Fun around Orlando

On Jan 24th (sooo long ago, that is how Latin life makes me fall behind) we disembarked the Disney cruise with no set place to go. Work for Trent is a bit easier in Florida so he and I made a decision that we were going to explore somewhere new but really made no plans for it (not like us at all.) The craziness of Christmas then staying really busy back in Alberta left us with not a lot of time to make to many plans, so when we walked off the ship all we knew is we needed to rent a car.

Picked up a mini van (ahhh the horror a mini van) but our luggage would not fit in anything else and we were to late to secure a suburban (again the horror) kidding.

I am laughing : ) : ) : -) because we are not mini van people, but the kids love it. I can now admit Trent & I have been mini van snobs. However I must eat my words now, a mini van really is very easy with kids. (lol)

In Port Canaveral we headed north towards Orlando and drove until we found a hotel.

Trent went into check to see if a room was available. He came out to the van and said we have a room and you won’t believe the price. He said ” I think she said $45.00.” I said no way nothing is under a hundred dollars anymore but regardless we need a room.

Located our room and it was a 2 bedroom suite at the Marriott for $45.00/night. We stayed for 3 nights while we scoured the Internet for a place to call home for a month. An Angel gave us a treat.

Our initial intent was to stay in Clearwater & area but we picked the same time as the 2009 Superbowl that was held in Tampa. A house that would normally rent for $ 1,400/week was going for over $10,000 for the week. The prices were insane so we stitched gears. Orlando was going to be our area of choice.

Found a great six bedroom house with pool in Kissimmee for the month we rented off a couple from England. Houses are much less expensive when you rent for a month or longer. The complex we stayed at was Windsor Hills and it is wall to wall vacation homes. A very nice little community, very quiet and great location.

-The human population is increasing by 80 million people each year.

-A baseball has exactly 108 stitches.

-The one place where a flag flies all day, never goes up or comes down, and does not get saluted, is the MOON.

-A cat purr at 26 cycles per second, the same as an idling disiel engine.

-The first CD pressed in the United States for commercial release was Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” – Wow that seems decades ago.

-A cricket’s ears are on its knees.

-Ergophobia is the fear of work.

-The only birds that can fly backwards are hummingbirds.

-Although the abbreviation for the word “pound” is “LB” there is no “L” or “B” in pound. I never thought of that!

This was a very educational day… it was COOL as Easton said. I was 15yrs. old the last time I was at Gatorland (a long time ago not alot has changed). There are still hundreds of alligators and crocodiles scattered everywhere and a few shows to see. It was a day filled with learning about these creatures that God created but I am happy to see them from a far… reptiles are not my thing but that does not detour my children. ( I am glad about that)

(this seems a bit …. well lets say…. stupid by my estimation. Hand feeding a gator a whole chicken but then again this is their job daily. This particular day the gators were not moving very much because the weather had been a bit cold and since these guys are cold blooded they were very sluggish. This job obviously is intriguing since these guys like the thrill they get each day.)

(here is a quick video of what some people do for the thrill. This is not my video it is off of youtube and I hope this guy recovered)

Now these guys were cool!

These very cool creatures are 90yrs. old from an island off of Africa. We spend 15-20min with them feeding them carrots off a stick. They were huge weighing in at a whooping 600lbs. Gentle tortoise giants really.

(here turtle turtle turtle come get your orange candy)

(Ev spend some tender moments with this guy. Everett loves animals he wants to keep everyone he sees)

(here Trent was picked to come assist with this 15foot python. Trent said he was pretty heavy. The last time Trent held a python was in Thailand)

(a pet skunk… who would of guested. This poor little skunk was someones pet at one time and they dropped her off at Gatorland because they could not care for her. We have never seen a skunk so close by our choice..haha… This little Gal was a cuddlier and had very wiry hair, I had to remind my kids to never bring Peppy le pew home)

Gatorland has in someways has became an animal refuge where unwanted animals are dropped off. The staff told us that some mornings they come to work to find a box at the front door containing a displaced animal. It is amazing what kind of animals people think they can care for and later realize it is way to much.