Florida Florida Florida (part 1)
Matt and Madeleine and I enjoyed another trip home to my parents in Florida recently. It was probably the funnest family vacation we have had so far. Fortunately Matt took lots of pictures and videos on my phone. I intended to practice my own photography skills with the SLR but didn't really do much at all.
This was taken one afternoon when we were all together. The kids loved the trampoline. The adults were the weights on so that no body bounced too high.
Flying
Each time we fly Matt and I both worry about how Madeleine will do (and Matt but that's a different story). And pretty much every time she flies she surprises us and is an angel to travel with. This time was no exception. We went to the store together the day before and she got to pick out a little kid roller bag (she was running up and down the aisles of Target with her chosen one) and we got a couple new books, a new toy of her choice--$3 doll, a new puzzle, and a Doc McStuffins DVD since we couldn't find Handy Manny. With milk, snacks, and her blanky she was set and did fantastic.
Tuesday, April 15th
My dad is a CPA and so April 15th has always been a big deal in our family. We arrived in Tampa in the afternoon and were greeted by my parents, Alicia and her three kids, Sarah and Michael and their two boys, Gramma Meyers, and my cousin Jessica (Ben met up with us later). We went out to eat and had a great meal. Ironically, my dad's meal was the only one that wasn't right. The poor guy had to wait for his celebration dinner while the rest of us ate ours. Poor Dad. He sure enjoyed it when it arrived though!
Maddie was so tired by the end of the meal but stayed pretty cheerful since she had her cousins and her cousins had toys to share. :) She asked for "mommy's house" on the drive home when she reached her exhaustion point. It was a very sad, pathetic plea but fortunately it only lasted a few minutes before she conked out along the drive.
Wednesday, April 16th
Alicia and Ben sold their house in New Port Richey a few weeks ago and are in the process of closing on a new home in Tampa. Consequently, they are living upstairs at my parents house for the next six weeks or so. This was one of the aspects of the trip that I was most excited for: staying all together with my parents and with Alicia's family. During past visits to Florida I've wanted to see and do lots with Alicia and her family. I just struggled to get enough time with her though since she lived so far from my parents house and I wanted to still try and give Madeleine her usual naps and bedtime.
This trip Alicia's family were some of the first faces we saw when we woke up Wednesday morning (besides my mom and dad). Madeleine played with Jax and McKay all morning (Sadie is in kindergarten and was already at school). It was heaven. Absolute heaven.
We actually took off for the east coast around lunch time and made it to my Uncle Jim and Aunt Charmaine's house around 4:00. They live in Stuart, a nice little town on the Atlantic between Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. We went out to dinner and stayed the night at their house.
We took this picture in the morning before we left. I wish I had remembered to get a photo with Uncle Jim too. Next time I will!
Thursday, April 17th
Thursday morning we had breakfast with Aunt Charmaine (Uncle Jim is a retired ophthalmologist but still works once a week) and then loaded back into the car and drove an hour and a half farther south to Fort Lauderdale for the LDS temple open house.
I know Madeleine is young--but she's also really bright and surprises me constantly at how much she can remember and how long she can remember things. I hoped that this trip to the temple open house would be a memory she would keep and think about even if it's only for the next few months. Since she won't be able to go inside of a temple until she's twelve this was one of our few opportunities to show her all around a temple and talk about it's importance.
Our tour through the temple didn't go quite like I had hoped. I didn't have huge expectations for her. But I did hope that she would at least be curious and interested in the tour and that she would get an idea that we were in a special place. Not so. I think it was just that she had traveled so much by this point both by plane and by car that she wanted to run around and do normal things instead of being in yet another new place where she wasn't aloud to run around and explore at her own pace. She was at least excited for the golf cart ride that took us back to our car. Alas...
Michael and his family drove down to do the tour at the same time as us. We were late leaving Aunt Charmaine though and Mike decided to go ahead and take the boys ahead of us since they were already there and waiting. Afterwards, my dad dropped us off at a park just down the street from the temple and Madeleine got to run and play for about an hour while my parents caught up with Michael and grabbed lunch for us.
