One of the best Christmas presents ever...a trip to Florida!! My parents decided that for Christmas last year they were going to give us all a vacation in Florida. They arranged a house swap with people who live in Destin, Florida. The house was minutes from the beach! It was so much fun to have the whole family there. Grant did great on his second airplane journey. We thought he was old enough this time to understand a little of what was going on, so the whole month or so before we left we kept pointing out airplanes and telling him that we were going to go in one to Florida. He got so excited about "Blorida" before we even left that he started begging to go there the week before we left. He was very excited about the whole experience. He loved the airport...
Everything was "my plane", "my gate", "my backpack", "my seat". His Grandma had gotten him a book about taking an airplane trip before we left, so he knew everything about it.
We spent most of our time at the beach (of course). Here are the ladies of the family in a rare moment of relaxation while the two boys were napping.
The people who owned the house had a golf cart for us to use to get to the beach. We loaded that thing up as much as we possibly could every time.
We didn't want to pay to send a portable crib for Grant to sleep in, so he got to experience a "Big Boy Bed" for the first time. He did really great, and stayed in his bed most of the time :)
There was also a pool where we stayed. You might think, "who needs a pool when the beach is so close?" but let me tell you, it was nice to have the non-salty water for some of our swims. We would usually go to the pool in the evenings when no one else was there. Henry and Grant had a great time in the pool!
Almost every night we went out for a close-to-midnight treat. One night it was Twirl (Frozen Yogurt), another night Shakes (Frozen Custard), and of course Krispy Kremes Hot Donuts! Most of the time we went out after the boys were asleep, but this time they got to come along. Yum, Yum!
"I'll have that one, and that one, and that one..."
One day we spent some time down on the docks in the harbor. Grant got to get face-to-face with a yellow fin tuna. He thought it was really cool!
At lunch that day, a pirate came and made the boys balloon animals. I don't know which they liked better, the pirate or the balloons.
Grant absolutely loved the ocean!! I was a little nervous, because previously when we have taken him in the water he hasn't been too fond of it. But the warm ocean was another story! He wasn't content to just play along the shore either. He wanted Daddy to take him out into the waves. They would spend so much time jumping the waves and surfing with the boogie board. He never wanted to come back in.
One evening we went on a dolphin viewing sunset cruise. It was a blast, and we even saw a few dolphins!
This is about the only picture I was able to get with both Grant and Henry. Grant was a little intimidating to Henry, and he would cry every time Grant got near him. So, unfortunately they didn't spend too much time playing together. Maybe next time...
Last night...out on the beach...flying kites.
Grant got the royal treatment on the plane ride home. Daddy was feeding him cantaloupe on a toothpick while he watched a movie.
We missed our return flight out of Houston and had to hang out at the airport for a while. Nothing like an airport picnic! Gammy was awesome and got us all successfully on the same flight home on the same day we were supposed to get home while tons of other people were going to have to spend the night in Houston.
Finally tuckered out! Grant didn't take naps on the days we were traveling. On the way home though, with the missed flight and delays, he finally got tired enough that he fell asleep. We drove all the way home to Medford (from Portland) that night. He slept the whole time in the car, and then didn't wake up the next day until 11:15!!! He was one tired boy!
We had a wonderful time. I can't thank my parents enough for the opportunity to do something so amazing with such an awesome family! I don't know if Grant is old enough to remember this trip, but he is still talking about it a week later. He loves looking at the pictures from the trip, so maybe we can keep it fresh in his mind.
