A fun and spontaneous "business" trip to Orlando

I'm overdue in blogging.  And I have neglected to write about a trip we took beginning of February.  It was a company meeting for Chris' work, and Anton and I got to tag along!

I'm so proud of Chris.  He hit his budget for year-end 2012.  It is almost always a nail-biter toward the fiscal year end (that ends in January, not sure why it isn't December, but that's the way it is).  But he (or I should say, God!) always pulls through.  What that means for us, is, Chris is recognized and honored by the company (isn't it nice to be appreciated?) at an almost immediate corporate wide business meeting, wives invited; and he wins a nice vacation trip like I've posted about before on this blog.

This corporate meeting was almost immediately after he knew he hit his goal.  But it was in Orlando!  I think it must be the Theme Park capital of the world.  We smelled a possible family vacation, should we dare. We had a few days to decide and crazy us, we decided to make a spontaneous family trip.  Yes, even though we just got back from our other trip, and I was getting over an illness, putting up the Christmas decor, and we need to focus on other things like preparing our home for adoption...  But we figured, if the company is going to pay for 2 plane tickets, they'd agree to give us reimbursement for car mileage instead, and that would offset much of the cost we'd incur.  It was a good decision!  And as far as homeschool goes, we always make time for school along the way, reviewing Math facts and History books.

I've never been to Disneyworld, or Orlando, Florida.  I've been to Disneyland in California.  (That was our first date.)   But of course, we were thinking of blessing Anton with this wonderful experience.

Another important thing happening during this same time, is that we were reviewing a possible child on the Special Needs list from Bulgaria.  And we were talking to our international pediatrician during the trip to find out if he was a good match.  We did not know until about a week after we returned that this sweet child would not be right for our family due to the severity of his needs.  So, that was something else that was going on recently that I haven't blogged about.  (I have learned to not tell too many people too many details when we don't know, so that is another reason I didn't post about it).  But my heart was full during this whole trip of wondering if God was going to bless us with a sweet child.  I hope he gets adopted soon.

So, here are some pictures and a description of our quick trip.  We drove down there (a pretty long drive!)

got to work on the blanket

and spent one day at Magic Kingdom, that evening we had a nice dinner at this restaurant called, T-Rex (owner's of The Rainforest Cafe, if you're familiar with that chain). We discovered "Downtown Disney." which is an area with a lot of restaurants and night activities.

Anton learning to drive

The Jungle Boat ride.  This was one of my favorites. 

A little story about this restaurant...they have a sand pit where you can dig for these fake dinosaur bones for the kids.  Waiting in line at hostess station, Anton asks, "Can I, can I, can I play there?"  I said "yes."  But as soon as the hostess walked us down for our table he made a bee line for the sand pit and I didn't see him.  He didn't even want to find out where we were going to sit.  He didn't understand, also, that he is not supposed to play there without a parent watching anyways.  But because he was so excited he decided he'd just go there immediately.  I turned around to see if everyone was following me and the hostess to the table, and where was Anton?  I freaked and frantically started looking towards the hostess station and outside (and there were a lot of people there).  Then I thought about the sand pit and, sure enough, there he was just happy as a clam digging for bones.  Anyways, I fussed at him, and being so tired, there were tears.  But we got over it pretty quickly.  

The next day Chris had his meeting and we moved our stuff to a very nice hotel that looked like Italy!  It was a sight to behold.  Chris' meeting was at Hard Rock Cafe, at their little concert room (Anton and I walked around this place called, City Walk, at Universal Studios and had dinner there.)   It was really a nice set-up, we took a boat taxi from the hotel to City Walk.  You could drive there but it is fun to take the water taxi that runs every 15 minutes.

the Loews Portofino Hotel, Orlando, FL (near City Walk).  it seems like a painting, doesn't it?

a view from our fancy hotel room

 just a photo op around the property of the Portofino Hotel.

this pool was awesome.  it had a sand beach, and a tunnel to swim under, waterfall.

 Anton and I have a date

 walking around City Walk, having fun

 we have to work on his form

The next day we did a little more exploring around Disney before we headed back.

at the Kona Cafe at The Polynesian Disney Resort.  I love these boys!

That is Mickey Mouse ravioli.  Don't ask me how much we spent on "just OK" food..  It's too late.

at a gift shop at The Contemporary Resort

 Monorail!  We toured around all the different Disney resorts.

This is one of the Disney Resorts, I think it is called The Floridian.

On our way back, we stopped of at Destin Beach (actually Ft. Walton) and that was probably the smartest thing we did.  (I think I prefer a beach vacation anyways :O)  The weather was beautiful the next morning and we got to enjoy the beach until time to head out towards home.

In summary, I did not leave my heart in Orlando, but maybe at the Portofino Hotel!.  I think in hindsight, we should have visited Epcot Center.  I much prefer a vacation where we can enjoy God's creation, or experience culture, and where not every experience is charged for, and overpriced too.   But we have been to Disneyworld.  We can say that now.  

But all in all a great family time.

Caribbean Cruise, December 2012

I'm so proud of Chris.  He hit his sales goal last year, 2011, and won a trip for us to Caribbean.  They paid for Anton's way as well.  We are so thankful.  We were gone from December 2 - 9, left out of Galveston, TX.  We just got back.

It doesn't seem like Christmas now but I'm glad I put up decorations before we left.

It was Carnival Cruise, on the Magic ship.  We stopped in Jamaica, Cayman Island and Cozumel.  We had so much fun.   The cruise is geared to a more Spring Break or party crowd, but we found our places on the ship to have a great and relaxing time.  It is so nice to not have to cook meals, and do whatever we want.  

