly side though. Not for her. She was right in there.
It had all kinds of slides there in all different directions.
I missed having my D80. Just can't get close-ups with a point and shoot unless your right on top of someone. And, really, I dipped my toes in and didn't go any further. LOL!
However, the adult pool was another matter. Victoria did talk me into swimming with her. It was okay once I was finally in and swimming. I even managed to swim the length of the pool. Should do that more often. Good exercise.
Labels: beach, fall, vacation
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
The Routine of Arrival
Victoria had her own carry-on. We'd gotten this backpack after shopping at the Outlets at the OshKosh store. We were able to pack the important things for Victoria... Dolly, Puppy, her blanket, gummy dots, headphones, word search, pencils. :) However, the backpack just didn't fit her well. She wobbled. A lot. If we do this again, we'll have to get a better sized backpack/carry-on for her.
Riding the monorail into the terminal for the bag claim at Orlando Airport. Everything was an adventure for Victoria. She really liked that you could stand up in the train.
And, of course, our little helper. She had to help get the bags off the belt.
She was pretty tuckered by the time we reached the car rental. We had to wait for our car. So Victoria sat down in one of the chairs and watched Backyardigans on the clicker. I love the little grin she's got on her face while she watches her cartoon. She getting pretty good with the iPod.
[As always, you can click on a picture for a bigger image.]
Labels: beach, fall, vacation
The Adventure Begins
We're off to Florida for a couple days of fun in the sun. This is Victoria's first plane trip. She was so excited.
I got a new camera for the trip so that I wouldn't drag the DSLR onto the plane. LOL! So, Victoria gets the old camera. Here she is in the airport at Gate 21 taking pictures of the plane and tarmac. Have to get the photos downloaded and see how she pictures the airport. She kept asking when we were going to get on the plane. Thank goodness we get to pre-board with her. I'm not sure she could have stood the suspense of waiting much longer.
On the plane we were in row 7 seats D, E, & F. Unfortunately we didn't have a window. Probably why those seats weren't already booked. Didn't matter to Victoria. She could still see through a sliver of the window in front of us.
And, it was a gorgeous day to fly. Smooth sailing. Beautiful blue skies and puffy white clouds.
Here's Victoria disembarking in Orlando. She's absolutely giddy with excitement, turning in circles. LOL!
[As always, click on a picture for larger image.]
Labels: beach, fall, vacation
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Back to the Beach
So I've spent a lot of time on the Black Lake photos. Now, I've gone back and worked on some of the beach photos. There's actually some photos of me in there. Guess Jeff must have gotten his hands on the camera. :) Of course, the majority of them are still Victoria.
Click for larger picture.
Labels: beach, summer, vacation
Sunday, June 22, 2008
The Wagon on the Beach
Click on picture for larger.
Who knew that that a cheap little yellow and red plastic wagon would provide so much entertainment at the beach. It was so much fun. It got filled with sand or water. You barely fit in it. When you did, sometimes it was for washing off the sand (in order to go get more sand on you).
Labels: beach, vacation
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Greeting the Waves
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Journaling along the wave: "Our first full day on the beach. You were so excited to see the waves. You greeted them enthusiasticly. And this year you were brave enough to get your feet wet."
Labels: beach, vacation
As Time Flies...
Click on picture for larger version.
Labels: beach, vacation
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Vacation - Almost Done
A new day. Of course we headed back to the beach. Not so early today as there was quite a fog in the morning. We ended up eating breakfast in the hotel dining room instead of walking over to Layton's. Just as well. We enjoyed our breakfast and Victoria absent-mindedly ate her pancakes while watching Disney Playhouse.
Victoria still doesn't want to go to the pool. The beach is okay. She's still excited about going to the beach. She wanted to pack her bag and bring it to the beach with us. She put her sunscreen in it and her beach toys. Well, some of the beach toys. :) Dad ended up carrying the majority of them.
There were more people on the beach today. We were well back from the surf. It made for a longer, winding way to get the water for her. She still spent time pouring it back and forth into various containers.
Jumping on the castle. Well, on the mound that the castle would have been built on if Victoria hadn't jumped on it.
My sand-baby. She attracts sand just as much as dirt.
All cleaned up after the day at the beach. Sucking down a popsicle while watching Toy Story. Ah, the life!
The end of a day... Gee, doesn't seem much different from the beginning. No appreciable dimming of the energy of the everlasting energizer Victoria bunny. Still chattering away.
Labels: beach, vacation
Friday, June 06, 2008
Vacation - Beach Again
More pictures on the beach. It was iffy that we'd actually get Victoria to go to the beach today. She was still insisting on going home first thing in the morning. We took her out to breakfast and talked about options. We were playing with stickers at the restaurant. Victoria saw the umbrella on the sticker sheet. That made her think of umbrellas on the beach. So that's how we ended up going to the beach. And had a wonderful time there. I spent more time running back and forth from the surf than I have in a while, but it was fun because Victoria was having such a grand time.
