Preparation

Two weeks to go, and the boys are getting ready.

While riding behind Bill on the grass probably isn't the same as riding behind the whaler on water, they are busy practicing nonetheless.

Brady jumps in first:

Parker's turn:

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to FLA to we go!

How much fun did we have on our "celebrate the end of school!" trip to Grandma and Grandpa's in Florida?

Enough that even the local frogs wanted to join in on the good times! This little guy was hanging out on the front door ... I'm guessing he was hoping to hitch a ride to Typhoon Lagoon.

First day in, we headed to the beach. Mom and Dad had heard that there was a great beach over in the Tampa-St. Pete area, so rather than heading east toward Coco, we chose to go west to Fort Desoto State Park. It was stunning. The sand was white, fine and plentiful. The water was warm, clear and calm. While the calm waters meant the three boys (ages 4, 6 and 63!) were a little bummed about not being able to body-surf, everyone played and had fun in the sun.

The beach had a wonderful little snack bar and great restrooms -perfect when the dark clouds rolled in and rain threatened. We retreated for some ice cream while the clouds passed and then headed back to the waters for a few more hours. Fort Desoto definitely gets a star in our tour book!

While Brady decorated a sand castle, Ninja Parker demonstrated some fierce moves... and Daddy posted some shared shots in the previous blog post (in case ya missed them!)

After relaxing in the calm waters we decided it was time to kick up the pace, so we headed to Typhoon Lagoon, one of Disney's two water parks. It was AMAZING FUN! Typhoon Lagoon's feature attraction is a huge wave-pool that creates a 6' tidal wave every 90 seconds. The power and force of the water is incredible.

While most of the younger set keep to the shallow edges or the kiddie sections (apparently there is a kiddie area that we never even visited!), three guesses where Brady and Parker headed? Right into the deep waters! Grandpa and I had to laugh when we looked around and saw we were surrounded by big kids and adults - not a lot of 4 and 6 year olds!

I wish I could have captured the wave on video. The speed and distance Parker could fly was stunning (and of course a little unnerving for Mommy.) We would start off side-by-side, the wave would crash over us and we'd find ourselves tumbling in the waters. My immediate reaction each and every time was to pop up as fast as possible and count heads. This would have been an easier task if those heads had landed near me. Brady would be a little further down the wave, but still easy to spot. Parker, however, would be half way to the parking lot, each time popping up with the biggest smile and rushing back to the deep waters to "get set" for the next one!

The other huge hit at Typhoon Lagoon were the Storm Slides, a set of three 300' body slides that twist and turn and dump you out at the bottom. While Parker, Grandpa and I sampled them all (over and over thanks to the nonexistant crowd), Brady quickly chose a favorite - the Stern Burner. This slide was the only one that had a completely dark section to the tunnel and twisted in what felt like a full corkscrew. The most exhausting part of thede great rides is the huge trip up the stairs you must endure each time! We certainly got our workout for the day.

One more note of praise for my big guy. There are two tube rides that require you to cary your tube up the winding stairs to the top. We enjoyed these rides multiple times, with Brady carrying his own tube! It was bigger than he and definitely not lightweight, but he did it multiple times... proud mama on that one!

Now, lest you think (after reading his recent post) that Bill misses out on all the summer fun, we enjoyed a wonderful guest on this trip! Daddy arrived on Thursday night and played golf three mornings and played in the sun (and rain) with the boys in the afternoons. We took what has become our regular jaunt to Downtown Disney to enjoy dinner at the T-Rex Cafe and hit the ever-popular LegoWorld Store!

The Lego purchases certainly came in handy the following day when the skies opened up and we were housebound for the afternoon and evening!

Once again, we had a wonderful week filled with many smiles and happy memories. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!!