Chapter four - week four

Monday 4th May

Today we visited Leu Gardens which is like a National Trust place which is free on the first Monday of every month. Plus they do story and rhymes for children on this day too so I have been excited about this since before we arrived!

It was great to walk around the gardens. There was a colour garden, a white garden, a vege patch, butterfly garden, rose garden and an

ideas garden. We enjoyed local ice lollies and smelling the flowers.

The stories session was packed with I would guess around 50 babies all under 18 months. It was a quick 15 minute session and the notice outside read 'please take restless babies out during the session' which made me chuckle! It was nice to hear other rhymes and songs but it wasn't a patch on Saddleworth services and the mums didn't seem as close as I would have expected which re-emphasised how lucky we are at home.

We enjoyed a picnic shaded under the trees then realised.... We had lost Josephs black cat which sits on his pram! Jonny walked all over to try and find it only to find when we returned to reception that it had been handed in! We don't think Joseph would have noticed that much but you never know!

After a quick visit to the mall we went back to Millers Ale House to demolish 1.25 pounds of ribs which were delicious. We decided to try Joseph with a pouch of fruit being squeezed into his mouth instead of on a spoon, to which he inhaled it so quick we think he thought it was a drink!! We won't be doing that in a hurry again!! Check out jonnys 'pretending to be horrified ' look!!

Tuesday 5th May

At 5am this morning Joseph decided to practice his da da da da da noise over and over until he got fed up and fell back asleep in our bed!!

We went to Kennedy Space centre today which is on the East coast, which means we've now done all three sides of Florida.

We started with a bus tour which takes you out to the area where rockets take off from, the vehicle assembly building which was the largest building by volume when completed in 1965, relegated to fourth now. The building also has the largest painted USA flag in the world! We also saw alligators in some of the lakes!!

We saw Atlantis which is the last space shuttle that went out of service - it was huge!!! We also did a landing on the moon experience which Joseph took in his stride!!

After picnicing outside we visited the Mars experience then met a real astronaut - David Leestma. he told us all about his experiences of going into space, three times for a total of 26 days - then we had our photograph taken with him!

We drove to Cape Carnaveral and went to this amazing restaurant which specialises in swordfish kebabs, which Jonny enjoyed. I saw Dolphins swimming in the ocean, three times but Jonny didn't believe me til they came back a fourth time!

Oh, and Joseph said bye today - purely accidental we think but it kinda was in context!!

Wednesday 6th May

Today we visited a local citrus fruit grower who make floridas most popular orange juice. We learnt how the fruit gets to bottle and got to do some tasting. Joseph liked playing with the plastic oranges!

We went to a popular Mexican place for lunch and had combination platters so we could try lots of different things - it was amazing!!

We enjoyed an afternoon playing in the pool and relaxing - our last Wednesday of the holiday :(

Thursday 7th May

We had a leisurely morning pottering then we went to International Drive - the main tourist spot in Orlando for shops, restaurants and hotels. We went to Millers Ale House - one of our favourites of the trip for lunch.

We spent the last part of the afternoon playing inside - Joseph can pretty much pull himself up now onto a foot stool and his confidence in 'moving' is growing!

Friday 8th May

So, first things first....

Joseph got his first tooth today!!!

I did my usual, daily, checking his gums and I felt a sharp, jagged thing bottom left!! It's starting to come through let's see how long it takes! He hasn't been an ounce of bother the last few days with it so we would never have guessed!

We visited celebration today which is a town right next to Disney, created by Disney which can only be described as real life Disney! It was weird really, everything is perfect and I mean everything - think Stepford Wives!!! They were even pulling off the dead palm tree leaves! Apparently there are loads of rules like you can only have

certain plants in your garden and all the windows must have white curtains and blinds. Nothing was out of place and I mean nothing!! Kinda freaky but at least we can say we have been! Joseph enjoyed walking through the water fountain with daddy though!

We had lunch in a place called Cracker Barrell which is an old original store that serves food. It was lovely!

Afternoon was spent playing in the pool and napping.

Saturday 9th May

We had a relatively quiet day today.

We went to the Mall at Milennia because we wanted to return to The Cheesecake factory, a restaurant which sells every variety of cheesecake! Last time, after lunch, we couldn't fit the cheesecake in so we thought we would return for just cheesecake - which left us full!

We played inside in the afternoon as it was very hot (it was registering 102 in the car when we returned after our cheesecake) as Joseph continue to crawl (a little!) and stand up (sometimes with a bit of a nudge!)

Sunday 10th May

Today is Mothers Day in America so I've managed to celebrate twice this year! I got a lovely card off Jonny for 'wife' and a 'mom' card off Joseph!

We played in the pool early morning but then came inside as it was too hot and started packing (boooo!!!!) Not quite sure how we will fit everything in the cases but hey ho!

Jonny wore Joseph out so much with his afternoon swim that he fell asleep eating his chicken dinner for tea - something we have only seen him do once before when he was poorly!

Monday 11th May

Our last full day here!

We visited Wild Florida today which is basically an alligator park with a mix of other animals too. It was very, very hot today which made it a little uncomfortable so we didn't stay the whole day - plus it didn't take long to see everything! There were lots of alligators in various sizes, all very scary looking! It's a bit like a rescue centre as it takes in alligators have been found in people pools! We also saw Zebras, raccoons, foxes, birds including parrots and peacocks and goats. We all got to touch a snake too - eek!

We finished the day with a bit of last minute shopping then enjoyed a meal in our favourite pub - ribs again! Now time to pack!!

Tuesday 12th May

Not much to say apart from we are very sad to be coming home....

After finishing our packing and having our last lunch out, we made our way back to the airport. How we didn't have to pay for excess luggage I will never know! We took over a corner of the gate and Joseph knocked down bricked and got clapped by people sitting close by - including a family with two boys who took a shine to Joseph!

Joseph was great on the flight - we took off at 6-45pm and he fell asleep bang on schedule, about 7-15pm. He only woke once, then again when they turned on the lights to land.

A truly memorable holiday we will never forget. We hope that you enjoyed reading our blog as we did making it...