Smokey Bones and Dolphins

This morning we all got up very late. Mummy and daddy were VERY boring, just sitting around yawning and wondering what to do. Max and I decided to liven things up with some fighting, whining and crying. Our tactics worked in the end as mummy said we had to go out before we killed each other (or she got their first!).

Daddy finally decided what we were going to do and (surprise, surprise) it involved food. He has been waiting ever since we were in Clearwater three years ago to go back to his favourite ever restaurant – Smokey Bones – and today was the day.

Fortunately we didn’t have breakfast so he had plenty of space to stuff his tummy with the most ENORMOUS plate of nachos, followed by a whole herd’s worth of ribs. Max and I didn’t eat nearly as much, though we did share a big bag of cinnamon donuts with chocolate and strawberry dipping sauce.

After lunch daddy finally let us do something fun and we went for a trip on a yellow speedboat called the Sea Screamer. It was loads of fun, especially when it went fast – although Max was a bit scared then. We did some exploring to find dolphins to jump in the wake of the boat, and after one false start we found a pod, with a mummy and baby dolphin, and they jumped like mad in our wake. It was amazing. Daddy was particularly thrilled to see all the dolphins up close and took some great photos.

It was so hot today (91F) that when the boat trip was over we were all desperate to get back for a swim in the pool. After another attempt by mummy and daddy to be lazy in our bedroom, we dragged them out and spent hours playing ‘Let’s push mummy/daddy into the pool’. They seemed to enjoy it, though in the end they admitted defeat and retired to their loungers with some more of those colourful drinks they like so much.

Tomorrow we are going to Busch Gardens as we are all having withdrawal symptoms from the theme parks, so I must sign off to get a good night’s sleep.

WALL•E and the sea

The pace of life is quite a bit slower here in Clearwater. Instead of getting up early in the morning and rushing to a theme park, we've been waking up really late and then taking our time to decide what to do for the day.

On Saturday morning we went to the restaurant in the hotel for their buffet breakfast which daddy has been looking forward to for the last three years. Max and I were quite happy with a bowl of Fruit Loops - it's really sad they don't sell those in England - but daddy had a hard time choosing between the bacon, sausages, breakfast potatoes, eggs, toast, bagels, cereal, fruit, and more, so he decided not to choose and just have a bit of everything.

We all fancied a day of not getting wet, so we decided the best thing to do was go and see WALL•E, the new Pixar film which has only just come out. We went to the mall in Tampa, and bought our tickets, but the film didn't start for 45 minutes, so we obviously had to do a bit of shopping first. They had a sale on in mummy's favourite kids clothing shop, The Children's Place, so we now have our entire summer and autumn wardrobes sorted.

Then we went to see the film, and we all thought it was great. Daddy said it was the best kids film he's seen in years, and we're going to go and see it again when it comes out in England. We now have to be good boys for the whole rest of the holiday if we want to get any WALL•E toys. We're not doing a very good job so far!

After the film, we had to go and buy a suitcase so that we can get all our shopping home. And then we went to a restaurant for my favourite kind of food, pizza.

Sunday was a proper seaside day. For breakfast we had Cinnabon cinnamon rolls, which we'd bought in the mall the day before. Then we packed up all our stuff and walked over to the beach. Even though it looks like it's only over the road, it's actually a very long walk and we were very hot by the time we got there, so we got straight in the water to cool down. I'm starting to like the seaside more than I used to, and I spent a lot of time swimming in the sea and bobbing in the waves, although it was horrible when the water splashed in my mouth because it was so salty. Daddy blew up our new lilo and big rubber ring that looks like a tyre, and we also played in the sand and built sandcastles - well daddy built them and Max and I knocked them down again.

After our long walk back to the hotel we were so hot again that we had to get in the pool. We also thought it would be a good idea to have an ice cream to help us to cool down. Max seemed to think that the best way to do this was to spread the ice cream all over his body.

In the evening we went to the pier for the sunset festival, where Max and I played in the playground, and went on the bouncy castle. There was also an enormous bouncy slide shaped like a shark, which was great fun. Max climbed up to the top and then decided he was too scared to come down, so daddy had to go up and rescue him. All this American food must have finally got too much for daddy, because he got a bad tummy ache and we had to go back to the hotel. We then sat up and watched a really great film on the Disney channel, while daddy kept muttering about what rubbish it was, until it was really late and well past our bed time.