Click on picture for larger version.
Labels: beach, vacation
Vacation - Breakfast
On our way to breakfast, Victoria insisted on taking her new wagon. It contained one of the new sand toys and Dolly, of course. We were heading over to Layton's for pancakes, again.
Click on picture for larger version.
Labels: beach, vacation
Vacation - Too Exciting
Some things were just too exciting today. Victoria was too excited. We went from the beach to the pool. She was so excited that she was running ahead of me. She headed straight to the slide. She was climbing up it as I was getting closer, but I still wasn't close enough to catch her. It never occurred to me that she'd actually slide down until I saw her disappear from the top. I was dropping my bag and stripping out of my clothes as I headed to the edge. I didn't manage to get my pants or my sandals off before she hit the bottom of the slide. I don't think she went under more than once before I dived in and reached her. Scared us both pretty good, I'll tell you. I couldn't help but scold her. I think that added insult to injury though. She started crying at that point and didn't stop. We bundled her in towels and I sat on one of the beach chairs with her. Didn't help. She kept crying and then started in with "I want to go home." Took her upstairs to our hotel room, stripped her down, dried her off, and put her in comfy clothes. Laid down with her in her bed. Still didn't help. She was still crying off and on, still saying she wanted to go home.
Decided to get her out of the hotel. We headed out to have a late lunch. Went to the Dough Roller which serves Uncrustables and Victoria will eat. Unfortunately they didn't serve ice cream there so we had to head out in search of ice cream. First we headed up the Coastal Highway to the Wawa so we could get newspapers and milk. Then we tried the Rita's next to one of the Dough Rollers. They only server frozen custard though. As picky as Victoria is and in such a fragile state, I didn't want to take a chance getting her something that wasn't ice cream. Instead we turned around and drove a little further to a Dumsers Drive-In. Victoria chose to have strawberry ice cream. I had a hot fudge sundae. Jeff had a triple butterscotch sundae. Very tastee as Victoria would say.
Labels: beach, vacation
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Vacation Day One
Our first day on the beach. Victoria was soo excited. It wasn't the best day to be on the beach. There weren't many people out there. Very few of the umbrella rentals were open. It was overcast and windy and a little chilly. Didn't matter to Victoria. She wanted to be on the beach. And this year, she got closer and closer to the surf. As you can see from the pictures, she managed to dip a toe in every so often. :) All action as she dashed back and forth.
Click on picture for larger version.
Labels: beach, vacation
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Vacation - Arrival
All tuckered out after a long day packing and a long night driving to Ocean City, MD. She fell asleep almost as soon as we got her into bed.
Click on picture for larger version.
Labels: beach, vacation
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Thinking of Summer Beaches
Dreaming of summer days and summer vacations. So, I went back and dug out some of the photos from our vacation last year. :) So there's motivation for you. Can't wait for summer, can't wait to go back.
Click to view larger picture.
Labels: beach, summer
Thursday, July 12, 2007
BoardWalk Ice Cream
Okay... last one for tonight. This is another vacation picture. Victoria did manage to get quite a few treats while on vacation. Here's one. She got ice cream to eat while I got a funnel cake. She had to quickly eat her ice cream because it was melting all over the place. She was quite a mess there. But it satisfied her sweet tooth, that's for sure.
Labels: beach, summer, vacation
Sand Dancin'
These are completely out of order. :) Sorry for that. Here's another layout I did for our vacation. This one's called Sand Dancin'. I took these pictures the first day we arrived at the beach, July 1st. Victoria was so excited. All she wanted to do was run and walk on the beach. It was great to see her so happy. A little difficult for us to keep up with her. We managed to briefly convince her to walk up on the Boardwalk so we could buy some sand toys. After that Victoria was convinced that the Boardwalk was just for toys. Imagine that. :)
Click on the picture for a larger version.
Labels: beach, summer, vacation
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Vacation - Time After Time
We're back from vacation. Had a good time. Wish it had been longer.
So, okay... time to start updating the blog. You'll have to scroll backward from this point. I'll post the actual pictures with their stories on the day they happened.
I've got tons of cute Victoria pictures from our vacation. And, I've even managed to scrap a few of them into layouts. I'm going to start with one of my favorites. This one's called Time After Time. Click on the image to view larger.
I just love seeing how she's grown up. Isn't it amazing? She's not so into getting her picture taken right now so I've got lots of photos of her running away from me. She loved the sun glasses so I actually got her to pose with a cute smile instead of her goofy look.
Check out Sun 'n Sand - Years under Digital Scrapbooks to the right or click
here to view the scrapbook page. It's last year's perspective on the difference a year makes. :)
Labels: beach, summer, vacation
