Yesterday, we had a blast hanging out with our friends the Hills, and having all kinds of trips down memory lane.
Playing in the playroom! Savannah is at a music camp in the morning, so our kids and Taylor had a blast playing different imaginative games together.
The pool!! I think this will be our kids' favorite part of our whole trip - so much fun to have a pool right in the backyard. It rained off and on yesterday, but the kids managed to get lots of pool time between noon and 3 p.m.
Riding an Orca and Dolphin. Annika saved up her allowance to purchase this giant inflatable orca, and it was everything she dreamed it would be.
Doing tricks. I think Savannah was the "trainer" and Annika was the "dolphin" jumping through the inner tube.
Watching videos. I am not sure what this was, but it was utterly captivating by all.
Afternoon Fashion Show! Even Daniel was participating, as a model of "Boy Clothes." Perhaps some future 4-H Fashion Revue entrants?
Later in the afternoon, we went on a driving tour around Orlando/Oviedo to relive all kinds of memories. First up - UCF! This place has changed in all kinds of ways since Will and I started there in 2005 for our PhDs.
Giant new campus apartment complexes. These were sprouting up everywhere.
The Creative School for Children!! The absolutely fabulous daycare where Annika went for preschool. I think going here might ruin you for school later, since nothing else can ever compare. ;)
Brand new parking garage. Parking garages at UCF are everywhere and seem to sprout up overnight.
School for Performing Arts - brand new building.
So many happy memories of the UCF campus, including palm trees everywhere.
New basketball arena. UCF has no soul and naming rights on all go to the highest bidder, thus the "CFE Arena," near the "Brighthouse Stadium."
Back around to the Creative School - the huge fabulous playground that is not quite as big as Annika remembers.
What's this? Oh, another new parking garage!
Brand new UCF Police station. It was a very temporary, small building when we were here.
Our first apartment in Orlando!! We lived here with Annika from August 2005 to July 2007. So many memories at 3052 Southern Pine Trail. We were in the unit on the bottom right. The window on the left was Annika's bedroom, and on the right (cut off in this picture) was Will and my bedroom. We even had a small fenced "backyard" area on other side. Annika's only memory of living here is jumping on our bed, go figure.
Daniel's daycare! The fabulous UCP school. He went here as a toddler our last year in Florida (as a baby, he was at a wonderful daycare at a Catholic church), when they opened this brand-new building.
The toddler playground.
Traffic! This was on the infamous Alafaya Trail, where there is an accident every.single.day. You can see off in the distance the emergency vehicles coming for yet another accident.
A huge strip-mall area across from campus (which had a fabulous Indian foods market) has been bulldozed and replaced with....more student apartments.
Annika's doctor's office on University Blvd is now part of the new UCF College of Medicine.
And...our house! We lived here from July 2007 to June 2010, when we moved to Kansas. So many memories here, including where Daniel lived for his first two years of life. We loved this house and the neighborhood. Sadly, the neighborhood seems to have really deteriorated in the four years since we have lived there - all kinds of super overgrown yards and decrepit houses now. :(
Annika's school for kindergarten, Arbor Ridge! This was a shock to see. When she went here, the school was literally a web of portable classrooms connected by metal walkways. We learned that Orange County had passed a one half-cent sales tax to redo all of the schools constructed in this manner. Arbor Ridge as we know it was demolished in 2012, and reopened as an actual permanent building in July 2013!
Blanchard Park! There was a great running trail that went here very close to our house. Unfortunately, there were also many alligators in the water....and a girl was murdered here while running here at 5:30 p.m. in broad daylight while we lived here. But - ignoring all of that, great memories!
The Twistee Treat!! So many buildings have come and gone, but this giant ice cream cone establishment is a rock. We stopped here with the kids and Savannah for some well-deserved soft serve.
And last but not least, our old church, University Carillon United Methodist Church! We went here the entire 5 years that we lived in Florida. It is where we met our best friends the Hills, where Daniel was baptized, where Will first joined choir, where Will and I led several parenting studies, and where our whole family met so many wonderful people.
Today's adventure - heading to Cocoa Beach, and then dinner with my great friend Anna! We are having a wonderful time and love this place.
