Day 12
Boggy Creek and a busy afternoon
Today we had planned an early start, a morning out and about followed by lunch then back to the pool for the afternoon and The Mall at Millenia this evening! Now before anyone says anything thats not really to shop, although Gez needs to go to the Vans shop, but to visit The Cheesecake Factory for dinner............strange how things don't always go to plan isn't it?[msnsad]
We set off reasonably early for Boggy Creek and the airboat rides but we missed the 10am boat so had to wait until the next one at 10.30.
The boat ride was great, we saw a couple of alligators and got up close to a tiny baby one but as the sun was slightly hazy, they hadn't yet come out to bask. Nevertheless we all enjoyed it and Lesley held the alligator afterwards whilst Gez just about managed to touch his tail![clap]y
Next it was off to Posner Park, we needed to buy a couple of pictures for the villa that we had seen earlier in the holiday and Gez wanted to visit Best Buy, she has been admiring Lesley's Kindle Fire all holiday and has decided to bite the bullet. Of course when we arrived it was coffee time and Jo Muggs beckoned so we sat outside in the sunshine and enjoyed our iced coffee, none of us had cake as we were hoping to have lunch soon, how wrong we were!
Next JCPenneys. Helen had got her Beauty Insider reward on our visit here
last week and liked the mascara in the kit so much that she wanted to buy the full size. It was here that our plans started to go a bit pear shaped as Helen and Gez found themselves seduced by the jeans and decided to try things on!
Lesley and I were patient for over half an hour but in the end we left the store and went to stand outside in the sunshine.[msncool]I
Eventually they emerged with more bags and we went to Best Buy for the Kindle Fire. Whilst they were deliberating over the case for it I went to look at camera lenses, Gez has been looking for a specific lens for her husband but Best Buy only have it online, I went to look........just in case! The guy couldn't have been more helpful, I told home I knew they only had it online but he checked anyway and then checked all the other stores in the area, I told him we were kicking ourselves for not having ordered it earlier in the trip and he told us we could get overnight delivery. Why hadn't I thought of that?[stupid2]
I thanked him profusely for his suggestion and after the girls had got the Kindle Fire complete with its case, we headed to Ross Dress for Less and the pictures we wanted.
By this time it was 2.30 and we stopped off at The Paris Bistro in Champions Gate for lunch. There was nobody else in the place but as everything was cooked to order it seemed to take forever to get our lunch, it was, however, worth the wait and the staff were really friendly. The guy who appeared to be the manager/ owner had an accent like Inspector Clouseau and we were in hysterics when he offered me a stray through which to drink my iced tea! Stray what? Stray cat, stray dog......oh no.......a straw! He was really lovely though and had us in hysterics once again we he implored us to come back one evening. he told us his afternoon cook was ok but his evening cook was really good! It was so funny.[laugh]
Grocery shopping needed to be completed at Publix, mainly stuff for myself and hubby at the weekend and we did not arrive back at the villa till gone 4pm, so much for our afternoon by the pool!
We had a cup of tea before hanging the new pictures and putting the Christmas wreath on the front door.
Gez and I then looked into ordering Pats camera lens online. We decided to go with Amazon as we new there would be no issues with the address the cc was registered to and as Gez has an Amazon account it made things very easy, let's just hope it arrives safely!
After we were all showered and changed it was back out to The Mall at Millenia. It was worth the trip just to admire the beautiful Christmas decorations and see the little ones visiting Santa and having their photos taken.
Gez got the Vans she needed for her son and Helen got a t shirt from Abercrombie and Fitch for her daughters boyfriend, but apart from that you will be glad to hear it was just window shopping.
The Cheesecake Factory for dinner was excellent as usual, the three of us who chose salmon came home with tomorrows lunch![msntongue]
Day 13
Packing and snow!
Rain had been forecast for the girls final full day but we had awoken to blue skies and sunshine, the weather channel got that one wrong then!
Gez reported a poor nights sleep punctuated with dreams of customs officers opening her case, she thinks she may be over her limit! No.......you don't say![msnwink]
It seemed a shame to waste the glorious sunshine so we all went out of the deck where I lay unmoving whilst the others popped in and out checking on things that needed moving from cases to hand luggage and vice versa.
Pats lens arrived and gave Gez something else to worry about getting in her ccases
Courtesy of last nights dinner we all enjoyed salmon salad for lunch and passed the afternoon swimming and dozing........perfect!
My sister had a Skype call from my niece about 4pm and as she moved towards the lanai so the picture was clearer she screamed!! I went running over to see what was the matter and all I could see was my nieces left hand displaying a dazzling diamond ring, her lovely boyfriend had proposed when she came home from work! Good job Helen got him the shirt from Abercrombie and Fitch!!
At the end of the call it was a great excuse for frozen cocktails to toast the newly engaged couple. I had to limit myself to one as I would be driving later![cheers]
We went inside reasonably early as we had a diinner reservation at Cafe D'Antonio in Celebration at 8pm but wanted to watch the 7pm snowfall.
It was about 6.40 when we got there and all the car parks were busy (not as busy as 4th July though!) so I dropped the others in town and went in search of parking, I had seen the snow before so it wasn't too much of a problem of I missed it.
I eventually found a spot to park on Celebration Ave just by the nativity and made it back to Market st just before the snow started. It was lovely to see the kids enjoying the "snow" getting themselves thoroughly covered in the stuff.The Christmas music served to make us all feel bait more Christmassy once again![xmas1]
We went into the Market St Gallery where I got a card for my niece, I would have liked to buy her a bauble as well but sadly that was one of the few sentiments they didn't have.
We watched the children from the dancing school perform various numbers before we went to take up our 8pm dining reservation. Cafe D'Antonio has always been one of our favourite restaurants but since our last visit there in March they have changed the menu and some of my favourites have disappeared, I didn't enjoy my lobster ravioli half as much with its new style sauce.
After dinner we drove around some of the streets, admiring the Christmas lights in the residential areas before making our way home to more packing for my companions.
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Originally Posted by steph_goodrum
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