A visit to Shampoo!

We went to Florida for vacation this year and everybody asked (or assumed) that we were going to Disney World, but after our not so great trip when Gavin was one, I made a promise to myself we wouldn't go back until he was 3. So this time we decided to do some things we don't usually do because we usually spend all of our time at Mickey land. We told Gavin we were going to see fish and big whale whose name was Shamu. When we would ask him where we were going he would answer "Flor-i-da" and we were going to see "Shampoo"! The one thing I didn't account for was my weakness for all things Mouse! Not 5 minutes into our trip in the rental car (upgraded to a Chrysler 300 to Jon's delight), and Gavin points out a bus.... a Mickey bus! So I start to get the shakes because we are not going to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot or any of my other favorites, but we're going to see a big dumb whale jump around and splash people - oh, whoopee. But alas, our vacation was a blast - we had good weather and although Sea World is $80 a pop (yikes!), I was actually enthralled with the big dumb whale (I have to admit, I oohed and aahed with the best of them). Gavin was a trooper and he loved, Loved, LOVED the kiddie rides! Houston, we have a roller coaster enthusiast in the making - yippy!! He looked like such a little guy (the harness literally swallowed him up on one of them) on these rides, but was laughing and begging to go again the minute the rides would stop - it was hilarious! He really started working on his sentences while we were away and you could see him try to put all the words together to try to get his point across. His memory is amazing too because even now we can ask him about our trip and he can remember who was there, what he saw and the fact that Shampoo jumped in the water!
Another day we decided to go to Typhoon Lagoon (ok, cheating a bit because this is on Disney property), as we had missed it last year due to 5/7 family members getting food poisoning. If you've never been, it is a huge waterpark with slides and wave pools and water roller coaster rides and an awesome kiddie area that Gavin enjoyed. Not only is Gavin a roller coaster enthusiast, but he is a waterpark junkie who never stopped running the whole time he was at Typhoon Lagoon - one thing to the next to the next! I swear I don't know how he doesn't just fall over from exhaustion. We also spent time with Grandpa and Grandma at Fort Wilderness campground and their pool had another kiddie area that we couldn't pull Gavin away from. Other little kids would try to make friends with Gavin but he was not into wasting time with introductions or sharing toys - there were too many water slides to go down and stairs to climb and waterfalls to run through! That is one thing - Gavin's fascination with stairs is never ending and never satisfied. He climbed any and every set of stairs that he laid eyes on. I heard that a triathalon athlete once tried to mimic a 2 year old for 24 hours and had to give up after just 2 - after this trip, I believe it!
(I'm still working on blogs, so I apologize for the pictures being out of chronological order - I can't figure out how to move them to the order I want!)

I debated whether this $70 contraption was worth not having to carry the car seat through the airport (for Jon's sake of course, not mine). Literally 5 minutes before we land in Orlando, Gavin falls fast asleep and Jon is able to carry him off the plane, strap him up and off we go! Yup, money well spent!

Grandpa rented a golf cart to take us for a tour of the campground to see all the Halloween decorations that people actually bring with them on vacation! Jon's friend Chris came to visit us for the day and to meet Gavin.

Next to Christmas, Halloween is my favorite, but even I wouldn't go this far! This was only 1/4 of what these people had on their campsite!

Trying to get Gavin to sit still for a picture

So, do you think he liked the water?

Never one to do things the conventional way



At Typhoon Lagoon

The tube ride (and yes, those are my panicked arms and legs you see outstretched to save him). He kept letting go of one of the handles and it made me a nervous wreck. The joy on his face is priceless though! Doesn't he look like such a big kid?

We videotaped most of the rides and the pictures do not capture how much he loved all the rides!

Mom, quit taking pictures, I'm trying to watch Shampoo

Gavin, Mommy and Shampoo

Hi Minnie!

The only reason I posted this picture is to antagonize my BFF Kim who is appalled that I bought a backpack leash for Gavin. I have absolutely zero problems with kids on leashes - zip, zero, nada (sorry Kim). Gavin is way too fast and there are way too many people around those places. Plus, now I can joke about the monkey on his back!