Did you say photos? Vacation photos?

Well, since you asked.

Seriously, I found out after posting the link to Flickr that you have to sign in with a Yahoo account. And since not everyone has that, I figured I’d better put the pictures on here.

I wouldn’t want you all to revolt. Or protest. Or whine. Oh, please don’t whine as you beg for just a peek at my 367 vacation pictures.

Brace yourself. Here they come. (A few dozen. Not 367. I promise.)

A flamingo was just waking up as we entered Sea World on Monday.

I don’t remember where this was in Sea World. But it sure was purty.

Yay! The dolphin show! Or, as we found it to be: the dolphin and people and birds show. Seriously, we didn’t expect the acrobats and birds, but they were all incredible (if a tad bit cheesy).

Would you laugh if I told you that I cried during the Shamu show? Because, um, I totally did. Mark mocked the sappy “Believe” theme, and I can’t deny that it was a bit over the top. But I’m a sucker for sap, I guess. (Oh, please, who am I kidding? This is not news.)

On a side note, the Shamu show is also where we thought we lost our video camera. When we went to pack the camera on Wednesday, we couldn’t find it anywhere. We just knew that it had fallen out of my purse (stupid hobo bag) or been snatched. I sat on hold with Sea World for half an hour, only to learn that no, nobody had turned our camera into Lost & Found. Thankfully (thank you, God!), it was just buried in the backpack. Still not sure how it got there . . . but I don’t even care. I’m just so glad our camera (and videos of Annalyn) didn’t disappear.

Back to the pics.

What, you thought I went to Florida to take pictures of palm trees?

My friend Kevin told me about Celebration, Florida, a planned town built by Disney. Unfortunately, we planned to check it out on our beach day. The one where it rained a lot. What we saw from the car, though, was beautiful.

I think this is self-explanatory? Unless, like me, you don’t know what Downtown Disney is. So, I guess I should explain after all. Just in case. Downtown Disney is essentially an outdoor Disney mall. It’s a strip of stores and restaurants, and it may or may not include Pleasure Island. I wasn’t quite sure. But I am sure that it was a lot of fun. We didn’t actually go to any of the Disney parks, so I was glad to get a little bit of time in the world of Mickey. (After all, we needed to buy a Mickey shirt for Annalyn somewhere!)

This would probably be a good time to tell you about the ferry adventure we had on the way home from Downtown Disney. But . . . no. I think I’ll save that one for later.

Do you see this? My brownie sundae? It was ridiculous. That’s about all I can say about it. We tried to eat a light dinner (this was an unsuccessful venture, since we ate dinner at a delicious pizzeria), because we’d heard about Ghiradelli’s ice cream shop at Downtown Disney. Don’t worry – we walked off at least a tenth of the calories we ingested as we shopped. But it was sooo worth it!

I was real excited to visit the Lego Store. I’m not sure why. It was pretty cool. But I’ll admit: we were darned tired by the time we reached it. So I snapped a few (a lot) photos, and we headed home.

Well, we tried to head home. But like I said, I’ll tell you that story later.

More Legos.

I have never wished more that I had a good camera phone with e-mail capabilities. Because I would have Twitpic-ed this for sure. As this motorcycle passed us, I noticed the couple was not wearing helmets. But before I could even open my mouth to start my usual rant about stupidity and helmet laws and all that, I saw the milk crate on the back of the bike. With a DOG in it. A dog! And that dog didn’t have a helmet. Or a seat belt. Or anything to keep it safe! I was appalled! I wanted to call PETA! Or the police! Or the Ghostbusters!

But instead, I asked Mark to speed up a little so I could take a picture.

On Tuesday, we drove to Clearwater. I’d read all about the incredible sunsets, the white sand, the dolphin cruises. What I didn’t read about was the thunderstorm that covered most of Florida that day. We kept hoping that we’d outrun the storm, and for a couple hours, we did. But it never really got sunny, and halfway through our walk on the beach, it started raining again.

Fortunately, I was prepared. With a big black umbrella in my purse. I’m not sure who looked more silly – Mark, trying to do his best Baywatch run back to the car, or me, sauntering along the sand, proudly holding my umbrella with a broken spoke.

