Staycation!

7 Years, 14 Weeks.


This past week we took some time off and went on vacation...in town.

Wondering what all the buzz and hype was that people from all around the world would come to visit Orlando for, we decided to try it out and see for ourselves as "tourists".  Actually, we had a resort certificate from our travel program that we had to use up, so we did, staying a week at the Wyndham Cypress Palms in Kissimmee, 3 miles east of Celebration and only 15 minutes away from Disney.

We had a one bedroom suite with kitchenette, eating and living area, and laundry.  It was nice and cozy, but spacious enough to accommodate all of us.  And at $19 for the entire week (that's right, $19 is not a typo) who would pass up the chance to have that plus all the resort amenities?  

We had a great time and enjoyed being tourists, exploring that part of town and hanging out with a lot of foreigners. And I mean a lot.  You forget how many people visit our town until you spend time down in that area.  We needed to pick something up from a Walmart at 10 PM one night and the place was swarming like it was Black Friday.  And they were all from out of the country.  At 10 PM!!  It was insane.

Here was our week:

Saying goodbye to Tux.  We had our friends Katherine and Jenice take him for the week we were gone.

Arriving at the resort and checking in at the lobby.

Finding some toys and games at the activity center.

They enjoyed playing on the shuffleboard table.

Supper at a local Middle Eastern restaurant.

Giving Madelyn more hair treatments!

The girls shared the sofa bed while

Buddy shared the king bed with his parents!

Brunch at a biscuit house in Celebration.

We headed to International drive, the Orlando Eye faint in the background.

Finding Dory at the aquarium.

Heading over to see the skeleton museum.

In front of the "cyclops" skull that belongs to the elephant.

They even had penile bones of different animals available for sale in the gift shop!

Checking out the skeleton collection, over 500 species under one roof!

Maddy checks out the primates group, seeing how our bones are similar to the apes and gorillas.

They even had a section for oddities skeletons!

Back at the resort, playing in the shaded playground.

Brae checking out the herb garden, available for guests to use!

Checking out the lights of Old Town in Kissimmee.

Headed over to Avon Park Sunday morning to celebrate Grandma Fernandez's 89th birthday.

Some of the dishes we prepared at Lala's house, heading over to the surprise party.

She was surprised to find out the party was for her!

Still in shock, not knowing what was going on.

Turned out to be a nice gathering!

We had a nice collection of dishes, loved the traditional Filipino comfort food!

The kids especially loved the fresh tropical fruit available.

Catching up and talking with the great grandparents.

Maddy helping to blow out the birthday candles!

The twins with their great grandmother.

Heading back home, saying goodbye to Lolo.

Smothering Lala with hugs.

Swung by Spook Hill in Lake Wales on our way back.  Supposedly a place where an unnatural phenomenon occurs.
We weren't impressed.

Going shoe shopping as we get our school supplies list together.

I don't think those will quite fit you anymore Maddy!

Supper at the Cracker Barrel.

Playing games and rocking chairs into the night.

Late night goofiness and shenanigans!

Visited the best place for donuts hands down!  Happy we finally have one in Orlando.

Watching our donuts being made to order.

I mean, come on!

Always in a state of goofiness around food!

At Disney Springs to see the movie Despicable Me 3.

We thought about taking in a hot balloon ride!

The show was sold out at Disney so we headed over to Pointe Orlando instead for a later showing.

Checking out the fountains around the area.

Getting our seats, they were in love!  Watching a movie will never be the same!

They really enjoyed it!

Getting ready for a late night swim in one of the pools.

It was nice, we had it all to ourselves!

They weren't too happy to go back inside, showers and then to bed!

Met up with our friend Penny from North Carolina at the Science Center on Tuesday.

Penny just recently lost her other front tooth so now she and Maddy are twins!

Such great pals, they never left each other's side.

And especially so when it was time to head back.

Even her little sister Stella didn't want to leave!

Still hugging and saying our goodbyes in the parking lot.

Had a couple meetings that evening, one at OJA for a teacher meet and greet,
and then a post VBS follow up with the crew at the church.

Another day, another swim at the pool.

Kohl enjoyed floating around with the many noodles available.

Maddy working on her floating technique with big sister's help!

Back to Disney Springs to become Jedi masters.

Something great about all these fountains!

Maddy found some friends!

Working on building some LEGO cars.

Kohl and his body guard, watch out!

Supper at Dave and Buster's.

Bumped into the Shellhammers from church!

Kohl was thumbs up and ready to hit the games.

They enjoyed having their own cards to use towards the games, and did a good job winning tickets!

Even Mommy joined in for a game of skee ball or two.

We won over 6000 tickets which we split evenly 3 ways to get all these cool prizes!

Back at the resort, on their devices for a bit before settling down for the evening.

Another swim at dusk!

Enjoyed being out at night, to see the attractions and the lights.

But they enjoyed their time together, eating food and just being a tourist at home!

Have a great weekend!!