Kicking off Mini Me’s Fifth Birthday in Florida

This is a very special Travel Thursday post since today is our daughter’s 5th birthday. Can you believe it? She’s already five freaking years old!!! Boy, has time flown by, which is why we couldn’t let this birthday pass by without doing something special so when Mini Me asked to go on a plane for her birthday, we decided to book a flight from New York to Orlando,
Florida.  Who doesn’t want to enjoy some fun in the sun any day, especially on their birthday? I know I wouldn’t mind it so off to Florida we went.

Our first few days in Florida were spent in Fort Pierce. You’re probably wondering what is there to do in Fort Pierce? Well, down by the pier there’s Uncle Carlo’s Gelato. Carlo makes some of the best gelato we’ve had, and in a variety of flavors even Corona! During this visit Carlo made a batch of Corona-flavored gelato for my husband who visited Uncle Carlo’s every single day at least twice per day for the duration of our time spent in Fort Pierce.

While gelato was on our daily schedules, we also took an almost three hour drive into Delray Beach to visit the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. The visit to this garden was done especially for my mom who loves flowers and gardening. The Morikami is a horticulturalists dream. Mini me loved it as well, especially being able to feed the Koi’s. After spending a few hours walking around, taking in the sights, we worked up an appetite and luckily for us, our favorite burger place, Shake Shack, was nearby.

Our stay in Fort Pierce concluded with a trip to the movies to see Disney’s Zootopia! We all loved the movie. As parents, we appreciated Zootopia teaching children seeing this movie the importance of not giving up on your dreams and settling. As adults we appreciated the more powerful messages surrounding prejudice, discrimination and police brutality.  Mini me was, of course, too young to understand, but enjoyed the movie overall. It was the perfect way to end our time in Fort Pierce, and prepare to head back to Orlando.

At the midpoint of our mini vacation for our daughter’s birthday, she stated, “I’m happy I chose Florida for our trip. It’s the best place ever!” This was before we headed back to Orlando so that we could head to LEGOALND Florida.  Yes, she said she chose Florida. Do you believe that? We couldn’t either, but since the trip was for her birthday we let it slide. We are just happy that she enjoyed her trip.

The last two days of our trip to Florida were spent in Orlando. In the afternoon, after a two hour drive we checked into our two-bedroom villa at the Sheraton Vistana Resort Villas.  We rested, enjoyed a Chicago-style pizza from Giordano’s, and then Mini Me and her dad spent time playing and swimming in the indoor, heated pool.  The next morning we prepared for the hour long drive to LEGOLAND Florida.

Taking Mini Me to LEGOLAND Florida was the best way to end the trip.  We all enjoyed ourselves, even my mom who even rode a rollercoaster. Yes, my mom rode a roller coaster, y’all.  She only got on one, which was enough for her, but the fact that she got on one says a lot, but I digress. LEGOLAND was perfect for an almost five year old. In a later post I will go into more detail, but in the meantime just check out my instagram to see a few shots from our visit.

Overall, this was a fun and much needed vacation away from the cold, and a great way to spend time as a family enjoying each other’s company. It was the perfect way to start off the celebration for our daughter’s fifth birthday.  We’re happy she’s happy with her trip. She’s so happy that she has already planned to visit Florida for her sixth and seventh birthdays. Oh, and she asked to go a cruise. What are we going to do with this girl?