Matt got to see the Altantic ocean and the Florida everglades for the first time this trip. My dad pointed out that there was reinforcement along the bottom of the fence by the side of the highway to keep alligators from pushing up and coming underneath. I was also surprised that the fence had barbed wire along the top--pointed towards the swamp. Some very determined gators actually try to climb over the fence. Matt saw a few gators along the drive but mostly it was rainy and he dozed on and off.
We needed to stop for a diaper change eventually and did so at Ellenton, my favorite outlet mall. :) I'm not sure why but I still have not found a place where I can consistently find clothes I like out here in Utah. For some reason Ellenton never fails. Thank you to my parents and Matt for indulging me for a long overdue half hour excursion. Hopefully it won't be another four+ years until the next time I return.
Friday, April 18th
We played at home with Alicia, Sadie, Jax, and McKay Friday morning. Sadie had the day off of school for good Friday. They left mid-day to drive down to Fort Lauderdale and go to the temple open house Saturday morning. Funny thing is this: Alicia left to meet up with Ben an hour early and so they turned around and came back home. :) She called and told me after about 5 or 10 minutes and so Matt and I made a quick welcome home sign, turned all the lights off, and surprised them when they walked back in the door.
My dad and Joe came home for lunch and made us Tilapia on the grill with asparagus, bell peppers and onions. It was so good--one of my favorites, and Matt's also. Madeleine did her fair share of eating fish too. It is just so soft and mild and flavorful on the grill. My mom made roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner. My parents know my favorite foods, can you tell? And Maddie reminded me of myself as she ate corn on the cob. Corn was my favorite side dish when I was a little older than Maddie is now. She sat between my parents this particular meal and there's a great video of Grampy helping her eat corn:
Friday night we made it to the beach for the sunset. It was slightly on the cool side for Florida, especially this late in spring. Madeleine didn't mind the cold though and wanted to go in the water as usual.
Here's short video of Madeleine with cousins on the trampoline over the weekend. Charlie did not like being close to her but she wanted to be close to him! Matt says he thinks she knows what she was doing because she had a slight grin on her face when they watched this one together afterwards.
This was taken one afternoon when we were all together. The kids loved the trampoline. The adults were the weights on so that no body bounced too high.
Flying
Each time we fly Matt and I both worry about how Madeleine will do (and Matt but that's a different story). And pretty much every time she flies she surprises us and is an angel to travel with. This time was no exception. We went to the store together the day before and she got to pick out a little kid roller bag (she was running up and down the aisles of Target with her chosen one) and we got a couple new books, a new toy of her choice--$3 doll, a new puzzle, and a Doc McStuffins DVD since we couldn't find Handy Manny. With milk, snacks, and her blanky she was set and did fantastic.
Tuesday, April 15th
My dad is a CPA and so April 15th has always been a big deal in our family. We arrived in Tampa in the afternoon and were greeted by my parents, Alicia and her three kids, Sarah and Michael and their two boys, Gramma Meyers, and my cousin Jessica (Ben met up with us later). We went out to eat and had a great meal. Ironically, my dad's meal was the only one that wasn't right. The poor guy had to wait for his celebration dinner while the rest of us ate ours. Poor Dad. He sure enjoyed it when it arrived though!
Maddie was so tired by the end of the meal but stayed pretty cheerful since she had her cousins and her cousins had toys to share. :) She asked for "mommy's house" on the drive home when she reached her exhaustion point. It was a very sad, pathetic plea but fortunately it only lasted a few minutes before she conked out along the drive.
Wednesday, April 16th
Alicia and Ben sold their house in New Port Richey a few weeks ago and are in the process of closing on a new home in Tampa. Consequently, they are living upstairs at my parents house for the next six weeks or so. This was one of the aspects of the trip that I was most excited for: staying all together with my parents and with Alicia's family. During past visits to Florida I've wanted to see and do lots with Alicia and her family. I just struggled to get enough time with her though since she lived so far from my parents house and I wanted to still try and give Madeleine her usual naps and bedtime.
