Vacation - Orlando and Treasure Island

 We had a great vacation the week of Memorial Day.  David had a business trip in Orlando and we decided to tag along and make it into a family vacation. We spent Tuesday-Friday in Orlando and then went down to St. Pete / Treasure Island Friday-Sunday.  We didn't do all the Disney parks as this was kind of a last minute trip and Disney is EXPENSIVE! We did get to go to Epcot one evening though and that was a lot of fun.We also spent some time at Downtown Disney.

 

I know you will be shocked to hear this, but I rarely used my big camera on the trip. I just didn't feel like carrying it around, but I did have my phone with me and took most of the pics on our trip with that.  I have not uploaded the photos I took with my big camera, but below are the ones from my phone.  I will post the rest later (I did take the pics of Ethan with Mickey, Pluto, and Goofy on my big camera and ones of Ella with Minnie Mouse...I will post those in a separate post).

The first night we had dinner with David's co-workers.  

While David was at his work conference during the day, Ethan, Ella, and I went exploring.  We made a few trips to Downtown Disney which is free parking and free to get into.  We walked around the different shops and I let Ethan pick out what he wanted (which we would later go and actually purchase at Walmart for 1/3 of the price!)

Ella was in LOVE with this Minnie Mouse doll.  Thankfully no fits were thrown when I had to put it back on a shelf. We later got her the exact same one from Walmart.

Ethan was fascinated with all the giant lego structures

This kid LOVES legos!!!

The MUSE conference David attended was at Coronado Springs Resort.  It was such a nice place! We spent a lot of time at the pool.  Ethan had a blast at this big pool.  There was a huge waterslide that he probably rode 100 times while we were there! 

The bottom of the waterslide...

Ethan and his new pals...

Minnie Mouse!!!

 Ready for Epcot!

We all rode Spaceship Earth together and then David took Ethan to ride Soarin' 

while Ella and I walked around. 

We all enjoyed the big firework show at Epcot before we left.  Ella loved it! Ethan...not so much.  He's not a fan of loud noises.  

Friday, we checked out of the resort and headed to St. Pete.

 We got turned around at one point and ended up on this little one lane access rode over Tampa Bay.  It was so beautiful there.  I didn't catch a shot of it, but after a few minutes of driving along this road, we saw dolphins jumping out of the water and fish flopping around everywhere.  So amazing! 

 

Our first night we ate dinner at Joe's Crab Shack! Ethan got a balloon sword...

 

Ella (though eating cheerios in this pic) had her first taste of shrimp and loved it!

 

We made our way over to Clearwater and walked on the beach in the dark with our flashlights.  There were no crabs to be found, but we had fun anyway.

On Saturday we spent the day at the beach at Treasure Island.  It was probably the most fun we have had at the beach so far.  The kids had a great time and the water was really nice.  I am usually not a big fan of the water, but we didn't see swarms of jellyfish like we did in Panama City in the fall, so it was really nice to play in the waves with the kids.

I learned that Ella tans nicely.  She must not have her Mommy's skin! I coated us all in sunscreen but she still got a nice tan.

 And of course we had to stop at Beach Snoballs! Our friends, Jeremy and Trista own this great place.  September (Trista's sister) and Morgan run it and do a fabulous job! September was as sweet and patient as she could be while we made our choices! If you are ever in the St. Pete/Treasure Island area, you have GOT to stop by and try one of these!!!!!!

Ethan had cherry with gummy worms

 David had the Peaches n cream and LOVED it! And I enjoyed a strawberry/mango smoothie! YUM!

Ethan shared...

Trips like this never seem to last long enough.  I really love getting to spend time with my family! Can't wait for our next vacation (whenever that may be!)