Trip to Florida

After Christmas the boys and I decided it would be a good time to take a trip to Florida to visit Grammy and Grandad.  We didn't think we would have a place to live yet and we weren't sure if James would be in school so it seemed like a good time.  I was VERY nervous about the plane trip so Grammy came with us to help.  I don't think we could have expected any better behavior from the boys.  

The first few days were pretty cold so we mostly just hung out and rested from the trip.  On Friday night we decided to go to this Greek restaurant that Jordyn really likes.  James hated it!  It was really loud and there were a ton of people there.  You can tell how much he was enjoying it from this picture.  

 Then they had a dancer come out.  The music got louder and James was gone.  Then he saw the girl dancing and he came alive!  He loved watching her dance and everyone in the restaurant thought it was so funny.  And of course Mikey couldn't be left out.

 Saturday we put the "boats" in the water to go for a ride.  James didn't want to get in at first, and freaked out when Mikey went out with Grammy.  But once he got on he was ok.  Then Mikey freaked out because he could see mom on the other "boat" so I had to climb over with him.  He fell asleep almost immediately but still I think the "boats" were his favorite thing the entire trip.  Every time we walked in the garage after this he screamed and screamed until somebody lifted him  up to sit on one.

Mikey sleeping

James would yell "Hi Mom!"  every time we drove by.

Stopped to play at the beach and have a snack.

 Tuesday we decided to brave DisneyWorld.  I did a little research and discovered that we could get a "Guest Assistance Card" because of James' "disability" then we could either go in the fast pass line or wait in a "comfortable" place instead of waiting in the lines.  What really happened was we either went in the fast pass line or through the disability line.  So we didn't wait in a line the entire day!  That was good because I don't think I have ever been on a busier day.

Jungle Cruise-a favorite of both boys

This was by far James favorite ride.  He loved steering the car and
crashing us into the sides.  Then he would just laugh and laugh.
Mikey was too little to go.    

The boys both loved Tom Sawyer's Island 

Mikey on the Dumbo ride

They had a Dumbo for the boys to sit in.

The people mover

Tom Sawyer's island again

Mikey fell asleep after Small World and James got to drive the cars 3 more times

 Overall the day was a success.  We made the mistake of making James go on Pirates early in the day.  After that he would not go on a ride if the line or ride was inside (except for Buz Lightyear, we forced him on that one and he did ok)  so he missed a few things like Small World, and Winnie the Pooh. If we had had to wait in lines we would not have been able to go, so we were really glad that Disney makes that accommodation.  I think we would go again, just on a slower day.

Thursday we drove down to Miami to do some fun things.  We went to this fruit stand called "Robert is Here"  this was maybe my favorite thing of the trip.  I love fresh produce.  They have amazing shakes and just about every fruit in the world.  We tried some new (gross) things, but everything was so fresh it was amazing, and Mikey tried Papaya for the first time, which he LOVED!  He also ate 1 and a half Mangos.  This kid loves his fruit.  The cutest thing was listening to him say "papaya".

Friday we went to the beach (which we had done before without much success).  The tide was up so there was this little pool that was very calm so I forced James to get in.  Mikey was already playing happily in the water.  After a few minutes of screaming he realized that he LOVES being in the water and it was impossible to get him out.

When we got home we used the outside shower to rinse off the sand and let James play by the pool for a while.  I hadn't let him get in yet because it was so cold and I didn't want to get in.  But he showed me that he could do it all by himself.  

We left on Saturday and had the WORST time flying home.  I was really glad my Mom flew back with us.  There was no way I could do it by myself.  1st we were dumb a flew on a day when all the cruise ships get in so the airport was packed.  Then when we finally got through security we didn't have time to get anything to eat but we thought we would be ok until we got to Dallas.  After they loaded the plane we sat at the gate for an hour and a half.  So of course we missed our connection in Dallas.  We had to stop in Houston (which was planned) but instead of just waiting on the plane and taking off again we had to get off and run to another plane (with no stroller).  Then we sat at the gate for a half an hour.  Then we got to Dallas and found out that they had arranged for us to be on a later flight. We were starving by this time so the break was good.  The flight from Dallas to Amarillo was perfect but I was ready to be home!  

Overall we had a fun trip and can't wait to go again.  Hopefully with Dad next time!