March 25 - April 1, 2009
Tony refers to the months of October - March as "Our Tourist Season".
Joel and Bradley planned a spur-of-the-moment vacation and graced us with their presence for a week. It was Bradley's very first airplane flight and first trip to Florida. We tried to show Brad as much as possible, but we couldn't fit it all in. I guess he'll just have to plan another trip to visit us again! :)
Our first stop...the Magic Kingdom! Here I am with Brad for his very first walk down Main Street U.S.A.! We were fortunate to get 12 Fast Passes (it pays to have connections), so Brad was able to see all of the Mountains (Space, Splash and Thunder) without having to wait in the hour long lines.
Papa Joel and Brad inside the Mexico pavilion at Epcot. We made a quick trip to Epcot via the monorail after the Magic Kingdom, but it was short-lived. These two couldn't keep up the theme park pace and were just too tuckered out to see it all. Oh well...there's always next year! We also made it to Disney's Hollywood Studios, the Animal Kingdom and Cocoa Beach.
Ashton wearing Brad's hat and enjoying dinner. This night we smoked a ham on our new grill and smoker...yummy!
Carson does not like the feel of the Florida grass on his bare feet. He tucks them up until you get a rug or blanket to put under his bouncy.
Joel and Bradley planned a spur-of-the-moment vacation and graced us with their presence for a week. It was Bradley's very first airplane flight and first trip to Florida. We tried to show Brad as much as possible, but we couldn't fit it all in. I guess he'll just have to plan another trip to visit us again! :)
Papa Joel and Brad inside the Mexico pavilion at Epcot. We made a quick trip to Epcot via the monorail after the Magic Kingdom, but it was short-lived. These two couldn't keep up the theme park pace and were just too tuckered out to see it all. Oh well...there's always next year! We also made it to Disney's Hollywood Studios, the Animal Kingdom and Cocoa Beach.
Ashton wearing Brad's hat and enjoying dinner. This night we smoked a ham on our new grill and smoker...yummy!
We finally found something Carson likes to eat...
Ice Cream!
Carson starts screeching the minute he sees ice cream cones. Here he is eating two cones at once. He screeched until he got mom's and then did the same until he got dad's too! 
Ok, so I don't really have any pictures of the flowers or the gardens, but we went to Epcot with Grandma and Grandpa to see the Flower & Garden Festival. Ashton was very excited to meet Piglet, Pooh and Tigger at the UK pavilion.
Grandpa and Ashton sharing a laugh at the Beach Club Resort.
A weekend jaunt to Fort Myers...ahhh...just another reason we (ok 'I') love living in the state of Florida! My old (not 'old'; previous) boss and her family from MN invited us to join them in Ft. Myers. They stayed at a family members' townhome and the photo above is the community guard 'shack'...nicer than our home!
Sandy, Brian, Kevin and Katie were the perfect hosts and even gave up the master bedroom for us! We met our friend Jerry at our favorite restaurant, Carrabba's, and then caught up on lost time over a few bottles of wine. Jerry was in town for the MN Twins spring training and after 5 years in this state we were finally able to make it down there to see him.
We contained Carson in one of the ottomans while we finished our breakfast. This way he couldn't make a break for the steps or destroy any of the beautiful furnishings.
Our fair-skinned boys adore the pool. Here is our younger bathing beauty, Carson.
Ashton took a break from swimming to devour an apple!