Which brings us to sushi and bowling. Chris wanted all of us out of the house so he could get some rest, and seriously, who can blame him? So he requested that I go and “do something fun” with the boys–I decided on bowling. Zachary hasn’t used his bowling ball since he received it for his 7th birthday (and he’s almost 8), and who doesn’t love a good bowling alley on a Saturday night?

First, however, we had to stop at Marshalls for some new pillows, and it turns out there is a cute little sushi place in the same strip mall. I made the decision that we were going to eat there; it was, after all, right across the street from the bowling alley. Turns out it was a pretty good decision. The sushi was really good, and I actually got Zachary to try some, which he enjoyed except for my wasabi-laden soy sauce. The dinner entrees were yummy, the ambiance was great, and the boys and I had a really enjoyable dinner.

Next stop, bowling! Bowling with an almost-8-year old, and a 4-year old can go one of two ways: great or awful. This time was great. We got there about an hour before cosmic bowling, and we bowled a few games. Then cosmic bowling started and instead of leaving, Zachary asked if we could bowl one more. Of course, I think he wanted to show off his awesome robot dance moves more than he wanted to bowl–we don’t have cool strobes and black lights at our house. So we stayed for one more.

It was a really fun night, and very memorable. The boys were nice to each other (which wore off the next day, I knew it was too good to last too long), and we all had a lot of fun. There were also a few laughs–Jonah never disappoints. Check out the video of poor Jonah, learning the hard way, not to follow the ball down the lane, hee hee.

If you’d like another little chuckle, check out Zachary’s smooth dance moves.

In our search for the elusive house we did stumble upon an Irish bar called Kelley’s, and Kelley was from CO! What a small world. Even better was that Kelley’s was only a few blocks from our goal. So a quick tequila and we were off. We did find the house exactly where I remembered it to be across from putt-putt and the pharmacy, with the crazy pharmacy character still out front waving at people.

After lunch we all meet back up, hopped in our taxi, and made our way to the beach. We ended up at a really nice resort-style place with a great pool, tons of beach chairs (that we didn’t have to pay for–even better), and a nice open-air bar. Unfortunately, the water was so rough and the waves were so big that we couldn’t do any snorkeling. This was a big bummer for the kids. I, however, chose to take advantage of the massage table. I can now say from experience that there is not much that can compare to a massage on the beach, with the sound of the surf, a nice breeze, and Mexican music playing in the background. H-E-A-V-E-N!

There’s so much more I could write about, but then this post would go on for days. So, here’s a little more of the good and the bad:

This was great too

• Mojitos and moonlight while chatting with the nice couple from Minneapolis, on the Serenity deck.
• The comedians were, well, funny.
• Shrimp, shrimp, and more shrimp. Fresh shrimp every dinner. YUM!
• Fruity umbrella drinks–rum, fruit, and umbrellas.

Not so much

• I lost my favorite pair of sunglasses.
• The water was so rough. Next time I have to have one of those little patches behind my ear.
• Grand Cayman. Sure, it was nice hanging with everyone at the beach for a few hours but the shopping was overrated and the prices were inflated.
• The casino sucked. No energy, no enthusiasm, and it took my money.
• The price of all those fruity umbrella drinks. You definitely pay for the rum, the fruit, and the umbrellas.

All in all, it was a great way to spend Chris’s 40th birthday. Thank you Dave and Ivonne, for inviting us to cruise with you and for footing part of the bill.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Check out my pics, if you’re interested.

One thing Orlando is not short on, is things to do. We are pretty fortunate to be able to visit so many great places. Last weekend we took Zachary to Universal’s Islands of Adventure for the first time. Just like Chris and I, the kid loves a roller coaster. Unfortunately, he was too short to ride the two best coasters, The Hulk ((My all-time favorite roller coaster))  and Dueling Dragons, but he still had a great day.

The first ride we took him on was the 3-D Spiderman ride. He loves Spiderman, and thought the ride was pretty cool. Then we had to buy those ugly plastic parkas so we could ride the Dudley Do-Right water ride. Good thing or we would have gotten soaked! Then it was off to Jurassic Park.

First, however, we had to stop at the rock climbing wall so Zachary could give it a try. He’s never done it before and he did pretty well for his first time. It was slow, so one of the workers climbed up with him a second time and helped it out. He was pretty excited when he rang the bell at the top.

It was a pretty great day!

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

This post was generously brought to you by Ferrari parts. Hmm, interesting.