Florida 2011

Our yearly trip to Florida was the best ever, even though it certainly didn't start out that way. We left for Nonny and Poppy's on July 2, having packed pretty much everything we own into the mini-van. We thought we were mentally prepared for the 16 hour drive (20 for us with all the stops for eating, changing diapers, etc.). Dani, however, decided to show us that she could easily break us. She screamed and/or cried for nearly the entire trip. In her defense, she had caught Jack's cold and, unbeknownst to us, she would cut her first tooth just days later. But she still was extremely successful in driving us totally insane. Paul and I handled it remarkably well, I must say and we didn't blow up at each other at all, which was just amazing, considering how much our sanity was pushed after arriving at the hotel and having Jack bouncing off walls with all the pent up energy. We hoped the next day would be better. It was not. Jack also handled the crying extremely well, not losing his patience at all!

We finally arrived and after that, everything was just awesome. Actually, Dani was pretty crabby for naps and when anyone left the room. However, we soon realized that she didn't like the smaller crib, as she couldn't turn around and we swapped it out in favor of the Pack-N-Play, which she enjoyed much more. It was also a trip of firsts for Dani. She also sprouted her first two teeth within days of each other and started crawling on July 8. She also learned to push up to sitting on July 6. So, her crabbiness is pretty easily explained by all that was going on physically and all the big things she was thinking about doing! She also swam for the first time. We had brought her to the health club pool but this was the first longer swim time for her. And she loved it! She was not as big of a fan of the boat ride we took but she was overtired.

I would say that Dani, as a whole, had a great time. But that was nothing compared to the time that Jack had. Jack thought Nonny and Poppy's house was the coolest thing ever. He and Wiley became fast friends and we dread the day that he begs us for the dog that he's not going to get. Wiley loved having a kid who never tired of throwing the ball for him. His already pretty good swimming skills got even better. Early on, we ditched the Swimmies and let him just swim in his wetsuit with the floaties. He jumped off the side, went under water, held his breath and fine tuned his swimming skills. It was very impressive. He's a little fish and loved to go in the pool each day. He also fell in love with the fireworks that were every Thursday. At first he was scared of the loud noises but it didn't take long for him to fall in love with them. The highlight was the final Thursday when there was an air show before the fireworks. My mom said that he was staring into the sky, mouth open, screaming, "Holy cow airplanes!" He still talks about the airplanes, smoke, fireworks and boats constantly. He also found that he loved golf cart rides, which he and Dani would take each night with us. And he enjoyed playing a little golf, getting better and better at putting each day with his little Jack-sized putter.

We really couldn't have asked for a better trip. We spent quality time with the kids, with my parents and we got to have a couple of date nights too. Staying three weeks was great because it took the pressure off of cramming everything in. Even though, at the end of the three weeks, it still felt like it all went by too fast. We just can't wait for next year when Dani will be older and enjoy everything more. Can't say she'll love the car ride but she was MUCH better on the way home so there's still hope!