Florida Holiday 2017 ~ Day 5 - When plans go astray!

We awoke to the sunshine peeking through our curtains at Pier House 60 and were faced with glorious sunshine upon the white sandy shores of Clearwater. It certainly was a room with a view!

We headed down for our breakfast (which was included in our stay) and were greeted with more stunning views, this time of the marina. Breakfast was great with loads to choose from including sausage and eggs, bagels, fruit, pastries etc. I had some amazing whipped strawberry mousse stuff on my bagel - certainly beats a bowl of cornflakes!!

The plan today was explore the coast and we were aiming to get to Weeki Wachee Springs to see the mermaids. We never made it that far in the end but had a great day regardless! We first headed up to the town of Dunedin which is a short drive from Clearwater. I'd heard it was a pretty little town to stop at but we were on the hunt for one thing....the splash park! We'd spotted it on the website and it was right up Elliot's street. We eventually found the park and it was brilliant, loads of undercover seating, a big play park, swimming pool and of course the splash park. Elliot couldn't wait to get his swimmers on and get stuck in!

Unfortunately, about 60 seconds after he started playing we heard an alarm which turned out to be a lightning detection and they had to close the splash park as a precaution! Elliot was gutted and of course there were tears but he soon cheered up once he spotted the shaved ice truck. I've only ever seen shaved ice on telly and it's not something we get in the UK (or am I missing out on something?!). Basically you get a cup of ice flakes and you can add flavoured syrups....it's pretty similar to a slush puppy. Yummy! We went a bit mad with the flavours and ours both ended up a murky purple colour but they were delicious!!

After a quick play on the slides, the splash park reopened so we hot footed it over to get a seat in the shade and Elliot went mad in the water. A little while later the heavens opened and it absolutely poured down - I've never seen rain like it! The park stayed open but we were getting so wet that we decided to call it a day and had to make a mad dash to the undercover area to dry off. Not sure who was wetter, Elliot in his trunks or us holding the towels!

Our next visit was New Port Richey to call in on a bakery (That Little Bakery on Grand) owned by a friend of ours who moved back to the US from Dorset a little while ago. It was great to catch up and a good excuse to stop for a cake!!

Time just flew by today and it was almost 3pm by this point - we did think about driving onto Weeki Wachee Springs but we were already 2 hours from Kissimmee and the kids were getting a bit grumpy about being in the car so we made a quick stop at Walmart for snacks and then started the drive back....which seemed to take forever! Back in Kissimmee and we headed down to the Old Town to check out the car show.

We've not visited the Old Town before and I have no idea why because it was good fun! A bit tacky but I enjoyed the atmosphere - there were lots of cool cars parked up and lots of people out enjoying the live music. We stopped for a drink and some nachos in Southern Breeze and although he'd been complaining he was tired, Elliot was full of beans and dancing around all over the place! (I think it was the sugar in the slushies!)

We watched the cars do a lap of the Old Town and decided to call it a day as it was way past bedtime for the little ones. Paul had had some beers so it was my turn to get behind the wheel - gulp, my first time driving this holiday. Luckily I didn't have to drive far but it wasn't too bad!

Florida Holiday 2017 ~ Day 2 - An Early Start!

Well so much for the kids being knackered and maybe sleeping late....they were both wide awake at 5am!!! That is a time I never see at home so it was a bit of a shock to the system!

Decided to have a quietish day today to ease us in gently (Florida hols are exhausting) and we decided to head over to one of the premium outlets nearby. We're not really into designer clothes so couldn't really get excited about most of the shops but we did stop at the Toys R Us and Disney outlet stores...can you tell who this holiday is geared around?! Elliot couldn't wait to make a dent in his wallet and came out a few dollars lighter. He's only 4 so doesn't really understand the value of money yet but he enjoys having his own pennies to spend in the shops. We got some great bargains in the Disney shop - Tsum Tsum's were only 99cents so we had a few of those plus the world's ugliest toy, a Happabore from Star Wars. It looks a bit like a dinosaur crossed with a pig but it was only $4.99 and Elliot really wanted it!

We were getting a bit peckish by this point so we headed over to I-Drive for some lunch. Decided on Millers Ale House and as it was Tuesday, kids ate free which was a bonus! We've never eaten at Millers before but it was a nice lunch and not too expensive. I had chicken fajitas, Paul had the Philly cheese steak sandwich and Elliot had hot dog and fries. He got a free pudding too and me and Paul shared the Nutter Butter Ice Cream cake which was really really good! (And massive...it was a good job we shared)

Elliot was itching to see "the upside down house" or Wonderworks as it's actually called so we wandered along to see about going inside. We had a coupon for $2 off but it was still very expensive at almost $90 for the family. We almost decided not to go in when we saw the prices!!

Wonderworks is split into different zones such as natural disasters and space discovery and there are loads of interactive exhibitions to see and play with. Elliot was a bit freaked out by the earthquake simulator but he loved the giant bubbles!

At the top of the building is the basement (it's upside down remember!) and there you can find laser tag, an arcade and a glow in the dark high ropes course. It was busy so there was a bit of a queue but Elliot and Paul decided to take on the ropes. I honestly didn't think Elliot would do it because it was so high but he loved it!!

After we left I-Drive we headed back to Kissimmee but decided to make a stop at Walmart - I love this place!! You can buy anything and everything and it's always fun having a mooch round. Elliot was beginning to flag so we knew we didn't have too much time so we just picked up a few essentials (beef jerky and twinkies obviously) and Elliot finally got to check out the toy selection. He's been looking forward to this for weeks after we had a look online at the Walmart website and he was eager to see what he could spend his money on. That pocket money is certainly burning a hole in his pocket!!

It was almost 9pm by the time we got home so it was a quick snack and bed for Elliot and Erin while I did bottle washing/sterilising and put a load of washing on...it's just like being back at home!