Where was I...

Ah yes, the arrival. We picked up the rental van and headed down the road to our accomodations. Moments after arriving at the lovely 6-bedroom home, we dropped our bags, and my dad and I headed out to score some groceries. The first shopping center we came to was home to a Winn Dixie supermarket.

Hoo-wheeee! I had way, way too much fun grocery shopping. I went up and down the aisle, picking things up, putting them down, squinting at them. We don't have pickled eggs or pig's feet in our produce section here in Northern California. It was almost as weird as shopping in Japan. I mean weird as in exotic. Not bad weird. Lordy, no.

Finally, armed with food and beverages, my dad and I headed home to prepare a barbecue dinner on the lovely terrace. We ate and swam and ate. I know that is just breaking ALL the rules. We're rebellious like that. Or we were sort of tipsy. After swimming and eating and so on, we finally convinced the kids that bedtime needed to happen. After getting them all tucked in bed, all the grownups quickly followed suit, and slept like rocks.

Saturday was our first full day in Orlando. My parents and sister got up early, and decided to visit Epcot Center together. The hubs and I had just come off of a few insane weeks, and we opted to stay at the house with the kids, swimming and lounging. We kicked back, and splashed around in the pool for hours, stopping only for a quick meal or a break on a lounge chair.

The kids had a fantastic time making up games in the pool. My youngest refused to allow anyone to swim in front of her. She was the leader. LEADER. The. Leader. Hear her roar. My oldest daughter used her imagination as she paddled around the pool. She asked me "What if the filter got burned out? And then we had to order a new one, so we ordered one online, and the Internet mermaids delivered it so fast, because online shopping is super fast, and they installed it in 24 hours?" What if, indeed.

My son flipped around in the shallow end, repeatedly being accosted by the giant inflatable alligator. He lamented the fact that he couldn't manage to avoid the alligator, and he sighed while informing me that "at least he still has his personality." Thank heavens for that.

After a relaxing, sun-drenched day, we felt recharged enough to attack a theme park the next morning. We set our sights on The Magic Kingdom, baby.