Downtown Disney- Monday, July 11, 2011

We had four more hours to drive, from Tallahassee to Disney today. Someone wanted to get up at 3 or 4 AM in order to get to a Disney park today. We won’t say who, but her name starts with J and rhymes with Dooley. She eventually thought better of it, and we ended up getting up around 9 AM instead. We got on the road. We saw some more of Florida’s flash storms, but not as bad as yesterday. They’re calling for these kinds of storms all week. That’s good for Florida, because they’ve been experiencing a drought here. We did cross the Suwannee River, and the green road sign had the notes for the “Old Folks at Home” written across the bottom of it. Other than that the drive was relatively unremarkable.

We arrived in the Disney area around 2:00, and went to Downtown Disney to shop. All three girls were ready to shop. Julie and Anna decided to become pin collectors, and bought some starter sets to get lanyards and pins to trade. It’s actually a little surprising that Julie hasn’t started this sooner.

We spent awhile looking around the many Disney Stores there, and then Julie decided that she wanted to rent a boat. These are real boats, not the little paddle boats that Julie has sunk before. We rented a “Sun Tracker” pontoon boat,-- a “party barge” big enough for 10 people, but it was just the four of us. Julie took the wheel, and we cast off. Once we got backed out, she got the hang of it, and away we went. We went around the main lake at the Downtown Disney, past Paradise Island, under bridges, and all the way to the Port Orleans resort area. We had it out for a half hour, and enjoyed the sights and the weather.

We then made our way to get dinner and find our way to the house that Julie’s father has rented. There was one more Florida downpour, but we’re at the house now. It’s very spacious. There’s enough room on the landing upstairs for a couch and a TV. Beyond the landing, on the first floor, is a living room as bigger than ours. Before the landing is an entryway bigger than our living room. There’s a large dining room, a huge kitchen and dinette area, and of course a pool in the back that’s screened in. There are four large bedrooms. Anna calls the house “a mansion.”

Julie’s mom and dad are already here. They almost followed us down. They went through Cincinnati and stopped in Memphis. They went to Graceland and took a city tour there. Julie’s brother John and his family arrived today too. They drove to South Carolina yesterday, and made it to go to Sea World today. With John, Christine and their three kids, Julie’s folks, and the four of us, there are a total of 11 people staying in the house. To Scott it feels like one of those nights when he was young and the family had just arrived at Uncle Don’s or Aunt Joyce’s house. Everyone is catching up with each other and the kids are playing hide and seek as they explore the house.