Due to the heat advisory, we stayed at the Meyer’s house for the day. We spent our time either in the pool, playing video games, and enjoying each other’s company.
We love these people, and it’s totally worth the 20+ hour drive to their house to see them. If I write more about it right now, I’m going to cry. So just know our day was perfect, just the way it was.
Steve took responsibility for all 5 kids plus others for VBS at his church, Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Rochester. Such a nice surprise to find ourselves with 4 hours of free time downtown. We meandered to a cool coffee shop near Eastman School of Music. Our only goal in exploring the city was to visit the library, because we’d heard it was cool. And it totally was. We read about Stonewall in a clear and well-written exhibit, wandered around admiring the details, perused the bookstore, and read silently above the Genesee River. It was pretty perfect. Without knowing anything about it beforehand, we discovered we really liked downtown Rochester! We ate lunch with Carina and then picked up the wild ones for nap time/reading time.
Playtime and pool time finished up our day. I didn’t swim because I have Floridian standards (the water was just too dang cold for me!) The water should warm up tomorrow because the heat wave puts the temperature here as the same high as Seminole FL (93 degrees!). Where is the cooler weather we deserve for leaving Florida in July? Arriving soon, I hope, with summer rainstorms in the forecast.
It may be weird to say that one of our priorities in visiting our family was getting pictures of the cousins in matching Disney shirts. I purchased them for the Disney cruise that did not happen, and wanted to make sure to get the kids in a group picture before they outgrew the shirts. Since Keith isn’t the biggest Disney fan, we didn’t want to spend an expensive day at the parks, so we spent a fun day exploring the Magic Kingdom Resort’s hotels!
First up: the Grand Floridian. Modeled after the Victorian era grand hotels that popped up along the Florida coast, it may be the most opulent resort at Disney World. This means it makes for great photo opportunities almost everywhere. It also holds a special place for Scott and Amanda because they were married in the Wedding Pavilion next door. We took some fantastic pictures of the kids, then hopped on the monorail for a ride to the Polynesian Resort for lunch.
We wanted inexpensive, yet delicious food, and we definitely found it at Captain Cook’s at the Polynesian. Serving American and Asian food, Keith got a spicy hot pho noodle bowl, I got a Hawaiian pizza, and Henry got his regular chicken tenders, and my bro and nephew ate dairy and peanut allergy-friendly meals (Amanda ate yummy cheese covered nachos). For dessert, we ate one of my favorite things ever – a Dole whip – from the Pineapple Lanai. Oh my goodness, it just hits the spot on sunny days, with its pineapple and vanilla soft serve mixed together. Henry thought it was dreamy, too.
We would have stayed to swim at the Polynesian, but the large pool area is now locked off to all unless you are staying at the hotel and have a magic band to prove it. Instead, we took a monorail ride back to the Grand Floridian so the boys could swim at its Alice in Wonderland-themed splash pad. It was so fun – the boys really loved the poolside activities and games, even if Henry didn’t really understand them. They also enjoyed sliding down the water slides and splashing in the water. It was a cousin-fun-filled day!
