Day 6- Gatorland!

We had fun reading through all the comments and emails about Craig's sunburn in the last update!  Haha!  I had to beg him to let me put that picture on the blog and he wasn't real thrilled about it (still isn't!  Ha!)  But he knew there was no stopping me.  It was too funny not to share!  Ha!  Luckily it didn't last very long and it's all better now (not even much peeling, if you can believe that!) :)  Sorry honey, I had to do it! :)

Onto the last post from our Florida vacation (are you all getting tired of these updates yet??  I promise I'll be back to regular Andrew updates soon, but I had to document this vacation and the blog is the perfect way to do it.)

We had to visit Gatorland- you know, since Gators are kind of a big deal in Florida!  Ha!  It was such a unique place.

It is just like it sounds-  FULL of gators!  Every time you turn around!

Andrew has been really into alligators lately.  He is obsessed with the crocodile from Peter Pan (of course they are all called alligators to him- there's no such thing as a crocodile!)

I'm actually embarrassed to admit that I taught 2nd grade for years and couldn't really tell you the differences!  Ha!  Aren't their mouths different or something??

Grrrrr!

We saw a show where this guy supposedly wrestled with an alligator.

"Wrestled" is a loose term, but this trick was cool!

The white alligators were neat- Andrew was fascinated.

This is the second time we've been unprepared for a splash park!  You'd think we'd learn!  Apparently, everywhere you go in Florida there is a splash park!  Always bring your swim suits just in case!  Ha!

Again, we just took off his shirt and turned him loose!

We had a nice ride around Gatorland on a train, which Andrew loved.

Carrie and EJ on the train.

This was my favorite part of the day... Andrew actually got to pet and hold an alligator!

Of course, this cost extra (doesn't everything??) but the guys in charge were nice and let us make sure Andrew would actually hold it first, you know, before they charged us.  I wasn't too worried since he hadn't been scared of anything the whole trip, but I certainly didn't want to be out ten bucks if he chickened out!

Well, he didn't chicken out!  They wouldn't let him hold it without Craig, or else he would have been sitting here by himself (if he had it his way!)  He loved it.  He could have sat there all day.

Then we saw another neat show- Gator Jumparoo!

They literally hold chunks of chicken above them and they all jump up to get it!

It is quite a sight.

Look at them all scrambling!  Andrew didn't take his eyes off the entire time.

Gators just hanging out!

In the gift shop (because isn't there always a gift shop??) Andrew stuck his hand inside this gator's mouth and went AHHHHHHHHH!  It was so.stinkin.funny.

Leaving gatorland...even though Andrew could have watched them all day!

He had a great time on our last full day in Florida.

We were so sad to say goodbye to our friends and leave Florida, knowing we probably wouldn't be back for a long time!

Carrie and I and our boys!

This marks the end of our Florida vacation.  I can't even describe what a wonderful time we had.  I am so glad we got to do this for Andrew's sake.  He had a cardiology check up last week and things still looked stable.  They are still not happy with the high pressure in the right ventricle, so they are monitoring him closely.  Doctor said he wouldn't feel comfortable letting him go much longer than another year without surgery, so looks like our vacation timing was meant to be.

Andrew still talks about all the things he did and his favorite things from our trip.  He still asks to ride the Peter Pan boat one more time.  He learned so many new things, too.  His first airplane ride was just as thrilling.  He keeps talking about when we went "up in the sky."  We feel very blessed to have had this opportunity to spend these precious moments together as a family.  Andrew is quite the little traveler!  He was so good the whole trip.  It is so fun to go on a vacation and see it through your child's eyes.  I remember going to Disneyland as a kid, but nothing compares to watching your child have the time of their life.  Life took on a whole new meaning when Andrew was born.  Things are all about him now!  

And I wouldn't want it any other way.