Florida Family Vacation
It is sad that it takes something like getting cancer to make us throw caution to the wind and splurge on something like a dream family vacation. Tyler's dream is to swim with the dolphins, Shawn's is to swim with sharks. They are both going to have their dream come true during this trip.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
We headed to the airport at 7 a.m. Grandma Tatton went with us to the airport to bring our van back after we left. Our flight from SLC to Denver left a little after ten. We were on the same flight as Rich, Tootie, and RJ. Tootie was in a wheelchair so they boarded first and were at the front of the plane. Shawn, Tyler, Mariah and I were all in boarding group B, David was in group C. Don’t know how that happened. We found two rows in the back that had a window seat still open. One was about 4 rows up and the other was the last row on the opposite side. David sat with the boys and I sat with Mariah. The kids enjoy the flights.
We landed in Denver and rushed to make our connecting flight to Orlando. We checked the flight gate, jumped on the moving sidewalk and raced to catch the plane. When we got to the gate they were already boarding our group. David handed his boarding pass to ticket agent who scanned it and a buzzer went off. The sign above the door said the flight was to Orlando but the flight that was actually boarding was headed to Chicago. Luckily they caught it and we ended up on the right flight.
On our second flight we were in practically the same seats. David, Mariah, and Shawn sat on the back row. Tyler and I were across the isle about 5 rows up. Mariah watched a movie on David’s laptop, Shawn did something on his laptop and Tyler and I played Sequence during the flight. Tyler also played with the shade on the window. After we reached cruising altitude, there wasn’t much to see out the window, just clouds. I had Tyler close the shade because it was very bright outside. For the next two hours he opened the shade every 5 to ten minutes to see what he could see. As we headed in to land, Tyler and I spotted Epcot, Disney, and then Sea World.
We landed in Orlando a little later than scheduled. We rode the tram from the gate to the main area of the airport. We grabbed our bags and our rental car and headed for John and Jennifer’s house. We arrived there approximately twelve hours after we left our house.
Thursday, June 5, 2009
David, John, RJ, and Rich got up very early to go deep sea fishing. Jennifer and I took the kids to Sea World. We checked out the sting rays petting pond then headed to the Dolphin show, it was amazing. Tyler loved seeing a real dolphin for the first time in his live. He has been looking forward to this for so long. After the show we went into the under water viewing area to watch the dolphins. About that time Mariah looked like she was already ready to go home. The heat and humidity were really getting to her and to me. I decided that I would rent a wheelchair while we were still towards the front of the park. After I got the wheelchair then we decided to split up. Jennifer took Mariah, Daniel and Rachel to the kids rides, Shawn went to check out the sharks, and Tyler and I went to feed the dolphins. While we were in line it started to pour rain. I left Tyler in line so I could go to the overlook area so that I could watch him.
When he fed the dolphin he was in heaven. I watched and filmed from above. He is the kid in the red shirt and blue hat. Just as he was about to leave one of the dolphins came up and splashed him with his tail. It was really funny. When he was done, he pushed me in the wheelchair over to Shamu stadium where we met Jennifer and the rest of the kids. That show was also amazing. I took more pictures at this one. Shawn took pictures at the dolphin show but I just watched. After Shamu we split up again. Jen took her kids back to the car to rest while me and the kids checked out the shark tank together. By this time Shawn and Tyler both had headaches so we worked our way back to the car. 
Each of the kids earned money to spend on souvenirs so we checked out a few of the shops to see what was available. We saw the baby dolphins in the dolphin nursery before we turned in the wheelchair and headed to the car. We stopped for a quick snack before we headed home. By the time we got home Shawn had a full blown migraine. He went right to bed. After dinner I ran to Walmart to stock up on more supplies, things that we forgot, and a pair of shorts instead of capris. I was exhausted by the time I got back and went to bed.
