Super Troopers

Was in Florida for the past week...NICE. I soooo needed the vacation. Time to relax, visit with the family, hang by the pool, run about...much needed and very appreciated. My parents winter in Florida, and for the past couple of years we've had Thanksgiving down there.

I was a little weary of how my 16 month old nephew would do on the 3 hour flight south. Fortunately my seat was several rows in front of my nephew, sister, and brother-in-law (bil). It didn't really matter though, the little guy did great, without a nap, even. we had our very delicious thanksgiving dinner and spent the evening in the pool/hot tub talking, drinking and enjoying the beautiful weather. the weekend consisted of shopping, hanging with friends of my parents, lots of laughter, some catchphrase, and many cocktails. i am very lucky my family gets along so well...and we have such a great time together. on sunday we headed north to visit grandma and the land o' disney for a few days. monday proved to be the longest day of the trip. we caught the bus for Epcot at 8:00 am, and didn't stop moving all day until 10:00 pm when we arrived back at our hotel. this 14 hour day includes 78-year-old grandma and 16 month-old baby. both were amazing all day. grandma didn't miss a step, or a snack, as we toured around the "world" of Epcot. and baby managed the whole day with nary a meltdown and only a 30 minute nap. talk about super troopers. by the time we got back, my feet ached and my belly was very full. my brother and bil had the brilliant idea to eat something from every "country" ... it provided many delicious treats for all of us, and i'm sad to say they didn't quite make it. the did their best, but a few of the "countries" only had sit-down restaurant fare...something we didn't have time or baby-patience for. i will say that i had my first experience of sushi...and it was yummy. my family was in hawaii a couple of years ago, where my brother and dad fell in love with seared (still raw in the middle) tuna...i tried some and didn't care for it (something about the contrasting texture of raw and seared fish). i was a little weary of the sushi, but have been intrigued by the idea of it...so i gave it a whirl and was pleasantly surprised. i'd do that again =)
at any rate, i'm kind of just rambling away here. sorry. florida was a good time! i love spending time with my family and getting out to do new things. it was great to see grandma too. and i'm so proud and happy both grandma and baby were such stars during our 14 hour galavant. good work! i hope to post some pics of the trip soon on my flicker page (but i'm usually a little slow with that). hope everyone had a good thanksgiving!
i'll be writing more (hopefully less random) blogs soon.