But you know what? We still had fun. We drove down the coast (or was it up? I forget.) and found a great Italian restaurant in Tampa and overall, had a great day.

The Gulf in Clearwater. Can you see the sun shining? Wayyy back in the corner there?

Our little bathing beauty.

On Thursday, we drove north to meet my parents, my brother and sister-in-law, and our sweet baby who we hadn’t seen in four days. And I’m not quite sure who was more excited – her or us!

The second we set her down on the sand (after a picnic lunch and lots of sunscreen for her and me – except my back, which is officially peeling today), she plopped down on the towel and popped that leg up in the air like some sort of beach model.

I have no idea where she learned such a thing.

Annalyn was excited to see us, but she loved spending so much time with her A-ee and Bompa (otherwise known as Allie and Grandpa). I think she’s gone into withdrawal since we came home!

What is this? (I promise, several of us were within arm’s reach. I just cropped us out.)

Once she got used to the warm ocean water and the gritty sand, Annalyn was perfectly happy to sit in the ocean and let the water rush over her as she played with her bucket.

So happy that she pitched quite a fit when it was time to go. But who wants to talk about that?

After all, who would believe this happy girl would throw a fit?

Oh, how I wish I’d had my camera handy when that happened, though. My sweet daughter, who hasn’t sucked her thumb or pacifier for about 18 months, curled up in the fetal position, stuck her thumb in her mouth and sobbed her little heart out.

All because I didn’t want her to get sunburned.

(Did I mention that I forgot to put sunscreen on my back that day? And that I had to go buy a loofah on a stick at Target today?)

Ahem.

Annalyn would not tolerate the very cute and comfy (cloth) floaties we bought specifically for this trip. She did, however, put up with the baby floating ring that – as we discovered a couple days later – was built for babies a few pounds lighter than her.

For a baby who loves taking baths, she wasn’t all that impressed with the swimming pool. She was a little more energetic the day we swam in the afternoon, but the morning swims? Not so exciting, I suppose.

Long story short, my great uncle – who we went to visit – ended up in the hospital on Friday. So while my parents spent the afternoon visiting him, we went with my brother and sister-in-law to visit the only plantation open to the public in Thomas County: Pebble Hill.

It was beautiful, and even though it was blazing hot that day, we had the chance to take some great pictures on the grounds. (Kids under 6 weren’t allowed in the main house, so we wandered around outside – and enjoyed the air conditioned snack shop – while James and Lauren toured the house.)

When my mom called the hospital to find out what was going on with my uncle, she found out that the lady working the information desk was from Pavo, the same small town my great-grandad (my mom’s grandad) was from. As a matter of fact, she taught at the elementary school – and taught my aunt way back in the day. Later that afternoon, when Mom and Dad were at the hospital and trying to track down my uncle, the security guard went the extra yard to find him because he knew him, too.

So, as we chatted with the info guy at the plantation while we waited for James and Lauren to finish their tour, I thought I’d give it a shot. I told Mr. Taylor how we were in town visiting my great-uncle and great-aunt, but that my uncle had gotten sick and went to the hospital. I told him their names, and he said, “Oh, yeah! We’re in a club together. We went on tours together!” Turns out “a club” was Kiwanis Club, and tours had something to do with their church. So as we waited and finally stopped sweating, we swapped stories about who in our family and his cheats while playing cards.

“Small world” deosn’t even begin to describe that place.

We didn’t see a sign saying not to climb on the ancient carriages. So we took full advantage of the old-fashioned photo opp.

“Are you finished taking pictures yet?”

Sorry, baby, no.

This photo was taken at the plantation, not on the plane we took home. But if you can imagine taking this face, adding some hysteria and lots of ear-splitting screams? Well, then you might be close to imagining what the passengers of our TINY (34 passenger) plane between Tallahassee and Memphis endured.

Reportedly, Annalyn was an angel for my parents on the flight down. And I am so thankful. Honestly, I really had to pray myself down from overwhelming anxiety about the whole leaving my daughter and she’s going to fly without me thing.

But my, oh my, I probably should have spent some of that time praying for our flight home. Because the first hour of the first flight? Complete torture – for Annalyn, for us, for the other passengers and for the kind flight attendant.

