After having such an amazing time away this summer we had a lot to write about and the boys had collected ticket stubs, flyers and a huge amount of photos of all the great places we had visited. Opeie, always wanting to be in on the action, Saw me writing holiday blog posts one night and asked if he could make a holiday book about all the things he got up to. It's really adorable, he see's the newspapers and books that he writes as his own version of the blog and I love that.
A few days after we got back he started his book and we've completed pages here and there amongst doing all of our other home ed activities. We had so much to write about thanks to Visit Orlando. I love watching him write, it makes me realise how well this home schooling is going and reinforces that for us, it was the right decision to make.
Anyway, I'll leave you in Opeie's capable hands, Our holiday in his words...
Booking a holiday, as exciting as it is, can also be very stressful! With so much to organise before you actually board the plane, the build up can be quite a daunting time. As a parent, I am thankful for anything that makes the trip that little bit easier on everyone and this year before heading off to Florida my favourite company came to our aid, helping with something that worries us every time we go away. There is a lot of walking involved at the airport, which I guess I don't really notice that much because I am so focused on getting from A to B with all the bags etc. For Seth though, all this walking can be very stressful due to the effect his muscle condition has on his legs.
If we have to walk long distance while at home, there is a lot of stopping and starting so that Seth can relax his legs before starting the next leg of the journey (haha). A few years ago we started an ongoing adventure with a company that has changed our lives in so many ways and helping Seth get to his destination quicker and with a little less strain on his legs was one of them. Being able to push and roll gave Seth much more confidence getting about and really changed our outdoor play. So much so that before heading out to the states, Seth, along with all of us in fact, were talking about how much we wished we could have taken all of the Micro Scooters away with us.
As much as we would have loved to take the four scooters away, it was Seth that could have done with one the most and Micro (being the AMAZING company that they are), had a very special scooter, suitable for our needs, taking the strain off of Seth and giving him the confidence to be on his feet a little longer than he probably would have liked, while turning heads and giving him a huge amount of street cred!
The ladies were swooning as Seth scooted by...
The Steve Aoki Micro Luggage Scooter is an awesome bit of kit, with its colourful quirky design it had everyone taking at the airport as Seth whizzed by. Being able to maneuver from baggage, through to security then to the shops before making our way to the departure lounge on wheels made all the difference to Seth's legs, and the smile on his face as he did so was contagious. With certain points of the airport being too busy to scoot, due to the number of people about, being able to turn the luggage scooter into a trolley to pull along made our journey even more productive.
With a 26 litre capacity, the Micro luggage scooter is perfect for hand luggage, which means your wheels can stay with you throughout the entire journey. This was great as I don't think Seth wanted to let it out of his sight. If the look, feel and fact that it revolutionalises your travel isn't enough, the SoundtoGo sound system included (yes is has a speaker built in!), easily connects to your phone via Bluetooth making it possible to listen to your favourite music as you scoot along.
While reading the box when the scooter arrived, Opeie informed me of who Steve Aoki is and his favourite Aoki remix (yes our 5-year-old is that cool!).
One of our favourite places to visit during our last trip to Orlando was Pirates Cove golf adventure. Pirates cove is one of those fun looking places that you see from the road while driving and you know you have to go and play. Despite the heat and the sweat continuously running down my face I just love being outdoors in the sun, doing something fun (and a little bit competitive) with the people I love most. With the option of the Captain's course, Blackbeard's challenge (which is more difficult) or the 36 hole Adventure, we decided to go for Blackbeard's challenge and with our putters and balls at the ready, it was game on!
Someone may have got a couple of cheeky hole in ones!!!
Pirates cove on international drive is in the perfect spot if you are planning a day of visiting some of the smaller attractions that Orlando has to offer. If you are not hiring a car during your stay, Pirates cove is on the I-Ride route which connects most of the attraction by bus, making it really easy to get around. As an 18 hole game only takes around an hour it's great to squeeze in between other places to visit. We had been to the outlet malls and had a game before going to Ripleys believe it or not. It's handy to know that the location is also near Wonderworks, The Titanic experience, and many other great attractions.
We had left the last two days of the holiday free with no plans and asked the boys what they would like to do most. They both wanted to try out the other Orlando Pirates cove situated at Lake Buena Vista, as we had driven past it many times during our stay and they wanted to try out a different course, as I said it is one of our favourite things to do while away. The layout of the course is completely different than the one on international drive so it is definitely worth checking the two out if you enjoy a spot of putting. If you want a great way to fill an hour between attractions then I cannot recommend this place enough, the friendly welcoming staff and fun pirate themed course compliment the amazing weather perfectly and it is the perfect way to relax while away.
Since being in the states the boys have gone hockey crazy. I'm not really sure what started it off but quite early into the holiday Seth had made it clear that we wanted to use his holiday money to buy some hockey sticks which I thought was a great idea as it was another thing that we could do together, awesome father/son bonding. There was a brief moment when we picked up the sticks and goal at the club house where we were staying and thought 'how are we going to get those in our case but as the blades were detachable we managed to make everything fit.
Since we got back we've played hockey in the street every day and have also purchased the Nhl channel to watch the games, which has been great. The boys though, were eager to go to a game. We're really lucky where we are as we are close to our local ice rink and a few days after we arrived back from Florida our local team, the Telford Tigers, had their first game of the season so we took the boys to watch.
The game was awesome and we beat Manchester Phoenix 4:1 which was a great result for the boys first game. The atmosphere was great and despite not being a big sports fan myself, I really enjoyed the fast pace of the game. Since then we've been to a game every week and it has been something great to do as a family.
Since going to the games, hockey has pretty much dominated all of our outdoor play while at home. I bought extra blades and picked up some wood to make handles so that the boys can play with their friends and we can all play as a family. It's great that the boys have got into something that we can all play together and living At the end of a quiet cul-de-sac has been perfect for our games.
I don't think this new love of hockey is going anywhere and I'm glad. I've never been in to football so being able to go in to the street for an hour and take shots at each other has been great for me and the boys and having friends on the street that are also interested in joining in makes all the difference to them. I'm just waiting now for that inevitable "Dad! can we ask santa for some roller blades for Christmas?".
Early on into our recent holiday, we started a little game of 'spot the number plate' and spent our time exploring Orlando also searching for as many state plates that we could find. It was a great little add on to all the amazing fun we were having and when I got home and started sorting through the photos I was shocked at just how many had been accumulated over the 2 weeks. It took me a while to sort through all of the multiples but here's our collection...
