Monday, October 27, 2008

Vacation Part #3

I have been working on putting pictures together on a site called Smile Box. It has hundreds of scrapbook pages all made up and you just put your digital pictures in the slots and there are places for journaling. I used to do really elaborate scrapbooks with pop-ups and all kinds of embellishments but that has kind of fallen by the wayside since I started blogging so this new computer way of scrap booking is kind of nice. I print them out and put them in a photo book and at least it is done. Not quite as hands on but it gets the job done.


We stayed at the Portafino Bay Resort which is part of Universal. Normally we stay at a Disney resort but occasionally we try something different. We did not want to stay at The Hard Rock Hotel again after being put on the dog wing last time plus it was way too noisy for me and Hubby. Shouldn't the name Hard Rock have given me a clue that there would be loud music playing everywhere???? DUH!! The selling point was that it was only a five minute walk to the parks which was lovely but dog barking and loud music just didn't make for a restful week. Anyhow I digress....

When I booked the Portafino I specifically asked them if there was a dog wing and that I didn't want to be anywhere near it. (you can see that this still riles me up a bit!)

Anywho, it was lovely there especially the pool area. It takes a lot to get me into a bathing suit these days but I just had to get into the pool with the kids and enjoy the surroundings.


There was a wonderful water slide that the kids enjoyed.



We spent quite a bit of time out here and enjoyed every minute of it!

Another part that T and D liked was the bay that was part of the decor. It had lots of ducks and other birds that they could feed. They saved the leftover bread from our meals plus fed them Cheerios from our breakfast stash.




We spent lots of hours going around the parks. There are two parks with different attractions in each one. The kids loved the characters!

This is how we got to the parks from our hotel. It was about a 20 minute walk so this got us there in about 5 minutes! I LOVED it!


One thing we always love to do when in Florida is visiting Shepler's a great western store. We don't have much to pick from here so we go hog wild when we get into a place that has such a variety of things! This guy meets you at the door and is motion activated so he talks to you when you come in. T thought he was great!



Oh, there are boots, boots and more boots!




Well I guess this is enough for this chapter. There will be one more but just a short one. I don't want you all looking like I did after a long day in the parks, in the rain and a noisy restaurant! Hubby snapped this one!

18 comments:

Alice Grace said...

Does it get any better than this! Wow, looks like you all are having such fun! Enjoy! (Love the pink boots!)

Needled Mom said...

I LOVE the shot that R took. That says everything!!!!

The kids look like they really enjoyed everything about the trip. I am sure that they must really look forward to escaping to sunny Florida and enjoying all the activities that go with the trip.

Oh...the decision on the boots. A girl's worst nightmare!

How is Mom doing? Any info on when she will be discharged? Hugs.

hippo chick said...

What great pictures. You have done a great job of capturing the joy of this vacation.

Did T get the pink boots? I would love a pair and I don't ride. Well, that's on my bucket list and before this year is out, I plan to begin to remedy that. Do you think I'm to old to start?

I want to tell you about the Santa card. It is made with a scallop punch from Stampin' Up. I just ordered that punch. You can make sooo many things with it. If you have a Stampin' Up demonstrator in the area, you can get it. If you do, I can probably find out from my demonstrator how to put it together. Let me know.

I'm anxiously waiting for more pictures from your trip.

Oh yes, LOVE the bicycle chariot.

~hippo hugs~
Pam

Anonymous said...

I'm from Florida, and I know exactly where these pictures were taken! Looks like you had an awesome time, great pictures!!!

Carole Burant said...

I want those pink cowboy boots T is modeling! lol Wow, that's quite the pool area that hotel had, it's no wonder you gave in and wore a bathing suit so you could enjoy it! hehe Steve & I really had bad luck with the indoor pools the last time we were away...we stayed in two different hotels and both of them, the "heated" pool was ice cold! They were down for maintenance...wish they would have told us before we stepped in it and just about froze. lol

Loved looking at all the pictures and seeing the big smiles on the kids' faces:-) I would have loved seeing all those characters as well...fun, fun, fun!!!

Awwww you're still adorable in that last picture!! hehe Love you! xoxoxoxo

Callie said...

OMG! It sounds like so much fun! I Love Sheplers! Only I order from them, never been there, but would love it!

Rising Rainbow said...

Oh, I would love to got to a Shepler's store. how cool is that!

Izzy, Emmy 'N Alexander said...

Wow! You guys really know how to vacation! Fabulous fun for all and that pool is so pretty!

Izzy's standing here going, MOM, Look, IT's SPONGEBOB...and Look DORA..and OH OH OH.."

Train Wreck said...

Wow is you Smile box gonna be full!! Love those Pink boots! I just broke down and bought me a pair.Great photos, again. I do love the last one though!! hahaha I know how you feel!!

Dawn said...

What a fun time you had! Love the little model in the pink boots. You guys need to live out here in the WEST!!

palmtreefanatic said...

What fun! wow wow wow at the BEAUTIFUL resort! I wanna go there I would probably want to spend all the time there...aaaaahhhh!!!!

I love all the character shots! It has been a few years for su I guess...They got new people there so fun!
I love your vacation posts, I feel excited to take a vacation now....some day;)

Mary said...

It looks like you had a great time. When we were in Florida in 2005, we went to see the Arabian Knights dinner show and it was very good. We especially enjoyed the tribute to the USA. I'm not sure if the show would be the same now. I imagine it has probably changed.

Love those dinosaurs and the photos of the western shop.

Looking forward to more Disney photos.

Blessings,
Mary

Tammy said...

What a great trip you all had!
I just loved all the photos...and of course, that last one! :)
(I looked like that for half of my California trip!) hehe
I use to scrapbook too, before blogging! ;)

And thank you so much for stopping by my first Home School Open House! And for putting my button in this Friday's post, too! I SO appreciate that!

Hopefully, the word will get out and we'll have more participants next month- since I know out there are lots of home school bloggers!

Hugs,
~Tammy

Anonymous said...

Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment, I hope to see you again!

Renie Burghardt said...

Oh, what fun you all had on your vacation. Love the great pictures, and the last one does say it all! The pink boots are adorable. Hope she got them. And feeding ducks and geese are always an enjoyable thing for kids. My grandchildren love to do that when we go to Mammoth Spring. We always take a couple of loaves of bread along.

Thanks for sharing part of your fun with us. Have a wonderful week!

Hugs,

Renie

PS. I forgot to say in my comment on your early Friday post that I am so glad your Mom is doing so well and will be home soon!

Margaret Cloud said...

Thanks for sharing your vacation, it looks like a great place and also looks like you are having fun and that is what counts.

Nancy said...

Poor Mom...she looks pooped! Love all your pics!!! Those pink cowgirl boots looked darling on T. How cute she posed for that photo! I bet she came homne with those boots! LOL

Loved the bicycle carriage!!! Looks like so much fun! You certainly had a great trip....made memories those little ones will always remember!

Finding it hard to go feed the cats...but this time,. I must go! Back in about an hour!

(((((( HUGS ))))))

Nancy said...

Gee, I guess I am all caught up reading all your posts! I feel like I was there on vacation with you!!! Enjoyed it so much!!! How sweet of you to share it with all of us!!! I know the work in getting so many pics in the correct order....it takes a lot of time. You did some great posting about your trip!!!

(((((( HUGS ))))))