Right off the heals of Christmas, we had a chance to relax, unwind & enjoy some good old fashioned family fun. Liam was off of school the last two weeks, and I also was off of work for one of the weeks with him. Stephen was able to take a day off, as well, and we did some activities in the evening so it could be all three of us.
On Tuesday evening (the day after Christmas), we checked out Santa’s Winter Wonderland Village ….a holiday fair that comes around by our house each holiday season. It’s quickly becoming a tradition to go to it after the holiday. This year was Liam’s first time riding in the “The Force” . He really wanted to also do “The Himalaya” ride, but he’s not quite tall enough still. He & Stephen rode on the super tall Ferris Wheel …I watched. Haha! They also love the bumper cars & the maze house. Stephen got a really cool picture of the fair from the top of the Ferris Wheel!
The next day, we met up with the Bengel’s at the Science Center. We hadn’t been there since the beginning of the summer, so it was cool to play around there again for the afternoon. The Gingerbread Lane exhibit was still up, so we enjoyed looking at that….it smelled delish, too! It’s incredible that one artist baked AND decorated all that gingerbread.
The beginning of our cold front started really coming through on Friday, but we hiked over to Legoland to check out their Christmas Bricktacular decorations. It never really gets old seeing the amazing displays of LEGO creations.
For all the times we have been to the park, we never stopped to see the ski show. Today, we did & were so happy! It was super cute! Liam absolutely loved it 🙂
It was fun to walk about Miniland & spot the added holiday decor / scenes 😉
It was uber crowded there that day, but we still snuck in a few rides…..
We also took a relaxing walk through the old gardens area. Again, we’ve bypassed this in so many past trips…such a shame because it’s so beautiful & they are doing an awesome job of maintaining. The Banyan Tree was incredible!! Such a wonder that nature can create something like that! Liam loved the Southern Belle’s & it was fun to explain to him about how they used to walk around the old park. Not sure he really got that. LOL!
He spotted this statue of Jesus & had to find how the winding path lead to him. It honestly took us a second to figure it out from where we were. When we got up to it, he ran up to Him & just stood there….so I snapped this. I love how it turned out ❤
As part of our Legoland passes, we have admission to the Orlando Eye & surrounding attractions. Such a great deal! So, on New Year’s Eve, we made our way down to International Drive to check them all out.
The Orlando Eye is HUGE! It’s really neat & pretty to look at ….just the boys went up in it. I am way too afraid of heights to leave the ground that far. It takes about 25 minutes to go around in it. They enjoyed it & said the view was awesome. The weather that day was perfect for it, too! Liam told me, afterwards, that he was a little bit nervous while in it but not too bad.
Next, we walked around the SEA LIFE Aquarium. It turned out to be a larger facility than we expected it to be. There was quite a few 360 degree tanks that you could look at & it was neat! Liam was excited for the sharks!
Our last stop of the afternoon was Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Stephen had been to one of these years ago, but this was a 1st for little man & me. The figures were pretty life like….it was funny! We also got a kick out of seeing what celebrities & historical figures were featured. Liam had fun with trying to pose as each of them were 🙂
Last week, it was back to work for Stephen & I but Liam had his 2nd week off of school. So, he spent the week having fun at winter camp with his old daycare. It was a school age camp so he was with other kiddos in elementary school. Many friends he knew from previous summer camps & breaks, so he was glad to hang out with them again. They did a few field trips during the week. The 1st one was bowling.
They also went to ICE! at Gaylord Palms. This year’s theme was Christmas Around the World. We didn’t make it there this year for our family trip, so I was happy he still got to go. He had a ball but said his face was freezing off….hahaha!!
It was a great few weeks vacation for us all & a much needed mental break. Love creating memories with this sweet, little family of mine!
Until next time, friends!
Casa de Murphy 