Florida Vacation

Despite some adverse conditions prior to our departure, we made it to Florida last week. We had to battle stomach flu (Mommy and I were sick the night before we left) and a snow/ice storm that made it hard to get out of our driveway, let alone all the way to the airport, but we made it. Six checked bags (incluing one that was over the weight limit), three pieces of "equipment" gate checked including our monstrous double stroller and three carry-on items. We realized that we were "those people" as we schlepped our way into the airport.

Caroline quickly amused herself with the gate-check tag and both of us were very well behaved as we travelled. We got very lucky and had our connecting flight in Atlanta held for more than 45 minutes, or we would have had a long time to entertain ourselves. Instead we had to run, run, run through the airport, but we made it.
When we arrived in Fort Myers the weather was beautiful and we quickly got our swimsuits on and jumped in the pool at Grandma and Poppy's house. This was Caroline's first time swimming and she really enjoyed it- especially the warm hot tub. After we got out when Mommy was getting her dressed she was still kicking her legs like a little fish! I had a great time in my floaty and did a really good job of following the pool rules.

After the first day the temperatures took a nose dive and it was jeans and sweatshirts for a few days. We visited a very fun park, but even in our warm clothes we were chilly! We had to keep reminding ourselves of the much worse weather we were missing at home. We also went to an outlet mall, and the best purchase we made was chocolate ice cream with lots of sprinkles. We also had to buy some more socks for Caroline, since we only packed two pairs thinking she could go bare foot.

On Saturday we went to the beach on Sanibel Island. It was fun, but we all kept our cover ups and sweatshirts on. And speaking of cover ups, my new one was the hit of my wardrobe. I wore it along with my new beach hat and sunglasses incessantly. I slept in it. I used it as a robe. I wore it all day-- often with the hood up. And of course it worked at the beach too. You can see that I am wearing it in the photo below where Daddy is ducking behind me-- his three-year-old daughter-- for protection from the seagulls who wanted our snacks.

On Sunday we went to an interesting animal place and I finally got to see crocodiles! But as we were watching them, the wind blew my hat off . . . right into the water by the croc. Mom thought I might have a meltdown, but I held it together. She thought it was the last of the hat, but she found a worker who said it was no problem to go get it. Poppy even got a picture of my hat being retrieved. It was a very exciting part of the trip! After the animal park we went over to the bumper boats and Mom, Dad and I went in. Dad and I had a great time getting Mommy wet with our squirt gun and some 10-year old boys thought she was a fun target as well. She came out a little wetter than she had planned!

On Monday the boys finally got to play golf and the girls went for a walk and had a picnic. While Caroline and I napped Mom had a "real vacation" for a whole 45 minutes and got to read her book in the sun with a fruity drink! It was still pretty cool all day, but by mid-afternoon we got brave enough to go in the hot tub for a while.

Tuesday was beach day and the temp was finally in the high 70s. We went to Fort Myers Beach and had fun, despite the big crowds. We played in the water some and I had fun in the sand. Then we had a nice lunch in a fun people watching spot. We all felt very skinny and in great shape after watching a random assortment of people stroll by! When we got home, we hopped in the pool and enjoyed some more swim time.

Wednesday we packed up our many, many bags and were back to the airport. Once again Caroline and I did a great job traveling. I even had a long nap during our 3-hour layover in Atlanta. Mom tricked me a little by pretending we were "looking for our gate" which took about 6 laps of the concourse. Finally I was lulled to sleep. We got home around 6:30 in the evening and went to pick up Lily at our dogsitter. While we were gone I invented another dog that I named "Luftable" so we had to let Lily know about our new pet! She was very happy to see us. It was a very fun trip, but it feels good to be home. We're still doing laundry and trying to get resettled.

If you see these people . . .

. . . you should peobably not let them into your country! We went and got passport photos for Dad, Caroline and me today, so that we will be able to travel to Canada. They all came out looking like mugshots, so we can also use them when we end up on the "Most Wanted" list!


So a few things to tell you. First, Caroline now has enough hair for it to look "messy" when she wakes up. Second, she went to the doctor on Friday for her six-month check-up and she is doing great. 90th percentile for both length and height (18 lbs. 10 oz.). She also got 5 needles. Ouch! Third, she has added carrots to her food list now.

Right before she went to the doctor she had a voluminous spit up, but had no temp and was happy as a clam, as usual. We thought it was a one-time event, but it has lingered on throughout the weekend. Her best one was when we were on the way to the grocery store and she arced the vomit through her "peek hole" in the car seat cover. It was great because it didn't get on her clothes, just on the fleece car seat cover! We are scheduled to go to Florida this week to visit Grandma and Poppy who are there for the month. Let's hope everyone is well and we don't have any more projectile incidents.

I have been my usual self this weekend-- happy and fun most of the time and quite ornery for a little bit of the time. I have been enjoying Mom's Survivor Button that was a gift from Ricia. The ND girls will appreciate this-- it plays "I Will Survive" (Mom's favorite song) and Mom and I love to dance to it. Girls, I am ready for the next event! You can see me walking around with the button (and my fabulous dress-up/bag lady outfit).

This afternoon we went to the mall to get Caroline's 6-month photos taken. We had a double wardrobe malfunction. Carrot spit up on the sweater and a leaky diaper on the pants . . . we made do. I got to be in a few photos, but it was a struggle to get me to cooperate and get Caroline to look and smile at the camera. I decided to stick my tongue out in many of the photos and there was a really cute one of us both, but just as they took the photo Caroline reached back and poked me in the eye. She has a devilish look on her face, so we think she might have done it on purpose. She does laugh when I am throwing a temper tantrum and crying, so she must have a little mean streak in her even though she is so sweet! While we were at the mall we made a few purchases for our trip, including some new sunglasses for me. Dad says I look like Elton John!

"Real Food"

Caroline ate her first real food this weekend (after cereal). Like we did when I was a baby, we decided to start with green beans. They say that if you start with fruits, babies will shun veggies in favor of the sweeter options. And for the same reason, sweet potatoes and carrots come a little bit later. We actually had a hard time finding green bean baby food and almost had to start with peas, but we just couldn't do that to Sweet Caroline. Who wants their first food ever to be peas?

She made a lot of funny faces like she didn't really like it, but as per usual she ate the whole serving. As Grampie Bear said "she's not what you would classify as failure to thrive." She has her six-month check-up on Friday, so we will see if she has thrived all the way up to 18 1/2 pounds!


We had a pretty calm weekend and tried to stay home as much as possible since it is so cold outside. We played a lot, did some baking and ventured out for the usual stops (YMCA, grocery and library). We tried to get a cute Valentine picture of Caroline and me, but I wasn't the most cooperative subject. Tonight we had our own SuperBowl party, which was fun. We are rooting for Uncle Buddy's Colts!