What I Did On My Summer Vacation - Day 7 - A Day of Rest, Relatively Speaking

Day 7 was a day of rest for us, a one day break in the 3 day "Parkhopper" Pass my son purchased for his family.  I have no idea how much their passes were, but mine was $145 for one day.  That makes the season pass at Silver Dollar City I paid $85 for look pretty darn good.

Breakfast for Max

Breakfast on the balcony with Max & my wife overlooking Sea World was followed by the grandkids spending much of the day at the pool with their parents.

Since Val was still laid up (3 Dr. appts already scheduled for the week we return), I took the opportunity to do a little hiking at a place I discovered a couple of years ago called the Tibet Butler Nature Preserve.  Minutes from the theme parks, Tibet Butler is an island of swampy wilderness set aside amidst the encroaching subdivisions. Take away the traffic noise and you might think you'd been dropped in the Everglades.

A shy resident of Tibet Butler Preserve

Though I am always on the lookout for gators and snakes, so far our paths have not crossed.  I've seen giant turtles, eagles, an armadillo and many different species of birds, but so far nothing threatening, other than the many tree roots I have encountered that looked exactly like a snake.  The deer flies were annoying on this visit, but an application of Ben's Insect Repellent discouraged them enough that they let me alone.  But not before I killed 4 of them feasting on my leg in less than 10 seconds.

That evening, Val and I took the kids swimming while their mom and dad had a "date night" dinner at Maggiano's Italian Restaurant. There is also a Maggiano's in St. Louis near the Galleria Mall which I highly recommend if you are very hungry and have a stack of discretionary cash available.  I believe it is now $33 a head for all you care to eat of their delicious offerings.

As I tried to keep an eye on our 3 grandkids in the pool, a young boy came struggling by me attempting to stay afloat.  "Could somebody give me a hand?" he said calmly to no one in particular.  I reached out, grabbed him by the arm, and deposited him at the pool edge.  After catching his breath, he smiled at me and resumed his quest to swim by himself.

After a meal of frozen pizza from Walmart, the kids crawled into their bed on the fold-out couch in front of the TV and relaxed, livening up a little when their mom & dad returned.

They needed their rest.

On Day 8, the would visit Star Wars Land at Hollywood Studios.

As Yoda would say "Need their energy to battle Darth Vader, they would.  A challenge, it would be!  To bed, off,  little ones.  Hmmmmmm.