It is sad that it takes something like getting cancer to make us throw caution to the wind and splurge on something like a dream family vacation. Tyler's dream is to swim with the dolphins, Shawn's is to swim with sharks. They are both going to have their dream come true during this trip.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
We headed to the airport at 7 a.m. Grandma Tatton went with us to the airport to bring our van back after we left. Our flight from SLC to Denver left a little after ten. We were on the same flight as Rich, Tootie, and RJ. Tootie was in a wheelchair so they boarded first and were at the front of the plane. Shawn, Tyler, Mariah and I were all in boarding group B, David was in group C. Don’t know how that happened. We found two rows in the back that had a window seat still open. One was about 4 rows up and the other was the last row on the opposite side. David sat with the boys and I sat with Mariah. The kids enjoy the flights.
We landed in Denver and rushed to make our connecting flight to Orlando. We checked the flight gate, jumped on the moving sidewalk and raced to catch the plane. When we got to the gate they were already boarding our group. David handed his boarding pass to ticket agent who scanned it and a buzzer went off. The sign above the door said the flight was to Orlando but the flight that was actually boarding was headed to Chicago. Luckily they caught it and we ended up on the right flight.
On our second flight we were in practically the same seats. David, Mariah, and Shawn sat on the back row. Tyler and I were across the isle about 5 rows up. Mariah watched a movie on David’s laptop, Shawn did something on his laptop and Tyler and I played Sequence during the flight. Tyler also played with the shade on the window. After we reached cruising altitude, there wasn’t much to see out the window, just clouds. I had Tyler close the shade because it was very bright outside. For the next two hours he opened the shade every 5 to ten minutes to see what he could see. As we headed in to land, Tyler and I spotted Epcot, Disney, and then Sea World.
We landed in Orlando a little later than scheduled. We rode the tram from the gate to the main area of the airport. We grabbed our bags and our rental car and headed for John and Jennifer’s house. We arrived there approximately twelve hours after we left our house.
Thursday, June 5, 2009
David, John, RJ, and Rich got up very early to go deep sea fishing. Jennifer and I took the kids to Sea World. We checked out the sting rays petting pond then headed to the Dolphin show, it was amazing. Tyler loved seeing a real dolphin for the first time in his live. He has been looking forward to this for so long. After the show we went into the under water viewing area to watch the dolphins. About that time Mariah looked like she was already ready to go home. The heat and humidity were really getting to her and to me. I decided that I would rent a wheelchair while we were still towards the front of the park. After I got the wheelchair then we decided to split up. Jennifer took Mariah, Daniel and Rachel to the kids rides, Shawn went to check out the sharks, and Tyler and I went to feed the dolphins. While we were in line it started to pour rain. I left Tyler in line so I could go to the overlook area so that I could watch him.
When he fed the dolphin he was in heaven. I watched and filmed from above. He is the kid in the red shirt and blue hat. Just as he was about to leave one of the dolphins came up and splashed him with his tail. It was really funny. When he was done, he pushed me in the wheelchair over to Shamu stadium where we met Jennifer and the rest of the kids. That show was also amazing. I took more pictures at this one. Shawn took pictures at the dolphin show but I just watched. After Shamu we split up again. Jen took her kids back to the car to rest while me and the kids checked out the shark tank together. By this time Shawn and Tyler both had headaches so we worked our way back to the car. 
Each of the kids earned money to spend on souvenirs so we checked out a few of the shops to see what was available. We saw the baby dolphins in the dolphin nursery before we turned in the wheelchair and headed to the car. We stopped for a quick snack before we headed home. By the time we got home Shawn had a full blown migraine. He went right to bed. After dinner I ran to Walmart to stock up on more supplies, things that we forgot, and a pair of shorts instead of capris. I was exhausted by the time I got back and went to bed.Friday, June 05, 2009
Today we went boating on the Banana river next to Patrick Air Force Base where John is stationed. The base rents out boats and there is a beach right next to the dock. John took our family out first. Shawn and David both skied. It was a little rough so we pulled the rope in and went down by where there were a bunch of pelicans diving for fish. We cruised slowly while we watched families of dolphins surface randomly around us. It was so much fun being so close to such a beautiful animal.
Next John took us across the river, which is wider than Pineview lake in Utah, to see “Bird Poop” island. That isn’t really its name but that is what they call it because there are so many birds there. He also showed us where they practice maneuvers in his helicopter. When we got back to the beach we decided to rent a tube to pull behind the boat.
