We recently flew into Orlando so we could take Bryn and Luke to Sea World. We stayed at a huge hotel that's part of the Disney Complex -- The Swan, which is one half of the Dolphin and Swan Resort. We spent our first afternoon there at the pool, where Bryn got her hair braided.
At its shallowest, the pool was 3 feet deep, and that made it difficult for Luke to play in the pool, but Ken kept him entertained. (We're lucky that the pool that we go to in the summer has a fairly large shallow section that is less than 2 feet deep.) The next morning we went to Sea World, which is as clean as any Disney park and is worth a visit. Going in October was great from the standpoint that we didn't have to wait in a single line for the rides. Bryn loved the roller coaster so much she went on it three times, and every time it ran without being full. Luke rode the carousel twice, and that's new for him, too, as he refused to go on the merry-go-round the last time we were in Florida. Our only issue was that Florida was experiencing record-breaking highs when we were there, and it was easily in the mid-90s when we went to Sea World. Luke really languishes in the heat, and the poor guy was really miserable. We did sit in the shade for the Shamu (orca whale) show. Bryn liked it, and it is amazing to see the huge creatures do tricks, but the show had an odd backdrop to it. Before the show began, all members of the military were asked to stand so they could be applauded. Much of the show had a "Believe" theme to it, and Ken and I felt as though we had sat through a church sermon, none of which was necessary or even appropriate for demonstrating the intelligence of orca whales. The highlight of our visit was feeding fish to the sea lions.
We could have fed dolphins, too, but by this point we were really losing Luke to the heat and fatigue, so we called it a day.
From there we drove to Nana and Papap's, and it amazes me how each visit is spent doing different activities. We tried crabbing, but we didn't have any luck our first time out.
We went out again later in the week right by Nana and Papap's house, and Papap brought in 5 crabs in 20 minutes' time. Nana, Bryn and I also went on a terrific ecotour in which we saw -- and heard, through an underwater microphone -- dolphins as well as two bald eagles and manatees, too. The highlight of the outing was Bryn's turn as the captain! She steered the boat halfway back to the harbor.
The upshot of the days being so hot is that we were able to spend a good amount of time at the beach, where the ocean breeze and the warm water made being outside comfortable.
Luke worked mostly on drip castles, 
and after a day of boogie boarding, Ken decided that Bryn was ready to try the real thing -- surfing. So he bought Bryn a surfboard, and she did really well for her first time out. 
Bryn did as much as kneel on the board as she rode it into shore,
and I'm really impressed by her ability to do something at age 5 (or nearly 5) that I've never done myself!
Bryn will be accompanying Ken at a wedding in St. Augustine the first week of November, so if the weather cooperates, she'll have another opportunity to try surfing then.Both Bryn and Luke delighted in simply spending time with Nana, who rolled out the red carpet for their arrival. Since Nana and Papap weren't able to celebrate Luke's birthday with him, Nana made Luke a cake in the shape of the number three.
And so she wouldn't feel left out, Bryn got her very own in the shape of a five, even though her birthday is still a month away -- and she'll be flying to Florida on her actual birthday! 
Bryn used stamps and fabric paint to decorate a t-shirt, and Bryn and Luke made their handprints in a stepping stone in Nana's garden. Ironically, a cool front has since moved in, and it's 60 degrees now in St. Augustine. We were lucky to have warm days so we could make the most of being at the beach.
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