Our Florida Vacation.

We made it back from our 10 day trip to Florida at 3:00 a.m. Saturday Dec. 1. We had a lot of fun and Ava really had a good time. We were unsure whether she would really enjoy it all but she really did whether she remembers it years from now or not. We left the Wednesday evening before thanksgiving. We left in the evening and drove straight through to Venice Florida. (which is an hour south of Tampa). Ava did great and slept most of the way. We met my mom down there and We spent several days in Venice visiting family. We had a cute little villa with a full kitchen so it was really cozy. We tried to take Ava to the beach but she didn't really care for it. The sound of the ocean scared her. We didn't stay long but I still got a couple shots in. Then my mom and us headed over to Orlando for 5 days. We had a really nice condo at the Marriott Grande Vista. It had a full kitchen also so we could make some of our own meals and not eat out all the time. On Monday we did some shopping at the outlet malls and Downtown Disney. Ava got her a baby Cinderella. On Tuesday we went to Sea World and on Wednesday we went to Disneyworld. Its the perfect time of year because the parks are only at about 25% capacity and you hardly have to wait in lines. I think the most we waited in line was 10-15 minutes and that was only once or twice. At Sea World Ava was able to just stay on the ride and ride again cause there was no line. Ava's first encounter with a character was Shamu at Sea World. She was excited to go over and see him but then when she got close she wasn't so sure. But she quickly warmed up to him and by the time we walked away she was blowing him kisses and waving. So the rest of the day all we heard was "MU" Cause she wanted to go back and see Shamu. So of course daddy bought her a stuffed shamu. At Disney we waited in line to see Tigger and Pooh and she enjoyed hugging and high fiving them. But the cutest was when she saw Mickey. She was just in awe of him. She loved all the Fantasyland rides like the tea cups and flying dumbos. She didn't care for the Pirates of the Carribean and Peter Pan, mostly cause they were dark. But ironically she did very well in the Haunted Mansion. She was waving at the ghosts and singing.
We left Orlando Thursday morning and stopped to have lunch with my Uncle in Jacksonville. Then we drove to Savannah Georgia and stayed the night. On Friday we did a trolley tour of Savannah. Its a very beautiful city and full of history. I'd like to go back some day and really explore the city. We left Savannah late afternoon and drove straight through till we arrived home. It was a great trip and Ava did remarkedly well. She was great on the car rides and was a lot of fun sightseeing and doing the theme parks. But now we're home and its time to get back into the routine of things and get going on my Christmas decorating and shopping.
Here are some of our pictures from the trip.