It was so bad the flight attendant moved us from the back of the plane to the front. It was so bad that not only was my body covered in sweat (I get sick when flying and did I mention the turbulence?), but I also ended up sobbing myself. It was so bad that the pilots could hear her through the door and sent ear plugs back for the other passengers.

It was bad.

But we survived. And I promise you, we will nev-er fly with a toddler again, barring any life and death emergencies, of course.

And that, is the end of my vacation photo show. Hope you enjoyed it. I know I did!

And now that I see Jill is saying she loves vacation (as I do, obviously), I’m linking up to her. Go check out Things I Love Thursday!

Comments

ben and erin says:

July 9, 2009 at 2:03 pm

oh my goodness! i'm so sorry that your flight was bad! poor mama! thankfully it was only an hour, right? how was she on the next flight?

ok, on to the pictures. i loved seeing them with some explanation (i looked at them on flikr yesterday).

sobbing at seaworld… classic. i probably woulda done that too! and thanks for making me want a brownie sundae for breakfast now!
i LOVE the lego pics! how fun would that store be?!
and the dog on the motorcycle is undoubtebly one of the best pictures (you know, besides the ones of annalyn, which were freakin adorable!)

glad you had a good trip. thanks for sharing the pics!

[Reply]

Amy Wright says:

July 9, 2009 at 2:19 pm

Awww…I know all of those places so well! Well, not that small Southern town, but plenty of other small Southern towns! They all kind of look the same and have the same people living there, which is weird.

I feel that you have freed me to say this: I cry EVERY TIME at the Shamu show. I don't know what it is – they start with that salute to the military and it just goes downhill from there for me. I try to pass it off as just being really sweaty or having an allergy attack…but Matt knows.

Glad you had fun! Wish we could have met up!

[Reply]

Musings of a Housewife says:

July 9, 2009 at 2:55 pm

OOOOOHHHH!! I can not WAIT for my trip to Disney in November!!!!! Those pictures are gorgeous. Looks like such a fun time!

[Reply]

Mandi @ It's come to this says:

July 10, 2009 at 1:44 am

I was just in the Orlando area a few weeks ago & oh yes, I most definitely stopped at Ghiradelli's ice cream shop at Downtown Disney!!! YUM YUM YUM!!!

[Reply]

mary bailey says:

July 10, 2009 at 2:14 am

Thanks so much for sharing the pics! Some of those are postcard-worthy. It was almost like taking my own vacation. Almost.

Now, I'm thinking hubby and I should go to Florida for our 15th next year. But I'd feel guilty for leaving our (10yo) baby at home. :)

[Reply]

thediaperdiaries says:

July 10, 2009 at 2:27 am

Well now all I want is pizza :)

[Reply]

MaRiN says:

July 10, 2009 at 2:44 am

Wow! Looks like you had a fabulous trip…well other than the flight. You took some terrific pics!

[Reply]

Erin and George says:

July 10, 2009 at 3:18 am

What fun! Thanks for the fabulous photos. I'm totally jealous!

[Reply]

chelleybutton says:

July 10, 2009 at 4:40 am

You cried at Sea World?? Are you pregnant again or something??

[Reply]

Mary @ Giving Up On Perfect says:

July 10, 2009 at 1:55 pm

No, I am not pregnant. :P

Thank you to everyone else who said nice things!

[Reply]

Nap Warden says:

July 10, 2009 at 9:14 pm

I can't wait to take Miss Peach to Disney!!!

[Reply]

Porter says:

July 14, 2009 at 7:35 pm

Good stuff Mary! I laughed out loud about the motorcycle dog! You need to consider becoming a professional landscape photographer :-)

[Reply]

Debbie says:

July 16, 2009 at 1:46 am

I'm just now reading this post. Oh I want to just hug you. I know what its like to have that screaming child – although not on a flight with other people – but on a 5 hour drive in our minivan. It's SOOOO touch and nerves become raw. I felt your pain!

If this makes you feel better, I'll share my most embarrassing moment with you. But I'm going to post a blog about it next Tuesday, 7/21.

Just for you…

[Reply]

Did you say photos? Vacation photos?

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