Travelling to Clearwater

Today started with a bit of a panic as mummy and daddy had to pack up all our stuff to move to our new hotel. We had made this job particularly tricky by spreading our toys across our entire apartment, under the beds, in all the drawers and inside the draughts table. Still they did a pretty good job hunting everything down. It also didn’t help that we didn’t wake up until nearly 9:30 and we had to check out by 10.

We had a HUGE breakfast at Denny’s to set us up for our drive, and mummy made one last call at Walgreens. Max and I got rocket cups for our apple juice at Denny’s, though mummy said we couldn’t have the special packs made from sugar and food colouring that would turn our drinks different colours (spoilsport).

I ate up a big plate of French toast and Max had some pancakes in the shape of aliens. Mummy said that her meal should have been called ‘Death by Breakfast’ and slept the entire way to Clearwater to get over it.

Our hotel in Clearwater is very smart and there is a macaw in the reception called Lisa that I remembered from last time we were here and I used to call her a ‘boidy’. We still love to say hello to her every time we go downstairs.

The bedroom is a lot smaller than in Orlando, and mummy and daddy didn’t look too happy when they realised they had to share with us boys – but we think it will be a lot of fun.

We went to check the beach as soon as we got here, and we loved it. The sand is white, the water is clear and warm like the bath. Even Max was brave enough to have a got at swimming in the waves with his armbands. We also tried the pool, which is lovely and has lots of inflatable toys to play with.

We had dinner in a nice restaurant on the dock – I ate a whole hamburger and some ice cream. I think Max is a bit traumatised by all the thunderstorms in Orlando as he kept asking ‘When’s it going to rain daddy?’

Tomorrow we are going to have a quiet day and go and see Wall-e. I can’t wait.

Animal Kingdom

Sorry I haven’t been keeping up with my blog, but we have moved hotels and have to pay for the internet now, so I have been a bit out of touch.

Anyway, I am sure you are all wondering what we have been up to, so I will start with our day at Animal Kingdom. I was very excited to go back to this park as I had been looking forward to doing the Kali River Rapids water ride with mummy, ever since we got soaked on it last year.

But we started the day by getting a Fast Pass for the Safari ride, and while we were waiting we did the Pangani Forest walking safari. I was an excellent guide, pointing out all the birds from the bird spotting map. Maxy and mummy loved the fishes, though mummy didn’t get quite as excited as she did when she spotted a fish in Dollis Brook.

The gorillas were great and reminded us a lot of daddy – apparently they sleep for about 20 hours a day, which daddy said he wished he could do – particularly after pushing us around a park all day.

The Safari ride was loads of fun – we saw giraffes, elephants, hippos and lions, so it was just like your safari trip grandma and grandpa! There was one bit where we went over a really bumpy bridge and Max thought that was really funny, though we both got a bit upset when they said there were poachers about. Max kept asking ‘Where are the poachers?’ until mummy told him they were in prison.

After the safari we went to get our Fast Passes for the water ride – at last. And guess what? Maxy was big enough to come too. He got a special wrist band to show he was tall enough and he was really excited to be doing a proper grown up ride with everyone else.

Mummy was clever this year as she wore her poncho to stop herself from getting so wet, though right at the beginning of the ride a whole load of water fell on our heads, so she got pretty wet anyway. Daddy thought that was very funny.

The ride was just as much fun as I remembered and Max enjoyed it too. He did get a bit scared when we went down the waterfall bit, but he had a good giggle as we bobbed about in the rapids afterwards.

Even though mummy did get a bit wet, Max and I thought we really hadn’t got soaked enough, so we decided to fix this by playing in the water fountains outside the ride. Max had fun playing with a little boy who was squirting all the passersby with a water jet, while I dunked my head in and out of the water bubble.

By the end of our water play mummy and daddy had to take off all our clothes – thank goodness mummy had remembered a towel and spare clothes or we’d have had to do the rest of the park naked!

Mind you, we almost got soaked again as while daddy and I were doing a really scary Dinosaur ride (well daddy said it was scary, but I kept my eyes closed the whole way round, so I really couldn’t tell you anything about it), it started to pour with rain again.

Mummy and daddy decided it was time to go and splashed back to the car with us tucked in safe and dry under out rain covers.

That might sound like enough activity for one day, but not for us Hirschkorns. In the evening we went out to Downtown Disney. We had dinner in a nice Cuban restaurant, where once again mummy and daddy tried out lots of colourful drinks. The high point was when Max spotted a frog on the window. We also got to play the bongo drums outside the restaurant.

