Thursday, October 16, 2008

Florida

We took a week to head down to Bradenton to visit with Leslie's mom, Judy, and step-dad, Jerry. They were itching to see the grandkids and Amelia especially was looking forward to seeing them again too.

Day One - Wednesday
Having learned from past travel experiences, we scheduled our departing flight later in the morning at around 11am. That gave us the chance to have the kids wake up and eat and for us to eat as well. This was a good plan because, believe me, its no fun to get up at 5am for a flight with two small kids. We connected in Atlanta for the last leg. Fortunately, our flight down was uneventful which had been an answer to our simple travel prayer.

Judy picked us up from the Sarasota-Bradenton airport. On the way back, we wanted to stop for groceries but didn't have quite enough room in the car so we settled for buying vegetables from a woman in a van in a parking lot. They were a great deal and were delicious. That just goes to show you not to be too particular about buying from vans in a parking lot. :-)

Day Two - Thursday
Judy took the day off from work and accompanied us to our trip to the South Florida Museum in Bradenton. It was a really nice display of Florida natural history. Amelia and Thomas did pretty well. The main attraction for us, however, was to see Snooty the Manatee in the tank next door. Manatees are pretty interesting although it couldn't totally keep Amelia's attention. She's only 2 and Snooty is a 60 year old Manatee, after all.



The next stop was the Sarasota City Island Park. It's on peninsula that juts into Sarasota Bay downtown. In the middle of it is a great little water attraction for the kids. We had our picnic lunch there and then took Thomas and Amelia down to the water. They had a great time and so did we.



After the kids were dried off, we headed across the bridge to the Mote Marine Laboratory. (Next to that was the Ski-a-Rees water ski club where Leslie was once a participant for a day.)



Finally, it was time to head home and eat dinner. Oh, on the way home, Amelia and Thomas slept hard in the car. We took advantage of this to drive over to Anna Maria Island to visit The Sterling Anvil jewelry shop. After the kids were in bed for the night, Leslie and I went to the Jagoshes (Tammy is Leslie's step-sister) to play pool and Wii.

The Jagoshes were so gracious that they allowed Leslie to trim Michael's neck hair in their dining room.

Day Three - Friday
We got out of the house on the early side so that we could visit Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo. It was a nicely done zoo that wasn't too big for Amelia to walk (or run) most of it. They had all of the animals that you'd expect and, since we were there when they opened at 10am, most of the animals were pretty lively.



After a picnic lunch at the zoo, we headed over to Great Explorations childrens' museum in St. Petersburg. It was a fun place for both Thomas and Amelia to play. The museum didn't have too many kids there at the time that we were there but they came by the bus load on our way out.



After dinner at home and after the kids were put to bed, Leslie and I went to Manatee High's Homecoming football game. We had the opportunity to visit the Grahams up in the press box. Davis works as a spotter alongside the game announcer. After helping Trish and her 3 (almost 4) kids leave for home, we went over to the area where the class of '88 was sitting and met up with a few of Leslie's friends. FWIW, the Manatee Hurricanes defeated the Sarasota Sailors 27-7.



Day Four - Saturday
Early on Saturday, Leslie took the opportunity to hit some yard sales looking for clothing and toy bargains while I took care of the kids with Judy and Jerry's help.

Later, when Leslie got back, she and I went to Robinson Preserve to rent kayaks and paddle among the mangrove trees and in the tunnels that they form. There was a lot of wildlife, so much so, that a fish nearly jumped into Michael's kayak!



After kayaking Leslie cleaned up, ate lunch, and headed out to her friend Trish's baby shower. In the meantime, Grandmama helped Michael feed the kids lunch. Then, while Grandmama watched over Thomas inside, Michael and Amelia went swimming outside. It was a big day for Amelia as she swam all by herself (with the aid of arm floaties).

That night we went to Leslie's 20th high school reunion. She moved to Anna Maria Island the summer before 10th grade started. It was a big crowd at the reunion and we had a great time.



Day Five - Sunday
On Sunday we went to church in the morning and then to the Ellenton Outlet Center in the afternoon. We wanted to keep out of the way while Jerry and Judy got ready for company that night. In the evening, we celebrated Jason's 17th birthday with bar-b-cued ribs and chicken. Amelia and Thomas had a lot of fun with Jason and Justin. We always enjoy watching Amelia's face whenever we sing happy birthday to someone else. She ALWAYS gets a funny look on her face and thinks we are singing to her.



Day Six - Monday
Michael stayed in to work on Monday since both Jerry and Judy took the day off from work. With all of that help, Leslie took everyone to Anna Maria Island and to lunch at the SandBar.



Day Seven - Tuesday
Leslie and the kids went to the Grahams house for a playdate with them and the Eriksens. The girls were Amelia Grace, Mary Grace, and Ella Grace. They boys were Thomas and Andrew, and we'll get to meet the Grahams' and Eriksens' new babies next visit. They all got along gracefully, of course. Michael worked a little bit too. In the afternoon, we used the GPS in Judy's car to find thrift stores for kids clothes. We also made it a point to visit Jamba Juice for their delicious smoothies. This was absolutely mandatory!

In the evening, Michael and Leslie had a date while Grandmama and Grandaddy watched babysat. We drove over to Anna Maria Island and had an appetizer and desert at the BeachHouse restaurant.

Day Eight - Wednesday
This was entirely a travel day but here is a set of miscellaneous pictures from our trip.

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