Andrew's First Birthday

We arrived in Orlando around 9:30 PM. We stayed at the same condo complex as we did back in May...only this time, our condo was right by a big pond. We unpack and the boys, naturally, are wired and stayed up until around midnight. But this time, we expected that...so we knew to just go with the flow. The only really remarkable thing about our first night, other than the ridiculously late hour at which the boys went to bed, was that after dinner, Pete and the boys all got gas. I don't know from what, and why it didn't happen in the van on the way down (Thank God), but as soon as everyone got inside and started running around, they all got gassy. Pete, too. Even baby Andrew chimed in with a few tiny toots of his own. Must be a guy thing. And I said as much to Pete, or, to be exact, I complained in an exasperated tone, "what IS it with you all? Why are all of you doing this to me?" To which Alex replied, after overhearing me, "Mom, we can't help it...we're guys....we just fart!"

The next morning dawned cloudy and overcast. It pretty much rained all day, so we stayed in, after a run to Super Walmart to stock up on some food. Then, late afternoon, the rain stopped. It stayed overcast and cloudy, but it did stop raining long enough for us to go see "Sea World After Dark". We got there and everyone was in a good mood and feeling OK, but Austin seemed a little....off. Just not quite himself. Well, the highlight of the evening was Shamu Rocks, which is the after dark Shamu show. So we stand in line, finally make our way to the gate, and the 5 of us are huddled there, kind of squished up against the people in front of us in line. Alex is standing, Pete has Andrew and I"m holding Austin. All of a sudden, there is an explosion of....something. It landed on me, on Alex's head, on Austin, and on the woman and man in front of us in line. It looked like....bird poop. Where did it come from? We look up, we look around, we're all grossed out, and then....here it comes again. Oh my gosh, it's Austin! He's just puked all over everyone! Everyone starts freaking out, grossing out, shouting out....and I, of course, help matters a lot by just hollering, "oh, it's Austin....he's throwing up!" I don't know why I said it out loud so loud like that. I just sort of shot out of me, just like poor Austin. So everyone clears out. We take our 3 and head back over to the strollers and clean up as best we can. There's really not much you can do in those situations...just roll with the punches, I guess. At least when we got back in line, the gate area where we had been standing when Austin threw up was now all cleared out and empty. I guess that's one way to get through a crowd really fast!

So immediately after throwing up, Austin feels just fine. He's back to his old self. I guess the turkey leg he'd had for dinner just didn't agree with him. Once it cleared his belly, he was good as new. So we rocked out with Shamu, then went to see the polar bear and walrus and whale exhibit. We saw the turtles, the otters and sea lions (where I distinctly recognized the sound of my own home and my own children at that very rowdy, very loud, screeching, squealing, squawking, arfing exhibit) and ended the night at Alex's favorite place: the shark and sting ray exhibit. It sort of spooked him this time, because we were the only ones in there, as it was closing time. And it was sort of spooky, dark outside, rainy, and here are all these sharks, giving us the evil eye......chills.

After a few minutes of catching the fireworks display over the bayside, we said good night to SeaWorld. We headed back to the condo and had a late night dinner of pizza and sandwiches.

We also took some time this weekend to celebrate a big day for Andrew: his first birthday! Hard to believe he was already one year old! We got him cupcakes....green ones. He loved them! Happy Birthday, Andrew!

The next day dawned much clearer, but with one miserable drawback: Alex was running a fever. My poor baby was sick. He didn't have a cough, sore throat, ear ache, runny, stuffy or snotty nose...just a fever. And he was very lethargic. He napped a lot that day...we all did. By late afternoon, he was feeling a little better. We went over to the hot tub, to the play ground, and the best of all: the little lake by our condo. Pete had gone to Wal Mart and got Alex his first fishing pole, and we spend some time fishing there. Alex caught his very first fish! And a big one at that. Pete taught him how to cast the line, and the look on Alex's face when he first understood what it meant when he felt a pull on his line, and then to reel it in and viola! His very first fish! He caught a lot of fish that day. He'd catch them and then toss them back in. To be honest, it really wasn't much of a challenge for him. The pond was loaded with fish. Every line he cast, he caught something. But it didn't take long for my poor baby to get tired of the heat and the humidity. So we went back to the condo and never did get to Sea World that day, or anywhere else for that matter. Alex ended up throwing up a few times, and with all the kids tired and lethargic, Pete and I ended up watching an all day marathon of Law and Order while the kids slept. That was a huge change for us: no Scooby-Doo, no Sponge Bob, no Dora the Explorer. Real, adult television.

The next day, Alex's fever was completely gone. He had thrown up again a few times in the middle of the night. But he felt much better that morning and insisted on going fishing again with his dad, where they caught a few more fish. Then it was off to Sea World for a few hours that afternoon. But Alex was still a little weak from the fever, so we didn't stay long. He tired easily that day and we headed home that afternoon. All in all, it was a good trip...even it was what could now be referred to as "the birthday/vomit weekend"! Good times, huh?