A trip to see Family

I really need to get on the ball and write more Blogs! So much has happened since the last time I wrote.

This June was particularly difficult for me since I turned 31. I knew turning 30 wasn't a big thing but 31 was tough. My Brother was 31 years old when he was killed. It is hard for me to draw a conclusion that I am as old as my Brother was, and that I will continue to grow old while David lived to be 31. Katie and I decided we wanted to get away for our Birthdays for this reason so we decided to take a little vacation down to Florida to be with Mom, Hal, and Grandpa. We still couldn't get away from our Birthdays but this is ok since my Mom made us a Peanut Butter Pie, and they both took us out to eat at our FAVORITE place, Jetty! We had a great time visiting with everyone! On to our trip!

We thought about flying down to Florida but we wanted to take everything we needed with us since we would be making this trip as 3 instead of 2. So instead we decided to pack everything into my Prius and make the long Journey down to Florida. We actually had quite a bit of room to spare! I couldn't believe it! We were a little concerned and felt bad about how Michael might do on our 17 hour Journey down to the Sunshine State. We left around 4pm and drove straight through. I honestly don't think we could ask for a better Baby except for when he whizzed all over the back of my car! He usually sleeps when you take him for a car ride, but he was completely mesmerized on the way down. It was very nice!

Our trip down consisted of a Full Moon all through the night. Michael was wide awake looking at the Moon, following the shadows of the tree lines, and playing with his toys from his car seat. He was up until about Midnight when he finally went to sleep. We made it down to Georgia at 4am when I saw a car driving very erratically on the road. The car would go flying past us, slow way down, and was swerving all over the road, and was a new PRIUS of all things. So much for maintaining a low profile. Now, you would think a fellow Prius owner would not judge, but this guy was on something so I decided to turn him in :). I picked up my cell phone and dial *GSP for the Georgia Highway Patrol. Within 10 minutes he was pulled over along the side of the road. I wanted to beep my horn at him so badly when I drove past, but I refrained! That was our excitement for the night!

We arrived at Florida around 9am in the morning. Michael started to get a little fussy around 7am. I don't blame him though. I would be more than fussy if someone strapped me down in a seat! We were very happy to see Mom and to have a safe Journey to the Sunshine State. About 10 minutes later here comes Grandpa styling in his nice and shinny Prius. Three Prii at Mom's house, I gotta take a picture of this before we go home!
Michael experienced the beach for the first time at 6 months of age. He didn't know what to think when the gushing wave hit his little feet. He really didn't like it at all and let out a cry! He was completely mesmerized by the ocean waves though that it was very hard to snap pictures. We took him back a second time and he absolutely loved it! We didn't want to stay out too long since the sun was very hot, even though Michael was coated with SPF 50.



















Grandpa and Mom took Katie and I out for our Birthdays to our favorite place named Jetty's. Every year that we go down we must eat there! They have the best seafood at a reasonable price if you get there during the early bird special. We all enjoyed ourselves even though a very bad stormed rolled through while we were there. We didn't get the opportunity to walk the docks and look at the Boats off of Jupiter Island.

We also took Michael on a Safari trip down in West Palm Beach. That was a lot of fun and I think He will enjoy it even more next time when he is a little older. It was fun to see him look at an Ostrich right next to our car and see all the crazy monkey's swinging from tree to tree. After about 3 hours at the Safari though, Michael was getting a little tired and Hungry. After we feed him we also stopped by the walk through Safari and saw all kinds of animal life. The place kind of reminded me of the Wilds back home. We thought about spending a couple days at Disney but I think that will be a fun adventure once Michael gets to be a little older.

Hal and I did a little beach fishing which was actually a lot of fun! We left the house around 6am for the beach, got there as the sun came up, and pretty much had the beach to ourselves. It was a very beautiful sunrise, one that I have never quite seen before. It was nice and windy on the beach and the temperature was about 70 degrees! Perfect for fishing! Hal caught a blue fish and I caught crabs; you know the ones that are in the ocean :). I also hooked a Jack but he fell off my line has I was reeling him in. We didn't catch a whole lot but we had a great time! By about 10:30 though we were ready to get home as the sun was baking us and we were pretty sweaty!

I thought for sure I had gained about 10 pounds while we were down there! Grandpa and Mom introduced us to the dollar store, where you can get gobs and gobs of candy for.......$1!. Hal introduced us to Charleston Chews, or as Katie likes to call them, A Hot Carl....we won't go there! While we were in the store Grandpa and I came across this chicky babe in a pretty exposing bathing suit. The only problem was this "chicky babe" was probably 300 pounds. Grandpa took one look at that, turned and looked at me, squinted his eyes, stuck out his tongue, and proceeded to push air out between his lips and tongue! I about lost it! "Grandpa, she is right there!", I said. We passed her again in the store and he did the same thing! My Grandpa is 86 I believe. We all joke that he is on his 4th childhood!


Before we said our goodbyes I had to snag a few pictures of the family and Prii. I have honestly thought about submitted a letter to Toyota, telling them that our family has 3 generations driving Prii. I will almost guarantee we would be on a commercial. I am going to do it, I just need to find the time and make sure it gets into the right hands.








We had a great time in Florida and it's always great to see Mom, Hal, and Grandpa, and my Son with his Grandma. I wish she and Hal could be closer but I completely understand why they are there. Maybe, just maybe sometime she will move a little closer.