Vacation!!

A much needed wonderful vacation!!  Florida was the destination, and swimming with dolphins was the plan.  That alone would make for a fantastic trip for me but as luck would have it we had the opportunity to do so much more!!  Having an early flight meant we would have all day to do something fun so off to the Magic Kingdom we went!!  Twice in 2 years I was standing in the most magical place on Earth!! Now that's something I never would have guessed!!
We made it in time to have a good view of the Festival of Fantasies Parade.  The floats were so much fun, and if I ever work at Disney I want to be the puppeteer controlling the Maleficent dragon!!

 When I was in Disney last year they were building a new roller coaster called the Seven Dwarfs Mine.  Facebook had been keeping me updated on the progress and I knew it would be opening May 28th . . . it was May 23rd . . .  I was a little bummed that I was a week early and would miss out, but surprisingly luck was on my side for a change!!  As we were walking by the coaster there was a huge line of people.  Confused I asked one of the cast members what was going on.  He informed we they were having a soft opening of the ride, it was open :)  After an hour wait I got to try it out.  It was cute!  After some twists and turns you go through the mine where the dwarfs are hard at work, and there's a perfect view of the Beasts castle when you come out of the mine, but beware of the evil witch at the very end!

Of course it's not a day at the Magic Kingdom without seeing the castle show and the electric parade.  They even added a short parade of Disney villains.

 Of course a day at Disney is always magical but the real reason we had been down in Florida was to go to Discovery Cove and swim with the dolphins!!  It's something I have always wanted to!!  Before I even knew what a bucket list was, this was at the top of my list!!  Everything about Discovery Cove was like a tropical get away.  The trees, exotic flowers, running water everywhere . . . it was beautiful and I really didn't want to leave!

The dolphin experience was basically the first thing on our agenda for the day and then the rest was just a bonus.  After a little orientation one of the trainers took us in small groups out into the water to meet one of the dolphins, we met Dixie.  We got to pet her and do some tricks with her, then there was plenty of time for pictures and we all got to swim out and Dixie pulled us back in.

After playing with the dolphins we had the rest of the day to relax!  There was plenty of sandy beach for that but we managed to keep busy.
Like the aviary.  Tropical birds, and for some reason finding the peacock in a tree blew my mind . . . I realize it's a bird that shouldn't be strange but I've never seen one in a tree before.

There was a lazy river that really wasn't so lazy and even snorkeling with sting rays and tropical fish!

 Was nervous but my under water camera performed like a champ!

Oh did I mention there were sharks too!!  AHH!!  Kidding, there was glass between us.
It was a wonderful day, and an unforgettable experience for sure!  But the vacation was not over!!  The last day or our quick trip was Sea World! It's been 18 years since I've been to Sea World, so I really didn't remember much of it.  It was another exciting day! More dolphins, even a dolphin nursery, empire penguins in Antarctica (which was freezing by the way!! Literally!! 32 degrees and I was in shorts and a tank top!!), more sting rays but it was almost strange to see them behind glass, sharks swimming over head, roller coasters (so much fun!!), and of course Shamu!!

Oh the memories . . .
Oh the good times . . .
Til next time . . .
Cheers :)