This trip Alicia's family were some of the first faces we saw when we woke up Wednesday morning (besides my mom and dad). Madeleine played with Jax and McKay all morning (Sadie is in kindergarten and was already at school). It was heaven. Absolute heaven.
We actually took off for the east coast around lunch time and made it to my Uncle Jim and Aunt Charmaine's house around 4:00. They live in Stuart, a nice little town on the Atlantic between Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. We went out to dinner and stayed the night at their house.
We took this picture in the morning before we left. I wish I had remembered to get a photo with Uncle Jim too. Next time I will!
Thursday, April 17th
Thursday morning we had breakfast with Aunt Charmaine (Uncle Jim is a retired ophthalmologist but still works once a week) and then loaded back into the car and drove an hour and a half farther south to Fort Lauderdale for the LDS temple open house.
I know Madeleine is young--but she's also really bright and surprises me constantly at how much she can remember and how long she can remember things. I hoped that this trip to the temple open house would be a memory she would keep and think about even if it's only for the next few months. Since she won't be able to go inside of a temple until she's twelve this was one of our few opportunities to show her all around a temple and talk about it's importance.
Our tour through the temple didn't go quite like I had hoped. I didn't have huge expectations for her. But I did hope that she would at least be curious and interested in the tour and that she would get an idea that we were in a special place. Not so. I think it was just that she had traveled so much by this point both by plane and by car that she wanted to run around and do normal things instead of being in yet another new place where she wasn't aloud to run around and explore at her own pace. She was at least excited for the golf cart ride that took us back to our car. Alas...
Michael and his family drove down to do the tour at the same time as us. We were late leaving Aunt Charmaine though and Mike decided to go ahead and take the boys ahead of us since they were already there and waiting. Afterwards, my dad dropped us off at a park just down the street from the temple and Madeleine got to run and play for about an hour while my parents caught up with Michael and grabbed lunch for us.
Matt got to see the Altantic ocean and the Florida everglades for the first time this trip. My dad pointed out that there was reinforcement along the bottom of the fence by the side of the highway to keep alligators from pushing up and coming underneath. I was also surprised that the fence had barbed wire along the top--pointed towards the swamp. Some very determined gators actually try to climb over the fence. Matt saw a few gators along the drive but mostly it was rainy and he dozed on and off.
We needed to stop for a diaper change eventually and did so at Ellenton, my favorite outlet mall. :) I'm not sure why but I still have not found a place where I can consistently find clothes I like out here in Utah. For some reason Ellenton never fails. Thank you to my parents and Matt for indulging me for a long overdue half hour excursion. Hopefully it won't be another four+ years until the next time I return.
Friday, April 18th
We played at home with Alicia, Sadie, Jax, and McKay Friday morning. Sadie had the day off of school for good Friday. They left mid-day to drive down to Fort Lauderdale and go to the temple open house Saturday morning. Funny thing is this: Alicia left to meet up with Ben an hour early and so they turned around and came back home. :) She called and told me after about 5 or 10 minutes and so Matt and I made a quick welcome home sign, turned all the lights off, and surprised them when they walked back in the door.
My dad and Joe came home for lunch and made us Tilapia on the grill with asparagus, bell peppers and onions. It was so good--one of my favorites, and Matt's also. Madeleine did her fair share of eating fish too. It is just so soft and mild and flavorful on the grill. My mom made roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner. My parents know my favorite foods, can you tell? And Maddie reminded me of myself as she ate corn on the cob. Corn was my favorite side dish when I was a little older than Maddie is now. She sat between my parents this particular meal and there's a great video of Grampy helping her eat corn:
Friday night we made it to the beach for the sunset. It was slightly on the cool side for Florida, especially this late in spring. Madeleine didn't mind the cold though and wanted to go in the water as usual.
Here's short video of Madeleine with cousins on the trampoline over the weekend. Charlie did not like being close to her but she wanted to be close to him! Matt says he thinks she knows what she was doing because she had a slight grin on her face when they watched this one together afterwards.
Cute! It was sure a fun trip. Can't wait to read the next post :) Miss our little Maddy!!! Love you.
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