Florida Vacation Highlights

I'll preface this whole post by saying that I am a full on Disney convert and totally plan on doing a full out Disney vacation at some point in the future. I was skeptical about the whole thing because I don't enjoy rides or huge crowds. This trip to Florida wasn't intended to be a Disney trip but since we were staying in Orlando we decided to visit two of the parks. Next time I do Disney I'll go full Disney vacation, staying at one of the resorts and visit all of the parks. 

This time we spent a day at EPCOT and Animal Kingdom and made multiple trips to Downtown Disney  Disney Springs. The highlight of the whole thing was that I got to meet Meeko! I love Pocahontas and Meeko is my favourite is my favourite character. Prior to Disney I did a ridiculous amount of research and the consensus was that aside from Pocahontas the other two characters from the movie (Meeko and Radcliffe) are extremely rare and aren't usually spotted around the parks. So I was shocked when after being in EPCOT for all of fifteen minutes J. turned to me and said "It's that Meeko? That looks like a giant raccoon." I was mid-way through replying "Probably not." when I looked over and sure enough there was Meeko hanging out at the Character Spot. I waited in line for thirty seconds and then got his autograph and took some photos and the five year old inside of me was the happiest. Unfortunately the photos didn't turn out the greatest (I blame the way the sun was shining) but they're good enough and it was a phenomenally great moment. 

I really enjoyed EPCOT and thought the mini train tracks were the cutest. I especially enjoyed the little gecko who was hanging out on the roof of one of the houses. I was a little let down by Animal Kingdom but it was partly because a lot of it was closed for renovations, which is clearly a downside to visiting during the off season. The Lion King show was wonderful though and I'd like to go again and be able to experience the whole place. One of the most fun things we did was go on a mini date one afternoon at Disney Springs. We went bowling and I'd highly recommend it as a fun, low key and affordable Disney date. We also don't have a bowling alley around here so it was extra fun. 

Aside from meeting Meeko the food was probably the highlight of the whole trip. I finally got to try Chick-Fil-A!! It was everything I dreamed of and may or may not have had it three times over the course of our ten day trip. I also tried Panera Bread and was pretty impressed with the wonton soup thing that I ordered. I also got my fill of  Vanilla Coke and tried Vanilla Pepsi during the trip. And it wouldn't be a trip without the obligatory Starbucks in the airport photo. 

We didn't have great weather while we were there, but it was still nice to get away from the snow happening at home. We missed one full storm and half of another.  It was a little less relaxing because it didn't involve any poolside reading but it was fun to do a little extra sightseeing. 

On our way back we hit some bad weather and ended up stranded in Ottawa for the night. At that point I was totally done with travelling and really just wanted to get home. We got a hotel room for the night, ordered pizza and watched Oak Island. The next day we headed to the airport and ended up delayed again. When all was said and done we got home a full 24 hours later than planned which made this week much more hectic than I was anticipating. 

When all was said and done it was a good trip and I was really happy to get home.

Refresh

2016 has started off with a whirlwind of activity. On January 4th I started back at what I refer to as my "off season office contract job" because my off season office job has evening hours it meant I had to give up weekly Sparks meetings, which was sad and created a lot of chaos but paying work needs to come before volunteering. I'll help out when I can and if the contract happens to end in early April then I'll go back to weekly meetings for the last couple of months. 

After working two days I set off for vacation (it was all pre-approved before I started back to work) and landed in Florida on January 6th. It ended up being cold in Florida most days we were there so there was very minimal reading by the pool and a lot more driving around exploring. I did manage to make a pretty sizeable dent in some of the things on my 52 in 52 list, I'm planning on blogging more on that later in the month. I also went to two Disney parks and had a pretty great vacation from daily routine. I didn't bring my laptop of put a plan on my phone so I had pretty limited access to social media while I was gone and didn't read a single blog post. 

It feels like I hit the refresh button and am now fully ready to start a new year and get back into a routine. 

That's all I've got for today. I need to reply to e-mails that I've missed over the past two weeks, get a load of laundry in the dryer, make lunch for now and supper for work. Thanks to a snowstorm we ended up getting home almost two days later than planned so today has been a little hectic. I'm not too worried about it though, everything will get done. Plus the weekend is only 5 days away.

