So, I'm starting to see why everybody talks about the weather here in Florida. Sunny, not a cloud in the sky, cool in the shade and just right in the sun. Perfect! Yesterday and today were gorgeous! So gorgeous, it was like the weather called you to the great outdoors and I answered that call.

I went to my favorite walking spot and power walked for about an hour. Yesterday there was a mini car show there and today the families were out in full force, so as I walked there was a lot of people-watching to do.

I was in the sun so long my nose is a little pink. I love it!

 

I found my new favorite place to power walk. Lake Lily is about 10 minutes from my apartment and it is just beautiful there. I went tonight after work and watched the sun set as I walked a mile and a half.

I may not be as in love with Florida as others are but it does have one thing going for it…it sure has some pretty spots.

So this morning was an early morning…but sometimes, in the words of Beth Moore, you just have to do the thing, and the “thing” this morning was getting up at 6am. But it was all for a good cause…pancakes and manatees!

First, we went to the The Old Spanish Sugar Mill where you can make your own pancakes. They bring out the batter and pretty much anything you want to put in them and then you can go to town making your pancakes. I put pecans in mine! YUM!

Then after we stuffed ourselves (Seriously…I was stuffed after 2 1/2) we went to Blue Springs to see the manatees. One of my friends brought her three children and they were so fun to watch as we discovered these huge, not as cute as I thought they would be, animals. Even though they weren’t cute, it was pretty amazing that they were RIGHT there. This baby and moma were right underneath the dock that we were standing on.

The glare on the water at this angle was really bad. Here are some better pictures…

Do you see all of the things that look like oval shaped rocks under the water in the distance? Yep…those are ALL manatees! It was amazing. They woud come up for breath and you’d get to see their cow-looking noses. It was cool.

In my last post I mentioned that I couldn’t hear the word manatee without hearing the song “Barbara Manatee” from the Veggie Tales in my head. Well, I’m pleased to announce that I only began singing it about a half dozen times instead of the continual loop that it was taking in my brain. It is all about the small accomplishments, folks!

It was a fun morning and now that I have had a nap, getting up early this morning to go, doesn’t seem like it was such a chore.

Can you believe the entrance to this place? I mean, seriously…it’s like it’s own little, er I mean, hugantic (props to Randy) compound!

We spent all day at the Magic Kingdom, and when I say all day, I mean ALL day! We got into the parking lot at about 11:15am and we didn’t pull out until 10:00pm. It was fabulous! Can I just tell you, it was the best birthday party I’ve ever been to! I mean these people really went out of their way in the decorations…just look.

Anyway, enough silliness…One of the first places we went was to “City Hall” to get Mike an “It’s My Birthday” button. Everywhere we went Disney folks were wishing him a Happy Birthday. That is always fun!

The rain was pretty good to us, although it did start sprinkling enough for me to break out the poncho. That poncho would later keep the super cold wind from cutting into my skin after the sun went down. Now I am not a wimp when it comes to the cold, in fact there are times when I prefer it to be cold but, come on! It’s just like Florida to not be cold when you want it to and to be cold when you don’t want it to. We found ourselves going on silly indoor rides just to stay warm. By the end of the night, major thawing had to take place.

Okay, time for some more pictures…

Pictures of this castle have never done the structure justice. I squealed like a little girl about a half dozen times yesterday and I believe the first time was over seeing this in person. One of the other times I squealed was when I finally saw Belle. The 24 year old Kathryn knows that at the end of the day the actress takes the Belle costume off and goes back to everyday life but the 5 year old Kathryn still thinks she is the beautiful princess that tames the Beast into falling in love with her. Her love for her father and her purity and strength literally transforms the Beast. It is a beautiful story and it is my absolute favorite. So…when I saw her in the parade, I squealed.

One thing that disappointed me was the lack of Disney characters amoungst the people. I also thought that they would be mingling. But maybe they have to keep them hidden in those secret Disney tunnels for security reasons. Anyway, this is the closest I got to Mickey ALL day.

Speaking of secert tunnels…we went to Tom Sayers island and they have secret tunnels and neat forts and barrel bridges. A little boy could get lost in his imagination there. In my opinion, it was the ultimate backyard for boys and for the occasional adventurous little girl. Well two little boys were definitely making themselves at home there and as Mike and I were emerging from one of the secret tunnels one of those little boys fell from the sky right on top of me. Well, not really from the sky but that is what it felt like. They had been playing on the hill above the tunnel exit. I am so glad I was there to break his fall because if I hadn’t he would have hit his head on the rock that was all around us. I didn’t fall but I can tell that I will have a pretty nasty bruise on my shoulder in a day or two. Anyway, the little boy just got right on up and started laughing. I’m glad he was okay.

Now, onto the rides. There were a couple of Disney staple rides that I HAD to ride and most of them were the rides you associate with Disney World. For example, the Teacups, Dumbo, It’s a Small World, the Magic Carpet ride. Not what you would call grown-up rides. But Mike was a trouper and he humored me. While we were standing in the very long line for Dumbo we met a 3-year old little boy and his daddy. His dad was sharing that it was his first time there and that they were also there with his mommy and his 8-month old brother. He also shared that he wished they would have waited a couple more years before they brought him for the first time. Then I shared with the little boy that it was my first time at Disney World too. He looked at me as if to say,”Sheesh Lady, where have you been?” It was so funny.

My favorite ride there was Thunder Mountain. Nothing super special, just a fun ride! Spalsh Mountain was fun too. It was about 8:00 and freezing cold and there was nobody in line for it and Mike asked if I wanted to go again. So I put on my poncho (it was freezing cold. I was not going to get wet!) and we got on the ride. No one else was in our boat and there was no one in the boat in front of us or behind us. It was so cool! The best part about this ride is the anticipation of what is coming. It builds and builds until you are on the top of the drop and then you just fall. So, once we got to the drop off zone and there was no one waiting…we went again. We didn’t even get out of the boat. It was too cool!

As you can probably tell, I had a blast! Thanks for being born, Mike!

Okay everybody, you have to come visit so I can go back!