Oh the Places We Go, The People We See Updated 05/20/13 About This Page:

[jenseib]

Sorry for the lack of updates. It's just that time of year where there seems to be so little time to do everything I want to. I hope to work on it some in the next few days, but this weekend is already full of activities.

Originally Posted by chezp

Great photos from around the resort.

Thanks

Originally Posted by MayraLR

Great photos of AKL!

Thanks

Originally Posted by MGW

Can't wait to read more! Sounds like a great trip!

Thanks, slowly but surely working on it.

Originally Posted by ctsmom116

Fun Trip so far.... Can't wait to read all about it

Thanks. We had such a good time.

[shazza]

Oops - didn't realize you had added a few updates. Cute story about your Rockland Steel driver guy. I know a guy whose name is "Steel Talon"...

And yes, I imagine a brand new DME bus would cost about $500,000, so your buddy Rockland probably wasn't far off.

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by shazza

Oops - didn't realize you had added a few updates. Cute story about your Rockland Steel driver guy. I know a guy whose name is "Steel Talon"...

And yes, I imagine a brand new DME bus would cost about $500,000, so your buddy Rockland probably wasn't far off.

Skip would have a hayday with that name too.

Wow, Thats a lot of money for a bus. We know some people with motorhomes that pay over $100,000 for them and are just amazed at that cost.

[rhinohunter]

Great updates. Your pix from the DME bus are really clear. It seems that all of our vehicle pix are fuzzy, shaky, full of glare, etc. Sorry the room was not ready. But you did get the chance to take the pix in the girls room. Lunch was "interesting".

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by rhinohunter

Great updates. Your pix from the DME bus are really clear. It seems that all of our vehicle pix are fuzzy, shaky, full of glare, etc. Sorry the room was not ready. But you did get the chance to take the pix in the girls room. Lunch was "interesting".

I get a lot of fuzzy ones to when driving. Ther is just no way for me to get some clear ones through a window while moving and heads in the way. I think sitting in the front really helped.

[jenseib]

Pool Time!!!!!



Claire really liked the zero entry.
I was then given instructions. I am sure if you are a Mom, or even a Dad, you know about these “rules” you have to follow. I was to walk to the other side of the pool and then “wait” and watch her come in from the zero entry side. Of course she made it much more complicated and there was a reason for this, though I am not sure what it was. I did as I was told and then watched (and took pictures) of her coming in.







I settled on a chair and pulled out my kindle, took my shoes off and relaxed a few minutes and shot a few pictures as well.















I then kind of looked out and around for the slide and spotted it. I found it and pointed it out to Claire. I now had new rules. I had to move close to the slide so she could swim over there and go on it. I told her I could see her just fine from where I was, but that was not the correct answer. I NEEDED to be over near the slide. I am sure this had to do with a bit of the jitters about going on the slide for the 1st time by herself.
So I gathered my stuff and moved over a little ways closer to the slide.





I settled in once again. Claire slowly swam over. Like I said, I think she was nervous and excited about going on the slide. I took some pictures while I waited for the “moment”.



That is the pool bar over on the other side.





And now the moment we all have been waiting for. She is going to go on the slide!!!





I was supposed to take a picture of her coming down, but it was hard to see and then time it right. I think this is her head just going under.



That was not good enough for her and I had to keep trying off and on all day long.

I liked this sign, too bad it’s kind of hidden.





So Claire’s goal was to go down the slide as many times as she could, and I was supposed to take a picture of her each and every time.











Ok, after about 50 times down, I told her that I think I could sit down now as I am sure I got at least a couple of pictures with her in it.

I loved that the resort had free wifi, and though it’s not the best and I would lose it every so often, it was great to take my kindle out and try to catch up on facebook. Sadly facebook doesn’t always like me and at times I try to post and it tells me it can’t be done. I had this issue at home and thought maybe it was my connection there, but it did it to me at Disney as well, so it’s just me in general that isn’t liked. LOL

Claire had spent about a half hour of going down the slide and then she wanted to go check out the hot tub.













And we saw a little creepy crawler friend.







We decided it was time to explore a bit.







And we found some Flamingos.





Off in the distance, these guys were resting.



More Flamingos.



A view of the lodge from here.

[chezp]

Great pics from the pool!

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by chezp

Great pics from the pool!

[Shari2137]

Loving your photos, look like a great start to your trip.

[mommapants]

all caught up.

Great pic of AKL. I've never been there either. Something I hope to change on my next trip

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by Shari2137

Loving your photos, look like a great start to your trip.

Thanks. it was a nice day and we enjoyed it.

Originally Posted by mommapants

all caught up.

Great pic of AKL. I've never been there either. Something I hope to change on my next trip

It was my first time too, so I wanted to be sure to get lots of pictures...as you can see.

[jenseib]

We just loved watching the Flamingos.



Claire felt the need for a picture.



There are those guys relaxing still.





A look over at the pool.



Back at the birds.







We moved on to get another view of the Flamingos from the other side. We spotted a few pay phones.





Flamingo overload.







They look like headless Flamingos.







And we moved on a little further.



We found the other hot tub.







Getting artsy.







And pool games.



Pool games, I think, are more common now at all resorts than they used to be. I think up until last year, they really didn’t have much going on at Values, at least not like they do now. But since we never really have taken a full resort/pool day, we have never witnessed this too much. This was all new to Claire and as the time went on, she really loved “watching” the games.

[lauriep]

Nice photos around the resort. The pool games do seem to be at all the pools now. They're fun, but usually when they start I'm off to the quiet pool!

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by lauriep

Nice photos around the resort. The pool games do seem to be at all the pools now. They're fun, but usually when they start I'm off to the quiet pool!

Thanks. Claire really loved the games, but she was being too shy to actually play.

[jenseib]

Claire and I kept on with our exploring.



We found the sign for Simbas kids club and went in search of it.



It appeared to be down a hallway and we gave up fast.







We then went in search of more animals. I believe these shots were taken through a window.







Then we found a porch overlook and we were trying to figure out how to get to it.



And another shot through the window, but this was kind of neat looking.





Here’s a porch!



Getting artsy!



Hidden giraffe.



While we stood there, I just took several pictures.







And we kept moving too.





We spotted a few birds.







Another try at an artsy type shot.



I still had rules to follow as we walked around. One being these little tunnel type areas through the rocks. I was NOT allowed to go through till Claire did. Since I was kind of wandering and taking pictures, I broke this rule a few times …and of course was scolded for doing so!





We have found more animals!











Exploring some more.





Aren’t these so cute.







They had these little metal art type animals hidden in the rocks.





We headed inside now to explore the lobby.









It’s really so pretty and I can see the resemblance of Wilderness Lodge.