Vacation Weekend in Orlando

Grandma Debbie flew to Orlando Friday and we met her there for a fun weekend at the Nickelodeon Hotel. Parker has been asking to go back ever since we stayed there for Lincoln's first birthday (March 2009). It was great to get away from home without having to go too far (and it was great to get the Florida resident discount!).

When we got to the hotel, the boys wanted to dog-pile, but Anndra wasn't that into it.



We kicked off our weekend with some early trick-or-treating - an event the hotel was putting on to gear up for Halloween. Parker and Lincoln were excited to dress up like ninjas:



Lincoln insisted that we call him Poison Dragon Ninja for the next two days. If we slipped and accidentally called him Lincoln, he would say, "No! I'm NOT Lincoln! I'm Poison Dragon Ninja!"


The only thing Anndra wanted to wear was her little Minnie Mouse purse:


I was surprised by how much walking we ended up doing just to get to all the places in the hotel that were giving out candy. This place was huge!



Everyone was SO NICE to the boys and they loved getting many, many compliments on their costumes.


The next day was POOL DAY! (and for the first time in years, Todd actually got in the water).







Next to the pool was a large water-park structure with tons of slides and a humongous bucket of green slime that got tipped over once a day to drench everyone below it. Here is Parker after he got SLIMED:



There was also a smaller splash/slide area for kids under 40 inches - at 39" Lincoln was just barely too short to go on the big kid slides. But after he got over his initial disappointment, he discovered that the 'baby' slides were fun too:






Happy kids = Happy parents


Another happiness was the big yellow cabana we rented - complete with ceiling fan, TV, mini-fridge full of cold water bottles, table & chairs, lounge chairs, and an endless supply of warm towels (straight from the dryer). We felt very pampered and it was nice to have a place for the kids to rest and warm up - or eat or nap or whatever - in between swims. There was an outlet for charging the ipad Grandma was using to read and it gave her privacy and shade (without having to be in the hotel room) while we were enjoying the water.


Another bonus was being able to keep Anndra's potty chair out by the pool with us (since she still refuses to use regular size toilets - silly girl).


Finally we dined in the hotel restaurant and celebrated our two October birthdays - Anndra & Parker: