The Magnificent Seven - April 2018 - Day 7 - Denny's, SeaWorld and Longhorn Steakhouse

[Redrach1903]

Day 6 is here.

Emma's pre travel day is here and her travel day is here.

Going forward this be kind of a joint effort. It will still be my ramblings for the most part, but with the occasional chip in from Emma. I'll put her bits in red! Enjoy!

Friday 13th April

Emma - We were having a really good sleep and we were rudely woken up about 05.30ish by Abigail! This is most unusual activity as she loves her sleep (like her mum) and doesn't usually wake up until after 09.00 but we weren't surprised as she had been taken into a totally different place and time zone! We took her into our room but she was having none of the lets have cuddles and go back to sleep attempt! , so I got up with her and gave her some breakfast which she was loving and we were joined shortly by Auntie Rach! Paul was golfing with dad and Chris today so he got organised for his game of golf which he was looking forward to!

I woke at 6am and I could hear Abi chops was already awake which surprised me! She loves her sleep and averages about 13 hours sleep a night! I obviously got up right away to go and see her!
She seemed a bit brighter today, but definitely not 100% and she seemed to have developed some sort of eye infection too! She was enjoying some rice krispies and grapes for breakfast!





And had a wee lie down on the floor, as you do…..



Then she found a ball to play with!



Jake heard us all, so he was up at 6.30am and was straight in about to play with Abi! He is so good with her, he just loves her to pieces



Dad, Chris and Paul left for their golf at 7.30am, they were playing at Highlands Reserve which isn’t very far from the villa. We agreed to all meet at SeaWorld later on! The rest of us had some pool fun!











More squirrel action….



Abi loved the Jacuzzi bubbles! Don't worry, we didn’t turn it up too hot!







Abi was already starting to flag, bless her…



So by 9am, she was put back down for a nap! Jake, Emma and I continued to play in the pool for a while! Jake was totally loving having someone else to play with him, so poor Emma was made to play with him for ages. I kicked back and enjoyed the peace

Emma - I make an excellent pool shark and enjoyed chasing him and giving him the occasional scare







I left them playing while I got showered and once I was done I dragged Jake out to get ready for the day! He's such a water baby, would stay in there all day if you let him!

Abi got up again at 10.15 and wasn’t very happy at all, poor thing was definitely feeling a bit rotten She was crying whenever Emma left her side and it’s not like her to cry much at all these days! She soon got a burst of energy again though!







These two are so cute!





This is what we call Abi's Winston face! She pulled that face once ages ago and I said she looked like Winston Churchill and it's just stuck! So if you say "Abi, let me see your Winston face" she does this!



We left the villa around 11 hoping that Abi would sleep some more in the car. She had some serious catching up to do! I don’t think she did sleep though! Probably cos Jake was yapping to her the whole time!

We got to Denny's on I Drive just before 12.



It was pretty quiet, so we were seated straight away and examined the menu!



Abi spotted the games machines, so Jake volunteered to take her over. Doesn’t she look, erm, comfy in his arms? Jake was using his own money to try and win Abi a toy, bless him. Sadly he failed





Emma - We were sitting at the table when a guy in a cowboy hat came over and gave Abigail a teddy he had won out the machine! He had been watching Jake try to win one for her. That was so nice of him and total random act of kindness. Some people can be so nice

The food came out quickly. I had the French toast slam, Jake had chocolate chip pancakes (and a sad solo sausage looking at the photo), Emma had Dulce Delci pancakes and Abi had macaroni!











Everything was nice! Abi didn’t eat a whole lot of her lunch, but she did have a good go at Mummy's milkshake!





I'm not sure why I was excluded from this selfie. Rude



We paid up ($36.03 plus tip) and then nipped next door to Walgreens to see if we could find decongestant and something for Abi's sore eye, but they didn’t seem to have any baby friendly stuff! It doesn't help that we didn't recognise any of the brands! Oh well!

While we were in there Chris text to say they were already at SeaWorld, so we went back to the car and along the road to meet them

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[Redrach1903]

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It was about 1pm when we got here. We parked up easily as it seemed quiet and took not one jot of notice as to the section we parked in. Ooops!

There was no heavy plan for our time at SeaWorld. We thought it would be a nice gentle way to break Abi in gently and we would just play it by ear!



I had not been to SeaWorld since 2014, but it still felt very familiar!





We assumed the boys would have waited for us at the entrance, but they were nowhere to be seen! A quick text confirmed they had gone round to Seafire Grill for some grub, so we walked round that way to find them! We might have been side tracked a few times en route….















Destination reached!



The boys had enjoyed their golf, but Dad was really struggling with a sore shoulder I can’t remember what they ate here, but I do remember them saying it was no great shakes!

Next stop was the dolphin nursery which Abi really loved!













The dolphins were all showing off!







Dad incoming!



Right, time for some grown up fun! Emma, Chris and I wanted to do Manta! Paul wimped out, so we left him with Dad, Jake and Abi





Manta Manta Manta!





It was a walk-on and we asked for the front! SO. MUCH. FUN! SO. MANY. Gs! . We managed to spot Paul as we were climbing up the first bit and were shouting, but he obviously couldn’t hear us! Haha! Since it was a walk on, we decided to sneak in a second ride We asked for the front again! Loved it! When we got back the boys and Abi were enjoying an ice cream!

Emma – that was my first time on Manta and I totally LOVED it! Was amazing!

Paul was wearing a purple t-shirt very similar to the SeaWorld uniform, so people kept asking him for directions / help etc. So funny

We all went into the aquarium situated underneath Manta to have a look around. No strollers allowed, so we had to park it up first. Abi enjoyed looking at all the different fish etc!













Abi seemed to love her new buggy as she was asking to get straight back in it after the aquarium! Probably a combination of that and being super tired and hot!



Baby gator!



Manatees were next









Nom nom nom!



Turtles!



SeaWorld selfie



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[Redrach1903]

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And then onto my very favourite thing about SeaWorld!



Chris bought 6 trays of fish and we all had a go at feeding them. Except Abi of course! Jake didn’t like the slurpy feeling, so he gave the rest of his fish to me! YAS!















We wanted to do Journey to Atlantis next, but the wait time was 45 mins! Nope! We did briefly consider buying quick queue tickets, but decided it wasn’t worth it for just one ride!



Abi was getting a little grouchy now and needed a sleep, so Emma and Paul took her for a walk while the rest of us went to check out the penguins! This bit was new for us all.

Emma - Even though we really wanted to show Abi the penguins now wasn't the right time as she needed a sleep. We had taken a snooze shade with us and it was great for creating a dark space for her to have a sleep without getting disturbed. We enjoyed our wonder around and you will see where we posed for some pics! Abi slept for a while but not as long as we had wanted!



We opted for the non-ride version, thinking it would be a quicker moving queue. How wrong we were! It took aaaaaaaages to get through. Dad was getting hot and bothered and I had to tell him off for grumping

Jake was quite happy perched on this rock playing with his iPod!



Finally we got through! Whoa was this cold! Like really cold! And stinky! Haha! Loved seeing the penguins though, they are so funny It was a shame Abi wasn't with us, but Emma, Paul and Dad would definitely take her back to see them another day! Penguin spam………







You ok, hun?



















We met up with the rest of them and Abi was not sleeping! I think she dozed off for a while, but didn’t quite have the power nap that Emma & Paul had hoped she would! Seems they had also been busy posing on the Mako seats





We really wanted to ride Mako next! And by we, I mean Emma, Paul, Chris and myself! Paul was quite happy to try this one as it doesn’t go upside down haha!



Oooooh this is a good coaster! So smooth and just really really cool! There are parts of it where your bum comes up out the seat! Hehe! We all loved it!

Emma - Mako was sooo good! Super smooth and the first drop was amazing! Paul wasn't so keen on the drop and made a very strange sound and face which had me in a fit of giggles! So funny.

When we got back to Dad and the kids we found Jake had bought himself one of those extortionate water fans! Haha! We turn our backs for 5 minutes! My Dad was obviously too soft to tell him no! But again, it's his spending money, so crack on buddy!

It was around 4.30pm now and we decided to call it a day. It was so very hot today and the newbies (mostly Dad and Abi) were struggling with it!



So we made our way to the exit, passing all these CLOSED festival booths! Turns out they were only open at weekends! Emma and I were unimpressed!



Dad nipped into one of the shops to buy some strawberries which we all shared!



Last animal sighting of the day!



I decided I would head back with Abi, Emma and Paul. It took us a wee while to find the car because, as I said, we didn’t note the section we parked in! Doh!

Abi was asleep within minutes of being in her car seat! Mid-snack too it seems! Haha!



We stopped at the Marketplace for some eye drops for Abi. She was awake again and enjoyed sitting in the trolley!





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[Redrach1903]

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Once home Chris recounted to us an epic tale of road rage. He said some wifey had tried to undercut him so he had to slam on the brakes. She then proceeded to stop the car and flip him the bird!

At about 6.30pm everyone went for a wee lie down / chill out. Jake was most miffed at being told to have a nap, but he was shattered after being up so early with Abi, so he needed it! One day he'll learn that you never turn down a nap

It was only a quick one anyway as everyone was up and getting ready at 7.15pm and yes, Jake had slept! Abi chops had not slept which surprised us, but she seemed happy until Emma dare leave her side! Poor Emma couldn't get a minute's peace!

Emma - Abi was not keen to let me have my shower! She will usually happily go to anyone but wasn't even entertaining Paul tonight! So, even though she wasn’t that hungry, we gave her a snack. At least she ate something! I then just headed to my shower, as much as it was a shame I can't have her 24/7! Life lesson for today is screaming never gets you your own way! Ever!

I decided I better phone ahead and put us on the list at Longhorn as waiting for a table with two hungry kids (and my Dad haha) probably wouldn’t go down too well! It was Friday night after all! Just as I finished on the phone Abi began a meltdown of epic proportions! Paul had taken her away from Emma to give her a break and let her get ready and she just was not impressed! This was all new territory for all of us as she is usually such a happy wee soul! She even nipped Paul 's arm in her frustration! Eeek! That was enough for Paul to put his foot down and he told us all to go out for tea and he would stay with Abi and put her to bed. He didn’t want Emma to miss out or for Abi to think she could have Emma 24/7. What a nice hubby

We all felt a bit bad leaving Abi so upset, but it was a cruel to be kind situation. She obviously wasn’t feeling that great and was seriously behind on her sleep, but Paul did the right thing in showing her that she can't always have her way. My poor wee Abi chops!

Anyway, the rest of us left for Longhorn around 8.15. On our way, as we passed Chick-fil-A, Dad pipes up "haven’t we been to that chick flick before?" Bless him! We arrived at 8.25pm and were seated at one of the high top tables straight away!



Bread and salad first



Jake has grown to like lettuce recently. He wouldn’t have touched it a year ago!





For the main event I had the Napa Grilled Chicken (chicken breast, mushrooms, artichoke hearts and roasted tomatoes in a light chardonnay sauce), Chris had the steak and ribs combo, Dad had a fillet steak, Emma had salmon with a cinnamon sugar sweet potato and Jake had macaroni!





by



Yep that potato is literally filled with cinnamon sugar! And oops, looks like Jake's macaroni wasn’t photo worthy! Anyway, everything was lovely! I wasn't sure if I would like artichoke, but it was quite nice! Only complaint is they forgot dad's asparagus, but as he didn’t notice until he was finished it didn’t really matter

Paul had text while we were eating to say Abi had gone down to bed no bother, so that was a relief!

I asked the waitress to take a photo of us



Total was $150.89 including ribs to go for Paul! We got back to the villa around 9.45pm. Dad and Jake went straight to bed and the rest of us stayed up yapping. Paul was saying he felt guilty for shouting at Abi earlier. Haha aww! He's a big softie

Me and sissy together again in Florida, this made me very happy!



We stayed up until 11pm just chatting and generally having a laugh, it was fun!

Steps today – 17,613 (7.68 miles)

Thanks for reading!

Tomorrow the boys golf again, we visit Disney Springs and then Epcot at night!

[princess allie]

Another lovely day. Jake and Abi are so cute together x

[Rob & Jan]

A lovely day-we were at Longhorns the same night that you were there, I thought that I recognised you but couldn't place where I'd seen you before.

[collybird]

Jake is just adorable with Abi. I actually want to cry over the guy giving Abi the toy he had won, how sweet. I bet Jake was thrilled she got one in the end.

Hahaha at Paul’s unfortunate wardrobe choice.

Poor Abi still being out of sorts, she still looks so happy though, what a trooper.

Chick flick

Dinner looks so good!

[Lisa_Lollipop]

Loving the tag-teaming report writing going on here girls!

Poor Abi, such a shame she started the trip poorly, it is much for them to adapt to even on a good day let along when feeling under the weather. She did amazing considering! Also she normally sleeps 13 hours?! Right can you get her to have a word with Charlie chops please?!

Jake is so cute with her too, such a lovely bond they share... cousin love is so special

Eeeeek love Manta, one of my fave coasters in Orlando! And so envious of Mako, still so gutted we missed this by a matter of weeks on our last trip... I cannot wait to give it a go next time!

Loved this day and gorgeous photo of you two girls at the end, amazing to share this trip together! xxx

[caitlinsmummy]

Seeing Jake and Abi together is so cute!

Poor Abi is having a time of it isn't she, hopefully it doesn't take long for her to settle down xx

[disneytrio]

Another lovely day, poor Abi it must be a lot for a baby to adjust to the time difference,hopefully she will be more settled in the next few days.
Longhorns! Oh my favourite love it in there, can't wait to go in there!