Category Archives: Florida

Girls’ Weekend Away

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About two and a half weeks ago or so I finally scratched my persistent travel itch.  Please forget that we went to Florida for over a week for Christmas, that’s irrelevant at this time.  There were two bigs things pulling me to North Florida this past weekend. My cousin and his wife just had a new baby, Cameron and my college roommate, Sharon and her husband are expecting a baby in April.  Originally I had planned to be in Gainesville at the same time as my cousin from Boston, but because of work, that didn’t work out.  The flight there was pretty uneventful.  M was awake for the whole first flight but was a good girl and enjoyed the extra seat next to me.  She fell asleep just as we were landing and slept through the quick layover and second flight.  She even slept through the car ride to my aunt and uncle’s and went right to bed when we arrived. It was so wonderful to meet Cameron. His mom is a champ, birthing his 10lb 8 oz self with no drugs!  He slept through most of our visit, waking up only to pee on himself and me while I changed his diaper (I have no experience with boys) and to poop on my shirt on another occasion.  Boys!  His parents looked remarkably well, although it sounds like they aren’t getting much sleep.  Chatting about all the new baby stuff had me doing a lot of reminiscing about those first days with Miss M.  After two quick nights in Gainesville, we were off to Jacksonville to see Sharon and Sarmad.  My dad had driven up from South Florida to hang out with us a bit in Gainesville and was nice enough to drive us over to Jacksonville.  We laid low at Sharon and Sarmad’s, checking out the new nursery, napping (3 whole hours at a time one day!), playing at the park and in their backyard.  It was so great catching up and talking to some awesome and excited parents-to-be.  The plane trip home wasn’t awesome, but also wasn’t really worth complaining about.  She was awake for both flights and was really cranky and fidgety during the second, longer flight.  We were lucky to be able to move our seats and have the center seat open.  All in all it was an awesome trip with awesome company.  I loved spending some quality time traveling with my girl and visiting great friends and family.  Thank you to everyone who hosted us and to those who sat near us on the plane rides!

M’s First Zoo Visit

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While we were in Florida, we visited my childhood zoo.  It sure has changed!  I didn’t even recognize the place.  I was really looking forward to the petting zoo, which of course has closed because some kids somewhere got sick from some petting zoo.  Oh well, we still had a blast! Not sure how much attention she really paid to the animals, and most of them were sleeping at the time.  She did some pointing at the deer, which we see on hikes at home.  She also made her monkey noise when we saw the monkeys.  She seemed pretty interested in the white alligator, as were we!  My favorite were always the otters, but they weren’t even in the water on the day we visited.

 

Annual Beach Trip

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Seems like we only get Miss M to the beach once a year for an hour or so.  She’ll have such a different childhood than her Florida-born-and-raised parents.  I pictured her running around in the sand and chasing the waves this year, but she really just wanted to be held.  After a while we got her to stand on her own and to go for a walk up and down the beach with us each holding a hand.  If we let go, she got upset until we took her hand again.  Not quite the beach trip I imagined, but it was nice to get a little sun-kissed.

Finally a nice kitty!

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Miss M finally found a kitty that would take all her lovin’.  Miss Sammi was such a champ, letting M pet her, kiss her, hug her and just generally abuse her.  Luckily, M doesn’t try to pick kitties up just yet!

Christmas 2011 Recap

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We had a nice long vacation to FL to see all of our family for Christmas, but it sure felt like a whirlwind trip!  We caught up with just about everyone and spent lots of quality family time with all of the grandparents.  M learned some new words: No, Please, Get Down . . .
We ate at or got take out from some of our old favorites.  We had a quick visit to the beach.  The weather was beautiful, and allowed us to eat several meals outside, but we didn’t do any swimming.  It just wasn’t hot enough to warrant needing to cool down in the pool.  Miss M and my mom did a lot of walking up and down the street.  M did not do a lot of sleeping.  Not sure if it was teething or just being away from home, but she seems to like being back in her own bed now.  Thank you to all the friends and family that adjusted their schedules and made some time to hang with us – we really appreciate it and loved seeing you!  To those we missed this time – we hope to see you very soon!

Happy Easter!

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M had a great first Easter in Florida, even though she missed her Daddy so much!  We decided to give him some space as he prepared for a big, important test.  We had a great long weekend in Florida.  We swam, we sat on the porch and we visited with LOTS of family and a few friends.  She was an absolute angel on the plane both there and back.  She was an excellent sleeper in her temporary room, and even kept her cool when she was up past her bedtime.  It was a wonderful weekend!