After dinner we walked all the way to the Marketplace and spent LOTS of money in the Disney store. We got a T-shirt and two presents each, which I would call a pretty satisfactory evening out.

We eventually got to bed around midnight, though it was clearly all too much for poor Max who fell out of bed twice that night.

Tomorrow we move to the seaside for our second holiday – I can’t wait, though I will miss Mickey.

Aquatica

Yesterday was a quiet day. We spent most of the day at mummy's favourite theme park - the shopping mall. I told mummy that I could put up with her going shopping because she puts up with me going to the Disney parks, which I thought was very kind of me. The best bit about the mall was the Mrs Field's cookie shop, where I got a cookie with the Pirates of the Caribbean logo in icing on the top. But other than that, there isn't much to say about yesterday.

Today was more like it. We were supposed to get out early this morning, but I was REALLY tired and didn't wake until after 10 o'clock this morning. After a home-baked breakfast (well actually ready-to-bake cinnamon rolls out of a tube) we went to Aquatica, which is the newest water park in Florida - it's only been open a few months.

When we got there it was REALLY hot, but they had a great kids area called Kookaburra Cove with shooting things and water slides and fountains and things. Then we went on the lazy river, which isn't so lazy because it goes very fast and you have to wear a life jacket. Max was a bit nervous at first, but after a while he let daddy let go of him so he could float by himself. There was another lazy river, which was slower and you had to go in a big inflatable tube for two - of course I went with mummy - and you go past some dolphins and fish. We also went in the wave pool which was really good fun, and I kept wanting to go deeper and deeper.

While we were eating lunch, we could see the black clouds coming in, and just as we finished eating the rain started. At first it wasn't too bad, but after a while it turned into the most enormous storm, and daddy said it was the heaviest rain he'd ever seen. We had to shelter in the restaurant area for about 45 minutes waiting for the storm to pass, during which time Max cried for the whole time, and I kept telling daddy I was having the worst day of my life. It really was quite scary.

By the time the storm passed, most of the people in the park had given up and gone home, but we stayed and it was really great going on all the slides and stuff without any queues or crowds. I decided it wasn't the worst day of my life after all. We found a water playground with great slides which I liked going on all by myself, and I really didn't want to leave. But eventually both Max's and my lips had gone blue and mummy decided it was time to go. Daddy did one of the really big slides on the way back to our chairs - he said it was really fast, so I think I might have been a bit scared to go on it.

We were going to go out for dinner, but Max was fast asleep by the time we got home, so we just had a sandwich in the apartment. Now I've got to go and recharge my batteries as it's another Disney day tomorrow.

Revisiting the Magic Kingdom

After yesterday's washout, we decided to try a new strategy - rest in the morning and then go to Disney after the afternoon's thunderstorm. We had a quiet morning with breakfast in the apartment, and eventually made it to the swimming pool about 11 o'clock. I did my usual trick of throwing things into the water for daddy to dive down and pick up, and discovered that I can jump in while only holding on to my noodle with one hand.

We had lunch at the poolside restaurant - mummy said it was a momentous occasion because it was the first time I've had anything other than pizza since we've been here. Then we came back to the apartment for a nap. Max saw a lizard running across the patio and pointed out "You can't eat lizards. Well, gunk could eat lizards because he eats snails."

The thunderstorm never came, but anyway, after we'd all had a rest, it was time to go back to the Magic Kindgom - we had unfinished business to do. Mummy has now decided that we're only allowed to do Disney parks at night, because they're quieter, the queues are shorter and it's not so hot. We thought we'd only stay a few hours but we actually stayed until the park closed at midnight, and even then mummy and daddy had a hard time dragging Max and me away.

The first ride we went on was called Pirates of the Caribbean (Max thought it was called Pirates of the Caribeenan, which mummy and daddy thought was very cute). There was a pirate who daddy kept saying was called Captain Jack Sparrow, but we knew it was really Captain Patch.

Then I went on Splash Mountain with mummy, although I didn't like the big hill, but I did like the bit with characters. Then we went to the Haunted House, but Max started crying when we went inside so mummy had to take him out so I had to go with just daddy. I didn't think it was very scary but it was funny, especially the bit where you look in the mirror and there's a ghost sitting next to you.

We saw the fireworks display, which was good but not as good as Alexandra Palace, because they had too many noisy ones at the end. We also saw the night time parade, which mummy really liked because there were lots of bright lights and sparkly things. And we did lots of other rides. My favourite was the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, and Max was very excited to go on the Winnie The Pooh ride. When we came out of that we found the Winnie the Pooh playground, and because it was so late at night, we were the only children in the entire playground. We could have stayed for hours, but mummy and daddy said we had to go home. We didn't get back to the apartment until after 1 in the morning.