The one they had was flat and you 
sit on top of it. It is a lot harder to stay on than the one we have in Utah where you sit down inside the tube. It was a lot of fun watching RJ and Shawn being bounced around and thrown off. Tyler went next by himself and Mariah and I went when he was done. It was really hard to hold onto but we went slow so that it wasn’t too scary for Mariah. While Mariah and I were on the tube Shawn spotted a manatee following behind us. Good thing that Mariah didn’t know it was there. She wouldn’t have got in the water at all if she saw how big they are. When we got back by the beach I bailed off the back of the tube and swam to shore. We went back to the house to get ready to head to Disney World.
David’s mother, Ruth, bought us passes at Hill Air Force base for 5 days at Disney World. We realized about a week ago that because they were the military discount that we needed to have a military person with us in order to exchange them for the actual passes. John is military but each member of the military can only use 5 tickets per year. John needs to use three of his for Jennifer and the kids. Luckily John was able to find one of his friends, Chris, who was willing to drive down to Disney to exchange the tickets so that we could use them next week. We appreciate his willing to go out of his way to help us. It actually was a fun drive. We listened to a book on CD. Chris said that he is hooked on that now. He had never listened to a book before but he loved it. I love how quiet everyone is and how fast the time passes while we are listening to a book. When we got back to the house we ate dinner and now we are getting the kids ready for bed and then we are going to play some games. Tomorrow we are planning on going to the beach.
Today we went boating on the Banana river next to Patrick Air Force Base where John is stationed. The base rents out boats and there is a beach right next to the dock. John took our family out first. Shawn and David both skied. It was a little rough so we pulled the rope in and went down by where there were a bunch of pelicans diving for fish. We cruised slowly while we watched families of dolphins surface randomly around us. It was so much fun being so close to such a beautiful animal.
Next John took us across the river, which is wider than Pineview lake in Utah, to see “Bird Poop” island. That isn’t really its name but that is what they call it because there are so many birds there. He also showed us where they practice maneuvers in his helicopter. When we got back to the beach we decided to rent a tube to pull behind the boat.
The one they had was flat and you 
sit on top of it. It is a lot harder to stay on than the one we have in Utah where you sit down inside the tube. It was a lot of fun watching RJ and Shawn being bounced around and thrown off. Tyler went next by himself and Mariah and I went when he was done. It was really hard to hold onto but we went slow so that it wasn’t too scary for Mariah. While Mariah and I were on the tube Shawn spotted a manatee following behind us. Good thing that Mariah didn’t know it was there. She wouldn’t have got in the water at all if she saw how big they are. When we got back by the beach I bailed off the back of the tube and swam to shore. We went back to the house to get ready to head to Disney World.David’s mother, Ruth, bought us passes at Hill Air Force base for 5 days at Disney World. We realized about a week ago that because they were the military discount that we needed to have a military person with us in order to exchange them for the actual passes. John is military but each member of the military can only use 5 tickets per year. John needs to use three of his for Jennifer and the kids. Luckily John was able to find one of his friends, Chris, who was willing to drive down to Disney to exchange the tickets so that we could use them next week. We appreciate his willing to go out of his way to help us. It actually was a fun drive. We listened to a book on CD. Chris said that he is hooked on that now. He had never listened to a book before but he loved it. I love how quiet everyone is and how fast the time passes while we are listening to a book. When we got back to the house we ate dinner and now we are getting the kids ready for bed and then we are going to play some games. Tomorrow we are planning on going to the beach.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Today we went to the Tables Beach by Patrick Air Force Base. Tyler was the first one in the water. Shawn came running in like a runaway freight train. He had my scuba mask sitting on top of his head. When he hit the water a wave promptly knocked the mask off his head and into the water. It was gone immediately. We tried to find it but the waves were pulling the sand every which direction. It is probably miles out to sea by now.