M with her cousins

M enjoying the porch

M getting a closer look at Grandpa's beard

M enjoying the pool

Happy Easter!

First Trip to the Beach

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M’s first trip to the beach was December 31, 2010 at Lake Worth Beach, FL.  She seemed to really like the breeze in her hair and face (it was nice and breezy, but not too windy).  The temperature was in the 70′s, so it was a beautiful day to go to the beach, but not really a swimming day.  We looked at the seagulls, we walked along the beach, we dipped our feet in the water, and felt the sand beneath our toes.  It was a good trip.

2009 Holiday Roadtrip

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In 2007, we ran into lots of trouble flying home to Florida for Christmas (missed connection in DC, 5 hours in line, 4 hours at hotel, plane tickets on another airline purchased by dad, arriving 3 hours away from home about 5 hours before engagement party thrown in our honor).  In 2008, (with memories of 2007), we decided to stay in CT for the holidays.  This year (2009), we decided to drive.  We hadn’t been to WPB since September 2008 (1 year and 3 months!) – it had been too long.  We hadn’t seen our nieces in over a year and I had a new cousin to meet (Maddock!).

So, this year we decided to drive down.  Christmas and New Years fell nicely on Fridays, so I only had to take a few days off to be out of the office for several days.  We left on Tuesday after work, and arrived home at 3am on Wednesday night (Thursday).  We spent one night in a hotel and Izzie (despite us having had a miscommunication and not bringing her crate) did very well not only in the car, but also in the pet-friendly hotel.  We spent almost a week in West Palm Beach, and then slowly worked our way back to CT.  We stopped to see Roger, Beth, Ben, Kristen and Matt in Gainesville, Florida.  Izzie got to play with her cousins Major and Cooper.  For New Year’s Eve, we stayed with Ryan’s brother Jack at his new house near Atlanta, GA.  Next we headed to Winston-Salem, NC to stay with Ryan’s best friend (and our best man!) Dave and his wonderful wife Amy.  Finally, after one night in a hotel in Virginia, and quite a scary, snowy, long drive through the mountains in PA, we arrived home.

I got a new camera for Christmas, but of course took hardly any photos, except of the dog.

Are we there yet?

What Fall Means to Me

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Fall is my favorite season in New England!  But before I get into that, let me provide a little background.  I grew up in Florida, South Florida to be exact, and I think that gives me an even greater appreciation of the seasons.  Just last night when I was freezing my bum off at home (heat was broken, but now fixed) and also this morning as I was checking out the leaves on my way to work, I was thinking, when I was a kid, I really had no idea that anyone lived in a different climate than we have in Florida.  In Florida, we get excited when it gets into the 60′s.  I had never seen snow until I was 15 and my school’s marching band took a trip to Indianapolis for Nationals.  Right now in New England, it’s 52 degrees.  But here’s the forecast for South Florida:

Picture 5

It can be 100 degrees on Christmas Day there!  People run their A/C year-round.  There is no such thing as Fall, let alone Winter, in South Florida.  I had no idea what real seasons were until I moved to New England, and now I am not sure I could ever go back!  I think the best way to express how I feel about fall is to do what I do best, make a list!

What Fall Means to Me

~ Dark Mornings, that is, until the time changes

~ Feeling a chill in the crisp air

~ Getting out the sweaters from storage

~ Florida Gator Football

~ Family visits, this year we are going to FL for a wedding, are having my husband’s family up here for his recital, then we’re driving down to FL

~ Anticipation of the Holiday Season – Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas (Thanksgiving is my favorite!)

~ Smelling the leaves rotting, hearing them crunch under your feet

~ Hiking, which is even better with the leaf peeping

~ Backyard fires in the fire pit

~ Country drives with no destination

~ Hot Drinks: Hot Chocolate, Apple Cider, Tea

~ Baking

~ Crock Pot cooking

This post was inspired by my desire to win free hand made one of a kind jewelry from JudyB Designs (thanks to Stefania for turning me on to the giveaway, she’s always wearing such beautiful jewelry designed by JudyB Designs!) Head on over to JudyB Designs to enter the giveaway yourself, by October 19, 2009 and check out her selection of beautiful jewelry in her shop or on Etsy.