Waffles and racing cars

Today we went to one of daddy’s favourite restaurants in the whole world for breakfast – Waffle House. He was very happy when he saw that his breakfast took up most of the table. Mummy ate quite a lot too, though she did keep groaning as if she was in pain as she finished up her waffle – strange.

Max and I gobbled up our waffles with plenty of syrup and then amused ourselves by diving under the table together, which made daddy rather grumpy – perhaps we were distracting him from his bacon?

After breakfast we went to the most fun place on Earth – the Magic Kingdom. First of all we rode the Monorail to the park, which is a pretty good ride in itself, then we went on the racing car ride. I drove, because mummy just isn’t fast enough.

I must admit my cornering needs work as we hit the guide rail pretty hard every time we took a bend. Still it made mummy laugh so much, I did start doing it on purpose in the end. Daddy, who was driven by Max, said he played this game too.

Next stop was a walk to Splash Mountain to pick up a Fast Pass to avoid the queues, but by this point the clouds were turning a pretty scary shade of black and mummy kept muttering gloomily about rain. To kill time before our ride we saw the Enchanted Tiki Room show, which was OK if you like singing parrots. Max was such a baby he was even scared in here when the nasty parrot came back.

To cheer Max up I agreed to do a baby ride with him – the Flying Carpet ride, which he loved. By now it was really raining and there were loads of announcements about a storm being on the way which would mean they would have to shut down the rides.

We walked back to Splash Mountain in the rain, waited till our Fast Pass time came up and just as it did the lady said the ride had to close. I was not happy! Still mummy did promise me a lollypop to make up for it, so that was a bit of a result.

We went back to our apartment then (via mummy’s favourite place to shop – Walgreens) and had a rest. Well daddy had a rest while we watched Power Rangers on a loop until mummy couldn’t stand it any more. Then mummy and daddy had a row, while Max and I ran like maniacs around the furniture to try to distract them. It only worked when Max slammed himself into a door frame – we’ll have to remember that for next time.

We had been meaning to go and see the fireworks, but mummy’s batteries had run out (I think that’s why daddy was cross with her, but who knows) and it was still very cloudy, so we went out for dinner instead. Once again there was the perfect table for diving under to keep up amused, along with begging mummy and daddy for sips of their colourful drinks. But they won’t give in as they said if they let us have a taste in America they’d be arrested!

Tomorrow we will be mostly swimming and going back to see the fireworks at last – or at least that’s the plan…..

Swimming and Pandas

If I had a dollar for every time I said "Are we going swimming now?" this morning, I'd be able to buy a very big toy in the Disney Store. Mummy, Max and I eventually left for the pool, and daddy said he'd meet us there because he wasn't ready yet - he was probably too busy fiddling with the computer or something. When he got to the pool, we weren't there, because I needed the toilet and we had to go back to the apartment. But we didn't have a key, and daddy wasn't there, so we spent the next 20 minutes chasing each other round the resort, him looking for us and us looking for him.

When we eventually found each other, mummy and daddy were both exhausted already, but we wouldn't let them rest - there was important swimming to do. We went to the big pool, which has got a water fall, and a little people's area with fountains. We had lots of fun jumping and splashing and throwing things in the water for daddy to dive down and pick up again and again and again, but annoyingly just before lunch time it started raining so we went back to the apartment.

All this holidaying seems to be a bit much for poor little Max as he fell asleep and stayed that way for two hours. When he eventually woke up, we went to the cinema to see Kung Fu Panda. I quite liked it, but it would have been better if we'd all been able to sit together, but we couldn't because the cinema was so full.

We had dinner in a restaurant in Downtown Disney called Wolfgang Puck's - which is a very strange name if you ask me - where I had pizza for the second time in a day. After that we walked all the way to the other end of Downtown Disney because Max and I said we wanted to go the Lego shop. We also went to the bauble shop to see if we could find some more really tasteful Christmas decorations. Unfortunately that shop was miles away from the car, and Max and I were really tired so mummy and daddy had to carry us all the way back. They did moan an awful lot about how heavy we were, but we were too sleepy to care.

Epcot

Today we finally made it to a Disney park and about time too. Max and I were very excited to see Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Goofy at the entrance of the park.

