H and the kids arrived in Tampa on Thursday. Small world: My parents were flighing out of Tampa on Thursday. They were able to spend a few hours together at TPA. Mom and Dad were able to see the baby for the first time. Thank God Tampa was such a nice airport.
I arrived on Sunday, following the Saturday "not so surprise" party for Mr. Gmuer. (I don't think they wanted me there). With no small effort on the part of my father, we were staying in the Orange Lake resorts in Kissimmee. Originally we were staying at an extended stay type hotel which was basically a glorified truck stop. Jazmin blames the need for a change on me and my high standards but I never saw the place. Thanks to the Taylor's RCI membership, the Orange Lake (with 2 bedrooms, full kitchen, laundry, 4 swimming pools, Starbucks, Internet Cafe, etc), was only $60 more the the hole in the wall. Here's the catch, The 6 Mora's stayed with the 5 Taylors... and it went surprisingly well.Monday: John and Doris took the 4 oldest grandkids to Sea World. R&R for Mom and Dad
Tuesday: The Mora's, Taylors, and John went to the Animal Kingdom. John worked out a deal to basically get all of us in for free! We saw all of the best including Nemo, Dinosours, the Safariand Everest. At about 4PM the 5 Taylor's left for MGM. Melissa, William and I went on the Tower of Terror. Melissa was so brave and did great! Mommy is now the lone whimp in our family. We visited the town of lights, then saw the Beauty and the Beast live on stage followed by the 8PM installment of Fantasmic. Truly, this was one of the best days we've ever had at Disney.
Wednesday: Medieval Times. Doris came to watch the two youngest Moras. Special note: if you've never been to Medieval Times, they will ask you to arrive at 6PM for the 7:30 show. This gives you a chance to visit the 3 over priced bars, have a kid take your picture 5 times (he'll print them on a HP and try to sell them to you for $2o each when you are elbows deep in half a chicken), take pictures on the fancy chairs and with suits of armor and shop the 600% mark up "knight" themed items. Show up at 7PM; you'll have plenty of time for pictures and to be seated before the show. After all the time spent cheering and screaming, the Green Knight won! only to
be assassinated moments later. Liliana had the Flower thrown to her and Will was captivated by the action. A day later Liliana went onto the patio and pulled the flower apart leaf by leaf and Will express a concern about the people being hurt with the swords (even though he took a picture with the Green Knight after he was assassinated). Melissa didn't want to watch the battles but loved the show. At the end of the day, they were able to eat with there hands, sit with their cousins, and see and awesome show. Say no more. Hosea and I ended the day with a few pieces of premium tobacco and a well-aged Rum.Thursday: Thanksgiving. We ate a Cracker Barrel breakfast, watched the Macy's Day parade, read the paper (important social articles like the Circuit City and Best Buy Black Friday ads) napped and snacked. We traveled to Clermont to the Gmuers and enjoyed a great Thanksgiving dinner. They made Turkey just for me!
Friday: The Mora's left before 5AM for their flight to the New York area. We had the day to pack, clean, check out and make the 80 minute drive to Tampa. Despite a 30 minute connection in Memphis, from far ends of the terminals, our travel was smooth and we were in AR at about 11PM on Friday. With the weekend to relax.
