The sunshine state, through younger, more inquisitive eyes.

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...

"Work like a Captain - Play like a Pirate!"

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.

"Artists are just children who refuse to put down their crayons."

When you pull into the car park at the Florida mall and round the corner of Macy's you are greeted by a huge display of colour and some giant fun loving crayons up to mischief. From the outside, the Crayola experience looks like the most fun you could possibly have and when you get inside you are not disappointed. Everywhere you look there is somewhere awesome to take a colourful pic. The staff (like everywhere else in Orlando) are all smiles and clearly there to make your experience magical.

Eager to find out what the tokens were for that we were given on arrival, the first thing we came to were machines where you could create your own crayon labels which was great. These crayons have barely changed since I was at school and I remember filling in my colouring book pages clearly (with my tongue hanging out the side of my mouth for concentration). I really enjoyed colouring as a child so it was a lot of fun creating these labels. Turns out you can't give your crayons inappropriate names though, much to my disappointment. 
*must remember that these are children's attractions.

With machines for you to melt crayons into various shapes, ones that melt your crayons and spray the hot wax to create fun spinning creations and photo booth areas that take your picture and turn you into a colouring book page, there is loads to keep you entertained during your visit.

The great part about the attraction is where it is situated, making it the perfect way to break up a hefty shopping trip, because us tourists need to fill up those empty suitcases we travelled to Orlando with and it's not much fun for the kids at times. While we were there we also visited the Crayon factory to see how the crayons were made which was really interesting.

The Crayola tokens can also be used on the vending machines for the play putty in a variety of colours and there are plenty of cutters and other tools available to keep you occupied for some time. Clearly I had let myself go this holiday and was having too much fun!

To top off our amazing visit we left through a great giftshop where we were able to fill a huge tin with every colour crayon they had and more, meaning we could continue our Crayola adventure back at the apartment. A definite thumbs up for our creative little colour fiends and I thouroughly enjoyed the visit myself, a recomended attraction for any fan of colour.

"My escape is to just get in a boat and disappear on the water."

When planning a trip to Orlando it is easy to get caught up in the big attractions and commercial side that it is so well known for. Although there is nothing wrong with this it is important to know that there is a lot more to this beautiful part of the world and you can find out all you need to know through Visit Orlando. If you venture further out from the main tourist area you are rewarded with picturesque scenery and really interesting plants and wildlife.

For the first morning of our awesome family holiday, I had booked us an adventure in Winter Park. I am ashamed to say that I had done no research about where we were going and had based the outing on the fact that we planned on eating at Ethos, and it was in the same area. We had visited winter park during our last holiday to Orlando and driving through residential areas to get there, after going from highway to highway, gave us the chance to see a completely different side to our holiday destination.

Enter Charlie, a really sweet guy who after getting in his boat gave us an amazing tour of the beautiful lakes surrounding the idyllic suburban city, courtesy of Winter Park Scenic Boat tours. As we looked out on lake Osceola I thought 'Wow! this is beautiful but how are they going to make this trip last an hour?'. Had I have researched the tour I'd have found out that we would also be out on lake Virginia and lake Mizell which were connected by cool picturesque canals covered by cypress trees and other interesting plants.

As Charlie narrated the journey you couldn't help but hang off his every word. The story of the history of the lakes and its residents was fascinating and it was a really educational trip for the boys which was a huge added bonus for us. The architecture in the area was beautiful and there were so many stories being told about the people and families that have made Winter park the area it is today.

What stuck out for me the most was the story of the restoration of Capon house. A huge historic building for winter park that was set to be demolished before being saved by the local community. Charlie explained how the property had been cut in half and transported from one side of lake to the other via barge in two journeys so that it could continue to be a part of the historic area. I would have loved to have been there to watch that. The story had us watching videos of the move on YouTube that evening and it was fascinating.

The trip wasn't all about the architecture and its caring community though. We also learnt a lot about the nature surrounding the area and the plant life growing on the edges of the waterways. The most interesting to hear about was the resurrection fern that when subject to the sun and hot weather, shrivels, goes brown and looks pretty dead but as soon as it rains is completely rejuvenated.

There was a moment during the tour where the boys were hoping that Charlie was going to take the boat up this ramp, thankfully though we stayed on the water and continued listening to the story.

Despite all of the beautiful scenery, interesting architecture and fascinating nature, Opeie was loving these floating in the water and wanted to know what 'No Wake' meant. I had absolutely no idea until I had googled it. Clearly I have not spent much time on the water.

There really was so much to see during our hour on the lakes and I could have happily gone round again. It's great coming to Florida, the home of Mickey Mouse but if you take time to look at the historic side of Florida you'll find real Beauty and a more organic side to a holiday destination that will continue to drag in huge crowds. Charlie and the staff really made the visit and it's always great to be made to feel so welcome.