When we got to the park mummy rushed me off to another place she seemed particularly keen to see – the restrooms. I really don't understand it, when there are characters and rides all around, why does she keep wanting to go shopping and to the restroom? I just don't understand grownups.

Fortunately, dad understands a bit more about how Disney parks work and rushed us off to do the first (and best) ride of the day. Spaceship Earth. You travel all the way up inside a big metal globe and see loads of stuff about the history of people. It was really great and as soon as we got off, I wanted to do it again. Mummy says when we come back to see the fireworks we can go again – I can't wait.

The other ride that Max and I liked best was the Imagination ride with Figment. Max was a bit scared and had to hide behind mummy, and when it squirted skunk smells it was yucky, but again once it was over I wanted to do it again – and again.

When mummy and daddy asked which rides I liked best I had a think and decided that really the only answer was 'all of them'. Max agreed, but said he liked meeting the characters too. He said Mickey showed a real interest in his new toy robot, and I was really excited that he signed my autograph book along with Goofy, Minnie, Pluto and Chip n' Dale (though it's hard to tell those last two apart).

I am glad daddy was clever enough to remember to pack both our pushchairs. There's really only one way to get around, and that's on wheels – in fact Max and I had a good sleep in the middle of the day. I think mummy and daddy might have to hire those motorised scooters for the next park though, as by the time we got home neither of them would stop moaning about how tired they were and how much their feet hurt.

Today we are going to spend some of the day swimming and some of the day bouncing!

P.S. I like reading your comments here, so please keep commenting...

Donuts

Donuts donuts donuts! That's one of the things I love about America most - you get to have donuts for breakfast. Mine was really yummy and had me running around like a mad thing within minutes (though that could have also had something to do with the blue marshmallows I found in my Lucky Charms cereal....).

Mum and dad weren't really happy with our apartment. It was a long way away from the swimming pool, and it did smell a bit funny (and no, I'm pretty sure that wasn't just Max). So mum used her persuasive powers to get them to move us and after breakfast we had to go and pack our suitcases again. Boring - and what a waste of valuable snorkelling time.

After that, mum said we were going to the most exciting place in Florida, so I was a bit surprised when we got out the car and we were at the shopping mall. Anyway it was worth it because we got really cools toys for being so good on the plane yesterday and she finally seems to be getting what we are here for as we also got some fishes for playing with in the swimming pool. At lunch time I insisted on having strawberry juice to drink, but mum said I'm never allowed to have it again after she read what it had in it. Perhaps she was scared after my reaction to those blue marshmallows, as it was very bright red.

When we got back, we moved into our new apartment and then went to the pool. Daddy very much enjoyed sorting out my goggles and snorkle every few minutes, and mummy clearly loved catching me every time I jumped in. Max was really nervous at first and only wanted to go in the baby pool, but after a few minutes he was swimming by himself, and by the end of the afternoon we both swam all the way across the pool without any help. Mummy and daddy were very impressed. We got back to the apartment just as the thunderstorm started.

This evening, even though we'd all been awake for nearly 16 hours, I said I wanted to go out for pizza. Max passed out within 30 seconds of getting in the car, and stayed asleep throughout dinner. I ate my pizza and then fell asleep in my pushchair too. Mum and dad kept themselves going with some colourful drinks themselves. It's not fair, it seems like there's one rule for grownups, and another for us little boys.

Disney in the morning. At last!

First day in Florida

It's 5 in the morning and we've already been awake for an hour and a half. Our body clocks think it's well past breakfast time already, but none of the restaurants are open yet.

I woke up in a strange bed in a strange place - the last thing I remember is falling asleep in the car. We spent all of yesterday on the aeroplane, which was lots of fun because it was quite empty so Max and I could run about and climb under and over the seats. I watched Horton Hears a Who (or Dr Who as Max calls it, but then he is only two so what can you expect?) on the little screen, but then I got bored and watched my Power Rangers DVD on mummy's computer.

I like our new apartment, particularly the balcony. There is a special net to keep mosquitos out - they are clever those Americans.

In a few minutes we're going to get dressed and find somewhere to have breakfast. Then we're going to spend today exploring, going swimming and doing some shopping, and buying some toys because we were such good boys on the plane. I think I will really enjoy the swimming.

I hope we have as much fun on this holiday as we did last time, because last year we had a great time doing lots of swimming and meeting the Disney characters. This year I want to get an autograph book so I can get all my favourites to sign it.

I'm really excited because tomorrow we're going to our first Disney park, so make sure you check back tomorrow so I can tell you all about it.

Lots of love,

Jacob