Adventures with Daddy - Day 2

Day 2 - Hurricane Winds

Our first full day in Florida was not an ideal vacation day. Everyone was still tired from the long drive and it was extremely windy. The sun was shining, but it didn't matter because the wind chill must have been in the 30's. The chilly weather did not stop the girls from playing outside in the morning and late afternoon.

For our big activity of the day, we decided to visit the Mote Aquarium. Turns out the rest of Sarasota did too. The aquarium seemed a little small. The crowd plus the layout of the aquarium made it seem cramped. I think the aquarium was meant to be mainly an outdoor experience. Hard to spend a lot of enjoyable time outdoors when it is cold and windy.

Everyone had a good time in any event. Jacqueline loved the sharks, turtles, rays, and dolphins. Sophie was more interested in running around like a banshee....a sure sign she was tired. Grandparents and Dad enjoyed the aquarium too, but became a little wind-blown by the end of the day.

By the way, zoo membership reciprocity is a wonderful perk. We paid ~$100 for a NC Zoo membership in October. Mote Aquarium offered full reciprocity...so everyone was admitted free...a $50 savings. One more visit to the NC Zoo or any other zoo/aquarium with reciprocity will pay for our membership.

We ended our excursion with a nice lunch at a dockside diner. Decent food, good beer, and happy girls.....could not ask for anything more.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent trying to find a gas station, get the fuel door open on the Volvo, and help the girls nap. To keep it short, we finally found a gas station, had to break the fuel door latch (easily fixed with velcro), and naps were not going to happen. The girls were over-tired and kept falling off the Grandparents' bed. Fortunately, the girls went to sleep easily that night after a traumatic bath experience. No one liked taking a bath in the RV shower.

As for sleeping arrangements, we started the girls sleeping on the floor in the back bedroom (3 falls off the bed were enough), then moved them to the pack-n-plays in the kitchen when everyone else went to sleep.

It was nice to see everyone quickly adapted to a daily routine in a new place. A key event for a smooth, enjoyable vacation.

Adventures with Daddy - Day 1

Day 1 was the DRIVE.


Dad, Sophie, and Jacqueline left home at 4:30 AM on Wednesday. Our goal was to arrive at Grandpa and Grandma's place in Sarasota 12 hours later. Ambitious plans for our first extended time together, Mom's first time away from the kids, and Mom's long-weekend break from.....everything.


Our first planned stop was a McDonald's in Florence, SC. A good choice. The restaurant was clean with friendly staff. My only complaint is the playgrouind was outdoors, not indoors. No matter, we still spent more than an hour outside playing. We arrived 15 minutes ahead of schedule, but spent too long playing. Overall, we left 30 minutes late.


Note to self: the kids like McDonald's pancakes. Note to self #2: McDonald's coffee is still not very good.

Next stop was Savannah, GA. After about 2 1/2 hours of driving with 2 silly girls playing with their animals and blankets in the back seats, we arrived at Forsyth Park. One word describes Forsyth Park...WOW! Excellent playground with a Starbucks/Cafe/Restrooms immediately adjacent. The park had nice paths, the fountain was nice (but blocked as they set-up for a wedding), and the trees with Spanish moss were impressive. We will stop again on our way home and probably stop at this park every time we pass through.


After a picnic lunch, we were back in the car and on the road again by 12:30 PM. This final stretch would be the longest. It also turned out to be the toughest. Crazy drivers, bad drivers, heavy traffic, and some rain made the drive tough on Dad. The kids napped until 3:00 PM. Then played the rest of the way. When I realized we would not arrive in Sarasota by 5:30 PM, we stopped to get the girls some milk to drink with a snack around 4 PM as they started to get fussy. We stopped in Ocala at a gas station next to a Cracker Barrel. The line to eat at the restaurant was already out the door. Lots of gray hair in that line.

Finally back in the car for the final push, we arrived at Grandma & Grandpa's RV resort at 6:30 PM.

We drove 800 miles over 14 hours. Subtract out 3 hours of playtime and an extra hour because we could only go 65 mph down I-75, it was about 11 hours of driving. A long day, no matter how you cut it. I was glad to relax with a beer at the end of the day.

Flat Tires

Why must flat tires always occur when it is dark, 35 degrees F and raining? Situation I found myself in Friday night at 5 PM. I got home around 8 PM very, very wet.

My last 2 flat tires were in those conditions.

Top Ten Books

Sophie and Jacqueline love to read. I mean REALLY love to read. Right now, reading is probably there #1 playtime activitiy. Sophie prefers to read to herself. Jacqueline will read to herself, but she also enjoys Mom or Dad to tell her a story.

They have been good readers for almost a year now. I thought their favorites would shift over time. Nope. We try tohide their favorites on the bookshelves to encourage them to read other books. Nope; they find them.

Mom and Dad have their favorites too. Overall, though, we are happy to read any of the top 10 or any of the other books in the house at any time.

1. Animal Action (gift from Aunt Kathy....we need to find another copy.....this one is almost dead)

2. Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin (gift from Aunt Kathy, always have to point out the cats. Shannon's personal favorite)

3. Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb (Sophie's first favorite book....both love it now)

4. Goodnight Gorilla (although we seem to have lost it....maybe cousin Alina "stole" it.)

5. Freight Train (have to make "chugging" noises and bounce your knees)

6. Goodnight Moon (They have learned the most word-object associations with this book. Dad's favorite of the top 10. )

7. Brown Bear, Brown Bear

8. Where the Wild Things Are

9. Best Friends (No picture on the internet....bummer. One of Jacqueline's favorites)

10. Any book with Biscuit the dog (Sophie particularly likes these)

Here is Dad's personal favorite. I love reading this bedtime story. Sweet and sentimental.

It's funny that two kid's books from Aunt Kathy that I've never heard of are their 2 favorites.

Christmas Photos

It is a month late, but slideshow has been updated with Christmas photos. Better late than never!

Snow Photos

Some photos from Saturday after the big snow of 2010.

Jacqueline starting to realize
riding the scooter in the snow is not easy.

Requisite photo of our house blanketed in 8 inches of snow

Jacqueline training for her hike across Antartica. She walked all the way

to the end of the driveway

Family (minus Mom, the photographer) ast the meltdowns began. Realization hit that snow is cold and not fun if you don't wear gloves. Sophie, in particular, did not like the snow.