Orlando & Li et. al.

July 27th... We made it to Orlando, dropped off our trailer to have all the little annoying things fixed, and stayed in a hotel near Universal Studios. We were foot loose and trailer free! The hotel had a separate bedroom, a full kitchen, and a washer and dryer right in the room, let alone a full bathroom

with a jacuzzi tub! We have decided hotels can be nice... Very nice! That first night we met Li and her kids at the Olive Garden for dinner around 8ish. Li found Marcus' beard different! Survey said... it was time for the beard to go, even if Mary Ellen in Mennonite country thought it made Marcus FINALLY look like a man! We had a very enjoyable dinner! It was good to see friends again! By the time we met for dinner, it was already the Smith's bedtime, so we didn't dally afterwards. We drove Li and family back to her hotel, said hello to Li's parents, and headed back to our hotel to get good and rested for our big day at Universal Studios the next day.

Wednesday, the 28th, we got up and had to wake the boys up in time to have breakfast before getting the 8:30 shuttle to Universal. Poor things! What mean parents! Marcus decided to shave the beard that morning. He had had his experiment, now he knew what he looked like with a beard; he was done. It was itchy anyway. It was so funny, we didn't think we were used to seeing him with a beard, but once it was gone, it took us a few days to get used to no beard! When we got into Universal, we headed towards Harry Potter World. We stopped to ride the Jurassic Park ride, which was delayed. The ride was fun, but by the time we were done with that, we found the line into Harry Potter World to be over 2 hours long!! We asked a guy that worked there if it ever tapers off and he said if we waited until 3 we could walk right in, so that was the plan. We played a lot of phone tag with Li to hook up, but once we finally did, we sent Matt and Derek on their merry ways to go have their fill of wild roller coasters, while Sydney and Colin went with us adults to Seuss Land. Sydney and Colin started by changing their wardrobe. They purchased Thing 1 and Thing 2 shirts, and caps. They were the dynamic duo! We explored Seuss Land, riding on rides etc. I have to say it was very well done! I enjoyed the Lorax with the Truffula trees! Later that afternoon we met back up with Matt and Derek (who had only managed 2 rides in 2 1/2 hours due to lines) and headed into Harry Potter World. As promised, there really was no line!! I have to say, WOW!! They did a fantastic job putting it all together, even down to the Butter Beer! Whose job was it to invent that drink based on the book? This is a butterscothchy, non alcoholic drink served frozen like an icee during hot weather. Very yummy! The Hogwarts ride had a VERY long line. The castle was well done and the ride was cool, but wow, there were a lot of people! It was difficult to fully enjoy the place with so many people around! I guess we shouldn't have been surprised, since it had just opened, but still! Oh, and may I point out that it was very hot and humid?! That evening, we headed to Li's hotel where we made dinner. While we were cooking, Li's dad took the boys to the driving range. Apparently, Derek has quite a natural swing!

Thursday we went to the other part of Universal Studios, while Li and family had down time. Boy, this side was WAY less crowded! We split into two pairs. Marcus took Derek to go ride the wild roller coasters, while I took Colin to ride the more reasonable roller coaster over and over to our hearts' contents! In a few hours we had seen and done all that we wanted, so we headed back to our hotel for lunch. After lunch we napped, and headed to Li's hotel where Colin, Marcus and I sneaked into the pool there, and Derek went with Dick and Matt to the driving range. It was another hot and humid day!! The golfers came back all hot and sweaty and joined us in the pool. Again, we made dinner at Li's hotel, and headed back to our place for bed.

Friday morning, we were heading for Kennedy Space Center. We were to meet Li and family along the way. I was having technical difficulties with the GPS, as it didn't seem to like any addresses or points of interest that I put in. There was quite a fiasco, with trying to find Li. My family likes to describe it as the time mom had a hissy fit over directions! I think that gives you an idea of how well I handled the situation! We DID finally find them and headed off to Kennedy Space Center. We had a great time there! We took a bus tour, that took us all around the property. We learned a lot! We also were lucky enough to have Doug Boling(from San Jose) and his 3 brilliant young sons meet up with us. They happened to be going to the Space Center that week as well, and arranged to be there the same day as we were. That was very cool! As we were leaving the space center to head to the Astronaut Hall of Fame, a major downpour hit, with tons of thunder and lightening! By this time it was about 7pm. We weren't sure whether to head back or go into the Hall of Fame, but with the downpour, we decided it was best to go in! We were practically the only ones there at that hour, and we closed the place down! Then we had the drive back to Orlando. Our GPS was programmed to avoid toll roads, so we found every stoplight along the way. We have since changed that setting!

Saturday the Smith Family headed to Universal's water park. We slid, we frolicked, we were lazy on the Lazy River, and then we headed back to our hotel for lunch. It was Li and family's last day, so we went back to her hotel, to hang out by the pool. Derek, Matt and Dick went back to the driving range, then joined us at the pool, since it was so hot and humid! We again dined with Li et. al. and said our goodbyes. It had been nice seeing them, now we were heading for new adventures!

I must say, we have been told that it has been the hottest summer on record in Florida. Even so, we have wondered why anyone who has the knowledge, experience, and half a brain, would go to Florida in the summertime? Florida is beautiful, and there are terrific beaches! The water is warm and clear, but, I mean, how sweaty do YOU really want to be? I would prefer to be not so much sweaty most of the time, thank you very much!