2011 Trip to FL - Friday through Sunday

We took over 500 photos during our recent vacation to Ft. Myers, FL to visit my parents (Granna and Grumps), so it was really REALLY difficult for me to pare it down.  I managed to cut it down to 70 total, which is still a LOT.  So, I figured I would break up the photos even more by breaking up the vacation into several posts.  This post covers our first two days there.

I am happy to report that the trip TO Florida (and home as well) was completely uneventful.  In an effort to try to capture our vacation in writing, I started to journal while we were there.  I only made it through Wednesday...LOL.  But, I thought my description of our flight TO Florida was particularly remarkable, and so I will share it with you.

Friday:

We left on a Friday, with a flight out of Milwaukee at 2pm. I, once again proving how awesome and independent (and stubborn) I am, single-handedly checked the bags in while Max parked the car, which meant pushing Sam in the stroller (with my purse, tote and Max's backpack hanging on it), while navigating a large rolling suitcase with Max and My stuff in it, a small rolling suitcase with Sam's stuff in it, the car seat in a large duffel type bag, and another small rolling suitcase with little Max's stuff in it, which I tried to get him to roll himself, unsuccessfully.  In fact, at one point, he tripped over it and I had to use some tough love to get him to stand up and wheel the thing over to me so that I didn't have to drop everything.   Somehow I managed to get all of that by myself into the check in line, up on the scale, get the luggage tags on and then take everything over to the TSA drop-off.  (This is all once again, proof of just WHY the female race is superior, IMHO).   

Then we waited for Max to join us after parking the car, which didn't take that long and went upstairs to go through security. Luckily, other than the massive amts of luggage we were carrying, it was uneventful. We ate our lunch at the gate and were able to check the two small suitcases as checked bags at the gate to pick up at the baggage claim instead of carry ons which was nice.

On the plane we had a row to ourselves, and used a borrowed (THANK YOU M) CARES air harness to strap Max into his seat. Sam sat on my lap. Both boys were good during the flight. Sam had a few grumbles while he tried to fall asleep, but fell asleep quickly within 15 mins of take off and slept until I woke him up as we got off the plane. Max was good except that he was frustrated he was too short to see out the window, and midway through the flight we let him get out of his seat to look out. We shouldn't have done that as it was hard to get him to sit back down, but we learned our lesson!

By the time we got to my parent's house, it was dinner time.  My mother fed us a Thanskgiving-esque feast and we fell asleep with full bellies.  Little Max had his own 'room' to sleep in (my dad's office on the pull out couch) and Sam slept in the pack and play in our room.  We all passed out and slept a good twelve hours (well, the boys did at least).

Saturday: The next day we woke up leisurely and lounged around the house a bit...re-accustoming our bodies to above freezing weather :).  While Sam was sleeping, my parents and I took Max up to visit the community's playground, pool and fitness area.  Little Max was, of course, drawn to the swings, and Grumps -- who is completely wrapped around his little finger -- was stuck pushing him for awhile.  I don't think Grumps really minded though.

 I love this shot of my Dad.  For several reasons.  I love the way he looks at my son.  I love the way that I can see little Max reflected in his sunglasses.  I love that the way he is standing reminds me of when he coached sports for me in grade school.  I love that the wrinkles in his face are ALL from smiling.

 This shot was taken incognito from across the playground.  Granna thought there was sand underneath the playground equipment, but it was really shredded up old tires.  Little Max is O.B.S.E.S.S.E.D with sand, but the fact that it wasn't sand didn't deter him, and he dug right in with his shovel and bucket.  He was so busy digging in and playing that I was able to zoom in on him, call his name, and quickly grab this shot.



Everything about this photo makes me smile.  My Dad's smile, little Max's smile, and the fact that I remember that he was saying, "Hey Mom, LOOK!  A HEART!"

After our trip to the playground we came back home for a delicious brunch made by Granna.  We lazed around out in the backyard on loungechairs in the sunshine while the boys napped and big Max went for a run.  My cousin Mike and his wife, Rochelle, and their son, Charley, came over for dinner and we watched the Packer game together.  Go PACK!

Sunday:  Another later wakeup, lots of coffee and lounging around.  My Mom, Sam and I went to the local flea market.  I was hoping to find myself a Vera Bradley knock off (I had gotten one in 2007 when we were last there, but it was looking pretty beat up...and I had gotten a REAL Vera Bradley for Xmax, so I wanted something to make sure that one didn't get too beat up), but there really wasn't too much there to choose from.  Max took these photos while we were gone:

 A cute little birdie in the backyard.  You've GOT to love the zoom and clarity of this camera!

Little Max enjoying the playground again.

After my Mom and I got home, Granna and Grumps took little Max for a swim with a picnic lunch and I went for a run while Sam slept. Later that night, we went to the shrimp shack for dinner.  Sam ate so much food that I had to write it down: green beans, an entire banana, fish and mum-mums.  This kid sure can eat!