Florida with J&J--Beach Condo

"Henry's got his eye on one thing, when he's near the water," Jonny told us on May 1, 2017, as night fell at our Ft. Myers condo.  It might be dark outside, but Henry was ready to head to the pool or beach.

Ft. Myers and Naples are on the Gulf Coast, a straight, two-hour drive from Jonny and Jenny's home at Pembroke Pines, a suburb of Miami.

The photo above and the three photos following come from the website for our condo, Island Towers. This is, though, exactly how the beach and our room looked, except that we were on the first floor, with the surf pounding just fifty feet outside our screened-in porch.  The sand was as white and fine as powdered sugar.  "I don't usually like the hot sun and gritty sand of a beach," David said, "but this is perfect."  We opened the porch door and listened as the waves rolled in.

 When he wasn't wading in the surf or swimming in the pool, Sam played on his iPad on the porch.

Jonny and I cooked one gourmet dish after another--salmon with fennel and onions; pasta salad with pesto, salami, and artichoke hearts; spicy lentil soup; corn chowder flavored with turmeric.

Jonny and Jenny love botanical gardens, and they are also kid-friendly.  We strolled through the beautiful Naples Botanical Garden, with its theme areas--a Japanese garden, an orchid garden, a tropical garden.

 Henry and Sam were glad to see their grandparents, but mama was Number One.

 And, of course, we spent time in the children's garden, with its fountains and pools.

We parked our cars in downtown Naples, paused for ice cream cones, and then walked through a wealthy residential area to the pier, as the sun set.  Pelicans swooped into the water, gobbling fish; fishermen hauled in manta rays to use as shark bait, and we padded around in the soft sand.

 Sam relaxed with a slice of pizza.

Next morning, May 2, we took a boat ride around the Naples harbor and out to the Gulf.

Dolphins jumped alongside our boat.

 We sailed past Port Royal, the most elegant area of Naples, where houses cost from $5 million to $120 million.

 We ate lunch at a  highly rated Mom and Pop seafood restaurant.  It had quirky ambience--strip mall, with one foot in a parking stall when you eat outside--but great food.

 I had the Fisherman's Platter, with a slice of key lime pie for dessert.  Henry insisted on dipping his french fries into ketchup himself, and he covered his face with sauce.  Diners from nearby tables watched with amusement.  As he left, Henry waved and threw kisses.  "He knows how to please his public," Jenny explained.

Florida with J&J--Bok Tower and Taco Isabel

After the crowds and man-made excitement of Disney World, we needed to get back to nature. Jonny knew just the place.  As we drove southwest towards Ft. Myers on April 30, 2017, we stopped at Bok Tower in Lake Wales.  It is a rich man's estate, with a bell tower and garden designed in the 1920s by Ohlmstead, the landscape architect who designed Central Park.

 Sam and Henry threw fish food to the carp in the bell tower pond.

 There were perfect magnolia blossoms on the trees.

 Sam showed us his somersaults.

 Jenny contemplated, freed for a moment from the demands of her three male roommates.

 Henry plunged into an enticing patch of bushes, only to find they had sharp leaves!

 Any water source, like this fountain, is a magnet for little boys and their large keeper.

The Bok Tower gardens had an inventive sand box, filled with powdery Florida sand and encircled by a huge, gray snake made of field rocks.

 We drove on and on through the orange orchards of central Florida.  Jonny's mobile app led us to lunch at Taco Isabel.  It was authentic Mexican, with a teenager taking our orders in perfect English and passing them back to the cook in Spanish.  There was even menudo on the menu--tripe soup.  We played it safe with tacos and burritos, then added the exotic with large glasses of tamarind and hibiscus sodas.

Florida with J&J--Disney World

Jonny, Jenny, and their boys joined us in Orlando, Florida, on Friday, April 28, 2017.  We spent a day at Disney World and then planned to spend the rest of the week at a beach condo on the Gulf Coast.

The rides began Friday night at our Marriott Townsuites Hotel.  Jonny and Jenny's check-in cart was piled so high that Sam could ride to his room on the mattress piled on top!

 A trip down the hall on the check-in cart was nearly as exciting as a Magic Kingdom adventure.

We spent Saturday morning at Hollywood Studios.  Dave and Jonny took turns with Jenny and me in riding the "Rock'n'Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith" and then watching Sam and Henry.

We tried the Toy Story Midway Mania, in which you ride through an arcade in a little cart, shooting at targets as you go.  I was proud of my 26,000 score until I saw that David scored 45,000, and that the high score for other passengers traveling with us was 340,000!

 Dave had a strategy on our next arcade ride, and he scored 999,999, the total possible!

Dave and Jonny took Sam on the Twilight Hour Tower of Terror, with an elevator that drops 10 storeys and then bounces up and down, a few storeys each way.  Jenny and I asked Sam if he'd like to go again with us, but he said "Not right now."  "I think the ride was too scarey!" Jenny laughed.

 We also took the Star Wars ride, the Great Movie Ride, and attended the Indiana Jones stuntmen program, complete with fires, snakes, and pivoting airplanes on the huge stage.  We took lots of time outs for popcorn and cold water.  Jonny and Jenny have seasons passes to the Disney parks, and they've visited every few weeks for the last three months.  They didn't need to rush to see everything in one day!

Sam was fascinated with the bubble machine a little girl held in her stroller.  Sam played happily, catching bubbles.

 Dave and I bought Sam and Henry their own bubble machine!

For lunch, we had an impromptu picnic, eating Jenny's delicious curried couscous salad.  "This is better than anything we could buy," we agreed.

 After lunch, we returned to the hotel for naps--all of us!

 At 4 p.m., we visited the Magic Kingdom to meet Mickey.

 Henry wasn't sure what that big mouse was all about.

Sam was not shy about holding hands with the Mouse.

We finished the day with "It's a Small World," "Peter Pan," "Pirates of the Caribbean," the "Haunted Mansion," "Thunder Mountain Railroad," "Splash Mountain," and "Jungle  Cruise."  Finally, at nearly 10 p.m., Jonny asked, "Does anyone want to do anything else?"  Sam wanted to try the "Flying Teacups", and then even he was ready to go home and to bed.