Laura's space

...at least that is the excuse that I'm going with for not keeping my blog up to date.  Maybe i need to apply Facebook or Twitter principles and just make short, one sentence entries! 

I did add an album of photos from Ally's camera.  You can check them out under albums.  Most of them are pictures that she took on vacation in Orlando.  She certainly doesn't hesitate to snap away or to get really close to her subject. 

More soon....hopefully:-)

We spent Tuesday at Sea World’s water park, Aquatica.  I wasn’t sure if it would keep us entertained for a whole day…not only were we there for just shy of 10 hours, I think we would all go back if we have time.  You can check it out here if you want to see the rides I’ll talk about. 

First things first, we got an all day meal plan and then a locker.  I found that it was only smart to put cell phones and my beloved camera in a locker for the day.  The other thing you have to do is leave all vanity behind.  Hair & makeup don’t really work there if you want to have any fun. 

We started the day on the Dolphin Plunge.  It is a single rider, no inner-tube slide that is dark and then goes through a plexiglass tube in the Commerson’s dolphins tank.  The dolphins are beautiful and playful.  You could also see them on the lazy river. 

One of our favorite spots was Roa’s Rapids.  It was similar to a lazy river without tubes and with rapids and other water “hazards.” We had a blast floating and racing through it. 

I think between all of us, we didn’t miss any “rides.”  Ally was really brave for a while and then decided once was enough on several of the slides that I would have like to have her go on again once the lines died down.  One of her favorite spots was Walkabout Waters – a giant kids water playground.  I think she could have spent the whole day there! 

Like the day before, later in the afternoon some ominous clouds blew in but we managed to get lucky and finish our day and be settled back in the hotel room before the rain set in. 

Tomorrow we’re off to Busch Gardens for the day…wish us dry weather!

We flew from St. Louis to Orlando on Monday, arriving early afternoon.  After getting some lunch and settled into our hotel we headed over to Sea World.  Getting to Sea World in this case meant walking across the parking lot.  We decided to stay at the Renaissance Sea World so we would be close to everything we planned to do.  We spent from 4:00 – close (9:00) at Sea World.  We rode Journey to Atlantis first since it was Ally’s favorite when we were here in October.  Evidently 9 months makes a difference…it’s no longer her favorite.  Last time we were here the new roller coaster “Manta” was under construction.  It’s pretty freaky because once you get hooked into the ride, the turn you on your stomach & off you go.  I have to say that it was a really awesome ride!  They also put in an aquarium with the ride.  Ally & I went through it while Rick & Madison rode the first time.  They have several tanks with salt water sea life.  One tank had tons of rays including mantas.  Ally’s favorite tank was the one with the sea spiders, sea urchins and other creepy spinney things. 

We let Madison pick the seats for the night time Shamu Show. We all knew what we were getting into but decided to follow her down to the 3^rd row anyway.  She wanted to be able to see them underwater and we did…I think (hope) our clothes & shoes will be dry by the time we leave!  Good news, camera & cell phones were fine; the purse is a little sticky on the outside from the salt water but it will clean. 

From there we headed over for the “After Dar” fireworks show and then sloshed our way back across the parking lot to our hotel.   

Since we had gone to shows instead of dinner, we ordered pizza when we got back to the room.  Ally fell sound asleep before it arrived and slept through the night.  Speaking of Ally, on our way here she asked me if she could legally change her name…to Pink RoseJ 

On a recent trip to the Missouri Botanical Gardens.  As they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

Wow, I didn't realize how long it had been since I'd posted something.  Needless to say, summer has been really busy.  I'll try to add a couple of updates over the next few days.

 

We're making some serious progress on the basement...yeah!  We wanted a bathroom in the basement for the pool so that the kids especially would have a water-proof place to go - well, when they have to go!  While you're breaking up concrete and hanging dry wall, sometimes it's easier just to keep going.  You can see the pictures below of the progress to date.  Tomorrow is scheduled to be a BIG day...cabinets & vanity should arrive; tile for the floor should be here - and the floor will get started as soon as the tiler finishes the stone on the bar.  More updates to come...