Road Tripping

In case you have been pondering my lack of posts, you can lay your worries to rest. No, I did not fall off the face of the planet. We did something very exciting. We took JT on his very first road trip. It was filled with laughter, tears, giggles, sleepyheads, and screaming during dinner. We made it out relatively unscathed although my ear drums are a little worse for wear. Normally, I would try to write a day by day recap but 15 posts seems like a lot of overkill to me and the mountain of housework that we returned to is unbelievable.

The first part of our trip allowed us the opportunity to visit with a bunch of family. JT got to meet his cousin - who is one year older than him. They got along famously. His cousin even said "baby" whenever he saw JT. Then we got the pleasure to visit JT's aunt and uncle (my sister-in-law and her husband) as well as JT's grandma and grandpa Giesey. We got an extra surprise because our friends from Dickinson were able to drop by. Then JT got to meet Aunt Kathy and Uncle John. He had a lot of fun playing patty-cake. We finally met up with my parents in South Carolina. Then it was on to Disney World.

We spent 5 relaxing days at Disney. Well maybe not super relaxing, certainly fun filled. We went to EPCOT first. The Flower show was going on. I have never been during this time. The blooms were spectacular. I was perfectly happy spending all day just looking at the flora.

The next day we travelled off property to check out Harry Potter world.  While I was impressed with Universal's architecture, I was really disappointed with the amount of space they had available.  Yes, the shops in Hogsmeade are portrayed as tiny in the movies, but when I feel like I have no space to move, you might have made things a bit too tight.  Claustrophobia set in...in Zonko's, in Honeydukes, in Flourish and Blott's, in Olivanders.  Way too overwhelming and I heard lots of visitors remark the same thing.  The rides were fun.  I had an idea of grandeur for the interior of Hogwarts and was slightly let down.  Not to mention that was the ride I didn't like.  We actually had a bit of fun wandering around the Dr. Seuss world.  I won't lie, I picked up a few Seuss outfits for JT, as well as, some board books for reading.

On Saturday, Andy and I left JT with grandma and grandpa S while we went to Magic Kingdom.  There is a ton of construction going on in Fantasyland.  I guess we will need to go back in a couple of years to see how it has turned out.  We got on Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, the Mad Tea Cups,  enjoyed a trip on the Locomotive that travels around the perimeter of the Magic Kingdom, and rode the Haunted Mansion.  We came back in the evening and took JT on his first amusement park ride - Tomorrowland Wedway People Mover.  He was totally impressed.

On Sunday, we entered the Animal Kingdom where JT went on his second ride - Kilimanjaro Safari.  All the animals must have known he was coming because they were out in full force.  We also walked through the Tiger walk in Asia .  Andy and I got on Expedition Everest, then we headed home.  That evening the hubby and I enjoyed a nice dinner to ourselves.  But the next morning we were out on the road again.

We stopped in Columbia, SC again on our return trip.  We had a free morning to kill so we went to the Riverbanks Zoo.  JT got to meet some animals up close and personal.  Namely, the giraffes.  We paid 2 bucks and JT was able to feed the giraffes some lettuce.  Yum.  The giraffe liked him so much, JT was able to pet him as well.

We also stopped back in KY and was given a grand tour of the Battle of Richmond and the Woodford Reserve Distillery.  Loads of fun.

The end of trips make me sad.  This one especially because we got the chance to link up with so many fantastic people.  It makes me wish for a time when we don't have to drive some obscene number of hours to get to see loved ones.  Oh, in case you were wondering - we racked up 60 hours of driving time, 220 gallons of gas, and 4000 miles.  Maybe I will post a slideshow of pictures in another post.