Lessons learned...invest in a waterproof camera.  I thought I'd save money and bought a plastic protector, it worked fine but I think taking the camera out with wet hands ruined the camera.  It is just best to have the right camera for those memories.  Nevertheless, I managed to get in a few pictures and videos.

It was so educational for Anton also, to visit new places (and for all of us!).  We studied the Mayan Indians and there we were in the Yucatan Pennisula.  Also, Anton remembered some things about starfish he had learned from watching educational TV programs (he was teaching me :O)

 view from the 10th deck looking down in glass elevator.  This ship was a beast.

 ship had a water slide and ropes coarse that was fun for Anton, and us old folks tried it also.

Jamaica (Montego Bay).  We toured Rose Hall, a
sugar cane planation that had a lot of interesting history.

Here is a You Tube video of Johnny Cash's song with a little tour of Rose Hall.  

we're approaching the sandbar after about 15 minute boat ride.

the water becomes more shallow, looks like swimming pool.

the dark areas are coral.

 Stingray City tour, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

This stingray is a mommy with about 3 pups in her tummy.
I'm congratulating her :O)
she was so sweet.  our guides were great.

 This is a stringray wound from feeding a little boy stingray, they don't have teeth but can be aggressive feeders.

 I picked up a starfish from the bottom.  yay me.

this is the view from our balcony as we left Cayman

we joke about the Mayan end of the world,
that we had a talk with them.

fun picture, the pirate on back is on stilts, the one in front
is supposed to be a puppet on strings.  such mean faces!

 Anton found a baby conch in Cozumel Island, Mexico.

Anton finally got to build a sand castle on the beach.  new experience.

We were starving, ate at a restaurant near the pier.

took this picture right as we were disembarking Cozumel at sunset.  

formal night picture of us from dinner on the ship

Our Fourth of July Celebrating Freedom

We had a simple celebration.  Chris works in retail, so this was a big day for him at work.  I guess this is all part of our freedom right?  :O)

Anton and I watched a show about the American Revolution, on one of the history channels.  (comment on that:  I found it amazing that so many of our American heroes were so fashion-conscious, like General/President George Washington!  Gave me a chuckle.  Do great things and by all means look good doing them!  Ha ha.)

One particular character really stuck with me, Benedict Arnold.  What a cautionary study of pride!  He was a great military hero, but an unfriendly press really ate away at him.  He was so bitter that his sacrifices weren't appreciated.  This could happen to anyone, you know?  We all have that ugly pride to varying degrees.  He finally betrayed our country in a battle that was to take place that was named after him!   Now called Westpoint.   It was just a reminder to crave only the opinion of our Lord and Savior and serve Him.  People will not appreciate us as they should, or they will think too much of us when we don't deserve such credit.

We had some dear friends over for BBQ.  Chris made it home in time to say "hello" and "farewell" to our friends who didn't want to be out after dark.  Then we headed out to buy some fireworks.

I am thankful for our Freedoms.  With all the changes in our country, many feel this freedom is gone.  I'm not there yet.  But I see it slipping away.  Our Supreme Court just ruled in favor of Obamacare.  This is the President's and left-leaning members of Congress' attempt to social medicine.  By all appearances, the Chief Justice Roberts changed his mind at last minute and cast the swing vote to uphold Bill, in order to dodge the Supreme Court's responsibility of stopping it, even though there are many constitutional reasons he could have stopped it, and indeed he opposed the Federal Government forcing anyone to buy anything.  It could be a "tax."  There are many different conjectures as to why he did it, believing it was an "institutional" decision and not "constitutional" one, or based on logic following the constitution, that is their job.  I sort of reject the idea we can judge his motive or his heart.  But I think a lot of these conservative pundits are right.  I just hate to judge.  The thing that I'm glad about is that people are talking about the Constitution more.  We live in a day where lawlessness seems to be increasing.

Our Anniversary and a few quick trips around Texas

We've been so busy lately I haven't had time to post.   A few highlights from recent adventures:

We had our 21st wedding anniversary, June 15th.  We didn't do anything special for that except go out to dinner, all three of us!  The thing I love about our marriage is that we celebrate it all the time; oftentimes an anniversary is just an excuse to splurge a little.  But alas, with adoption coming up our budget can't afford a real vacation, so we just went to our "go to" favorite Mexican food restaurant (Chuy's) and we ordered 2 entrees instead of sharing just 1!  I love celebrating our love to each other as a family, we always allow for healthy alone time as well for just Chris and me.

After resting for a weekend (except Chris almost gets no rest, he works on the weekends), we decided to make a quick trip to San Antonio to visit my 90 year old grandmother and make a quick visit to a cousin who is getting married and meet his bride to be.  My grandmother caught pneumonia a month ago and Anton and I were able to visit her then.   So, this trip, we could all go together with Chris.  I'm realizing that if I don't see her as much as I can now, I will regret it when she is gone.  We love her so much.  She is the sweetest lady.

we had time for a quick trip to the River Walk in San Antonio.  Anton wants to give me a kiss on the cheek for the photo.  His pappa has taught him to dote on me too much (IMO), so with Chris and Anton doting on me, I feel pretty well-loved.  Coming from a broken home myself, isn't God good to me? 

  

those familiar with the Houston - San Antonio trip know that you have to stop at Buc-Ees.

One thing is for sure, I get tired from doing too much.   I need a few days to recover from traveling and have a difficulty doing what I should during the day.

What I really wanted to blog about was we also visited Ft. Worth, to attend a Pathways Conference.  It was nice being able to talk on the road, as Ft. Worth is about 4 hours away.  We got to see my cousins and my Aunt in the evening.  I wanted to see some other family members too but our time was pretty limited.  We arrived the night before the conference and left immediately afterwards.  I'm so thankful for my wonderful friends in Houston and Katy who kept Anton.  He had so much fun.  I'll blog about the conference in my next blog.