The "Mainers" spend a week!

They're heeeeeeeeere!

Angela and Bill's kids, Dawn and "Little" Bill and their kids, Cody, Chase and Jordan that is.
They pushed their long drive south and arrived Friday evening. Pat and I (strategically) arranged their sleeping quarters by various requirements, i.e. most needy, distance from the refrigerator and silence. Of course the above "requirements" most benefited our needs!
Dawn and son Cody drew the camper. Bill and son Chase, the air mattress and the Princess, (Bill's daughter) Jordan the spare bed room. Which somehow switched during the week. Suddenly, Jordan is on the air mattress and Bill and Chase are in the spare bedroom. I think the Coo Coo clock drove "Little" Bill out.

Angela was working so Bill and the kids settled in at Denny's for a late evening meal and vent off their long ride boredom and confinement. Then it was off to Dave and Pat's. Everything was staged, greetings exchanged and Taps echoed through the halls.

Thinking they drove out of the cold, they were in for a surprise. A cold northeast wind followed them to central Florida. The short lived mild temps they enjoyed the next day were driven out and they will be dealing with a day or two of unseasonably cold temperatures.

However, they're in Florida and nothing is going to deter their exploration. But first, Dawn needed to visit a local Wal-Mart and then we'd all go see what ESPN Wide World of Sports looked like.

Dawn ventured onto Rt 192 in front of Encore Lake Magic and turned right in search of the mile away Wal-Mart... which was to the left!

 

Dawn, ever the explorer...

...was more than willing and determined to find the Wal-Mart store (just around the corner).

 



She drove and drove all the while the kids were thinking shouldn't the Wal-Mart be closer? 

After more than a few phone calls and some nail biting, the errant explorer returned. We all managed to visit and tour the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and yes, Angela was on time for work.
The kids didn't realize they were actually inside the stadium and home of the Atlanta Braves Spring Training. For an added treat, we made our way to the batting cages for the Braves and all the kids got autographs from a couple of the Braves players.

Once settled in, Bill and Angela's children, Bill and Dawn began their attack on Disney World.

We got to watch the Goodyear Blimp fly over our home....

They started out in Disney's Hollywood Studios.

I figured I'd leave the crowds to them and bid them adieu! They were on their own.

And that's how their week went. Out in the morning, return sometime in the evening, reminisce about their day and do it all over again the next day. The next day was Gatorland. There, Bill met a long time friend and together the group enjoyed the day amongst the gators.

Our hardy group of Northerners had a long day at Animal Kingdom watching all the wildlife. With visions of trekking about in the Magic Kingdom they realized "elbow to elbow" with nearly a capacity crowd wasn't for them. Except for Space Mountain, they spent most of the day in EPCOT.

 

Now the last day and they're "kicking back," buying gifts and taking a dip in the Lake Magic Pool.

The adults on the other hand are taking a nap!

It'll be interesting to see what each of them consider to be the best part of their week in Florida.

I think Dawn was most happy just watching the 5' gator that inhabited the retention pond behind our house. Here's Dawn, Cody and Jordan "exploring" the retention pond.

Though they tried hard the gator had nothing to do with any of them. But the fun was trying to get as close as they can. But, that never happened. This guy couldn't be bothered!

 

 

At least they all got to act like kids for a few days....

 

 Just before dawn we could hear rustling, groaning and moaning as one by one our guests reluctantly began to prepare for the trip north. We bid farewell as the mini van backed out of our drive and out of site. A brief stop to "tank up" at McDonald's, and one last visit with "Ma" and "Pa" they leave for home. 

Now they have that long dreaded trip back to Maine, especially with a weekend storm expected to move in Sat. or Sun.

We wish them a safe trip home.

Stay tuned for our next Blog and a report on Judy's (Jim and Judy) Disney's Princess Half Marathon run!