I pulled out the air mattress that I brought for Mariah and found out that it was only two feet long. It wouldn’t even hold up a 3 year old. Jennifer, Tootie, and I decided to go to the BX on base to buy some boogie boards. They didn’t end up having any. I bought Mariah a round tube, and two long air mattresses for the boys. After we got back to the beach Tootie took Shawn and RJ to a surf shop to see if they could buy some there. They ended up renting three. After that you couldn’t get them out of the water. I used Mariah’s tube to float on so I could take pictures of the boys while they were catching the waves.
Today we went to the Tables Beach by Patrick Air Force Base. Tyler was the first one in the water. Shawn came running in like a runaway freight train. He had my scuba mask sitting on top of his head. When he hit the water a wave promptly knocked the mask off his head and into the water. It was gone immediately. We tried to find it but the waves were pulling the sand every which direction. It is probably miles out to sea by now.
I pulled out the air mattress that I brought for Mariah and found out that it was only two feet long. It wouldn’t even hold up a 3 year old. Jennifer, Tootie, and I decided to go to the BX on base to buy some boogie boards. They didn’t end up having any. I bought Mariah a round tube, and two long air mattresses for the boys. After we got back to the beach Tootie took Shawn and RJ to a surf shop to see if they could buy some there. They ended up renting three. After that you couldn’t get them out of the water. I used Mariah’s tube to float on so I could take pictures of the boys while they were catching the waves.
I am really enjoying the underwater digital camera that we bought just before we left. I got it so that Shawn could take pictures from the shark cage when he dives with the sharks at Sea World on Monday. I am enjoying using it to take pictures in the water. It also has rained off and on every day that we have been here so not worrying about it getting wet has also been nice. On Monday when we go to Sea World again, I plan on using it to take pictures in the “splash zone.” That is the seats that are down in front at the dolphin and Shamu show where you always get wet. Tyler wants to sit down there.
John’s family, Rich’s family, and DeeDee’s family decided that they had had enough of the beach and they all headed for home. We decided to stay for a little while longer. RJ left his boogie board so that I could play with the boys in the water. We had a blast. I played with the boys until about 2:40. By then I was getting tired. I think the boys were also but they wouldn’t admit it. David was playing with Mariah in the water. She would wait for a wave and then try to jump over it. She didn’t like getting the salt water in her face. David and I switched places and he boogie boarded with the boys until 3:00. Once they got out of the water I think the fatigue hit them. Tyler looked like he could barely make it to the van. When we got back to the house Jen and I went to the base to buy groceries for the big family dinner tomorrow and for us to use at the condo in Orlando next week while we go to Disney World. Then we came home, ate dinner, and I headed to Walmart to get the things that they didn’t have at the base. Boy am I tired. I definitely need a nap tomorrow.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
It was stake conference for John’s ward and Mary’s ward. We are spoiled in Utah with so many ward buildings so close by. Their stake center is about 25 minutes away. It was nice and cool inside. As we sat down Sister Rasmussen came up to talk to us. We were in our college married student ward together. At first I didn’t recognize her but after we started talking I remembered her more.
After church we came back to the house for a big family dinner with John’s family, Mary’s family, and DeeDee’s extended family. I had a very hard time staying awake. Sitting still in church made the fatigue set in. As soon as I finished eating lunch I went to take a nap. Three hours later I woke up and Rich’s family and DeeDee’s family had already headed for home. I slept through the entire party and a major thunderstorm. I am glad I had a chance to sleep. I needed it to make it through next week.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
It was stake conference for John’s ward and Mary’s ward. We are spoiled in Utah with so many ward buildings so close by. Their stake center is about 25 minutes away. It was nice and cool inside. As we sat down Sister Rasmussen came up to talk to us. We were in our college married student ward together. At first I didn’t recognize her but after we started talking I remembered her more.
After church we came back to the house for a big family dinner with John’s family, Mary’s family, and DeeDee’s extended family. I had a very hard time staying awake. Sitting still in church made the fatigue set in. As soon as I finished eating lunch I went to take a nap. Three hours later I woke up and Rich’s family and DeeDee’s family had already headed for home. I slept through the entire party and a major thunderstorm. I am glad I had a chance to sleep. I needed it to make it through next week.
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