Favourite Florida Photos

It's going to be a post of few words around these parts today. Yesterday I wrote about my Florida vacation and today I just wanted to share five of my favourite photos from the trip. I didn't take an abundance of photos. Partly because we did a lot of relaxing and I didn't feel compelled to document me reading a book by the pool and partly because I really tried to focus on enjoying the experience and not getting the best shot. I've recently realized I absolutely love wildlife/animal photography. Busch Gardens was the highlight of my trip and a contributing factor to that is certainly because that's where I got to take the most photos. 

{one}

This meerkat was bopping around with a flower on it's head. I'm choosing to believe that it was on purpose. A little flower tucked behind her ear as a little pick me up because who doesn't feel extra fabulous with a flower (or bow) in their hair!? I love meerkats regardless of their accessories and this one was just the best. I could have happily stayed next to the meerkat display for the entire 8 hours we were at the park!

{two}

Apes and Monkeys are high on my favourite animal list but this Mama and Baby Gorilla kind of stole my heart. It was so sweet to watch them interact and to watch the little one explore its surroundings.

{three}

I don't share a lot of photos of me on the blog and as a rule I avoid posting photos of others without their permission but I'm sharing this one because it makes me happy. Without getting into a super mushy aside about blown away I am that I found myself on vacation with a fabulous boyfriend I'll just say that this guy makes me happy. I'm so thankful our paths crossed (in the most unexpected of ways)!

{four}

I'm not sure why I like this photo so much. Tigers aren't top of my favourite animal list and there's nothing particularly extraordinary about this photo but I really like it so I'm going with the flow. 

{five}

I really like turtles. One of my favourite parts about Florida was that there are turtles everywhere! I didn't go a single day without seeing multiple turtles. I thought this guy was hilarious. After a very long winter I sort of felt the same way as this fellow when I reached the Florida sun. Stretched out as much as possible to soak up maximum sunshine!

I'm a little bit stunned over the fact April is gone! I swear I blinked and now it's May, which means my pre-camp to do list needs to be tackled. I'm excited about by May goals though (check back early next week) and I'm going to continue to enjoy this mini-vacation until camp is in full swing! 

Stuff & Things: Florida Edition

For ten hot seconds I had elaborate plans for a lengthy vacation recap post full of giant high resolution photos a detailed itinerary of each day and overflowing with "must sees" and "must dos". And then I realized that sounded like a huge chore and something I didn't actually want to spend hours doing. So instead here's some Stuff & Things I ate, did and saw during my time in Florida!

What I Ate

Photos taken from company/brand websites

Publix Chicken, Cinnamon Swirl Bread (Toasted for Breakfast), Peanut Butter Cup Oreos (Plus a bag to take home and share with H. & R. when we reunite!), Dunkin' Donuts Coffee, Applebee's Four Cheese Mac & Cheese with Honey Pepper Chicken. 

I'm aware of how super nerdy it sounds but a visit to the grocery store was so much fun. The food lover in me was fascinated seeing all the different things that just aren't available in Canada. I had that Cinnamon Swirl bread toasted almost every day for breakfast. And we ate Publix chicken no fewer than four times over the course of 10 days. I didn't make it to Chick-Fil-A but there's always next time!

What I Did

I spent a lot of time by the pool at the condo reading and lots of time in the pool. The highlight of my trip was probably the day we spent at Busch Gardens! I know there's a lot of controversy around SeaWorld, however there are two sides to every story and I'd never been before. I'm glad I went and experienced the park for myself. Plus, we got an awesome package deal on tickets to Busch Gardens and SeaWorld buying things online definitely pays off. I also spent a lot of time at Siesta Key Beach after a very long winter it was lovely to feel sand between my toes again!

What I Saw

Alligators, Palm Trees & Turtles! I love animals and spending time in a place where it's perfectly normal to see turtles every time you leave the house and spot alligators hanging out in people's backyards was super cool. I'd also never seen palm trees before so I happen to think they're pretty cool as well!

I didn't take as many photos as I had planned. I was nervous about getting my camera wet or full of sand when we were at the beach. And I really wanted to experience things more than I wanted to make sure I had photographic evidence I was there. I did snap a few photos (mostly of the animals at Busch Gardens) and I'll be sharing my Favourite Five tomorrow on the blog!