Vacation Report

Ok, so this might be a loooonnng post, as it's been awhile since I updated. As many of you know, we went to Florida for a week Aug 27 - Sep 3rd. It was Nathan's first plane ride, and he loved it! He was so excited to see all the clouds! (He didn't seem to mind that they were below us! Nathan's grandparents (Laura's parents) live in a really neat community called "The Villages", where they have several "town squares", with various shops and restaurants, etc. Most nights, there are at least one of the local squares hosting various bands, sidewalk vendors, etc. The first night we went to one of them, there was a band playing various "oldies" and Nathan couldn't wait to dance! He was swaying, twirling, waving his arms, and shaking his little booty! It was great. They had waterfountains with lights, and it was all we could do to keep him from diving in.

Magic Kingdom - Nathan thoroughly enjoyed the Magic Kingdom visit at Disney World. He rode a bunch of rides, including a Jungle Boat ride, a Magic Carpet ride, Winnie the Pooh ride, Buzz Lightyear ride, It's A Small World (he loved that ride! Ok, me too! it was nice and cool in there.), and more. He got to tour the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, and was fascinated with the "plumbing system" there (if you've been, you understand). He was very interested in how that thing worked, from the water wheel and buckets to the bamboo trough that delivered water throughout the treehouse. He got to see and take pictures with Mickey Mouse, and with Pooh Bear and friends. We were with our friend Wendy and her two boys while visiting Pooh and friends, and Nathan could not wait to get to Pooh. While Wendy and her boys were taking a group photo, Nathan ran away from Laura to go hug Pooh and Eeyore. If you missed those photos, e-mail me, and I'll send you the link to view them. We had also purchased a "water fan" (big foam fan on the front of a spray bottle) to cool off with in the heat. Nathan wanted to do it himself, so he turned the bottle toward himself with the fan on and sprayed away! He was soaked, but cool and happy!

Nathan had to adjust to living with two other kids for a week. He did pretty good, but there were a few times he did not want Micah near him. He gently pushed Micah away and told him, "Go see (your) mommy"!

Nathan loves to turn lights, fans, etc. on and off. He's not OCD, but he really likes to make things happen (He's actually used a broom handle at home to turn on a light switch before). His grandparent's house has low light switches throughout the house, and Nathan was in heaven! He would go turn on the lights near the kitchen and say, "there we go!"

One evening, we were coming back from a golf cart ride (The Villages is a golf-cart community, complete with golf-cart lanes and paths throughout.) and we saw a bunny rabbit in a neighbor's yard. We stopped to watch him, and Nathan jumped right out of the cart to chase him. He ran across the yard, as the little cotton-tailed bunny slowly hopped away, as if teasing Nathan. Nathan was laughing and running behind him saying, "I'll getcha, bunny rabbit!"

He also began "leading the way" during our Sea World trip. When he and I got ahead of Laura, Wendy, and the boys, he turned back toward them, waved his hand, and said, "c'mon, guys!"

He got to go to Daytona Beach and eat at Bubba Gump's restaurant (of "Forrest Gump" fame). He thoroughly enjoyed their strawberry lemonade - even when he sucked a big chunk of strawberry up his straw. He attacked some low-flying balloons in front of the restaurant on our way out, and then we visited the boardwalk. We decided against getting on the beach, as we weren't staying close by. Nathan found some pigeons to chase around and was really enjoying that! We were almost ready to go, and I wanted a couple of pictures of him with the beach and surf in the background. I positioned him in front of the boardwalk railing and took a picture of him. He noticed the surf coming in, with the ocean breeze, and turned to take it all in. I thought it would be a great picture, and it was. But before I could take "one more", I saw him (through the lens) lean over the rail and begin to go over. I started toward him, as did Laura, but we weren't close enough or fast enough, and over he went - flipping right over the rail, off the boardwalk, and into the sand below. I jumped over the rail to him, and he was quite shocked at what happened (go figure!). After he caught his breath from the three-foot drop, he cried awhile, while we brushed the sand off of him. He had a few scratches (I think from the boardwalk) on his forehead near the hairline, but other than that he was ok. By the time we left, he was wanting to chase the birds again.

We took a tour of Daytona International Speedway, and Nathan and I posed in the winner's circle. He actually posed for us next to a few race cars.


We had to change our return trip plans for coming home, thanks to Katrina, flying into Houston instead of New Orleans. It was several days before we were able to go get our car from the airport and took seven hours just to get there. But, our car was ok, and we're just thankful that was the only inconvenience we had from the hurricane.

It was a great trip, and I'm sure Nathan will be ready to take his little brother in a few years!