Florida Fun '11

Ok, so this was a while ago now... but not as long ago as Christmas!  Slowly getting there... ;)

P and I had a fantastic trip to Florida earlier this spring.  He's finally old enough that... its just kinda easy, which is kinda fun ;)  He could play in the pool semi-solo, could run outside to pick seashells while I finished making breakfast and was happy to spend time with his grandparents while I finally lazed about nursing my third month of nausea.  After a couple months of tough luck in the kitchen, it was beyond fabulous to have my mother there to pick up my tummy reeling slack.  And when I needed to lay down in the afternoon, it was actually possible.  And the child could still enjoy himself!  Yes indeedy, this family visit felt like a true vacation!

And boy did they make sure the child enjoyed himself.  This blow up raft brought him such joy - I was, honestly, shocked by the level of enjoyment there...  As well as by how long it took us to blow the damn thing up....  

 Happiness is...

Before we bought the pirate ship, he paddled about on the boogie board.  After months indoors, the sun and water were magic.

Heehee.  Once he got the ship, the inner pirate came out.  Don't know if you can make it out here or not, but he has BB stranded in the waterfall and he is in his own little world, shouting out to BB...

Alligator "hunting" is one of P's other fave Florida attractions.  And we found one... just across the road from the house...

We were, actually, a little too close for my comfort here.  And the child wanted to press the boundaries (of course!) But, trusting me, he decided to push the damn boundary... with BB.  Poor pink monster.

Grams, P and I headed to the beach one afternoon.  So lovely.

And then we went to Harry Potter World.  OMG.  My mom discovered this possibility and the child was thrilled.   Though too short for many of the rides, he was able to walk through the world he has been reading about for the last year.  And drink a butterbeer (too sweet) and get a horntailed dragon (too awesome!) 

And see his favorite song performed!  He claimed the live singing as his favorite part of the day.  Mesmerized doesn't even begin....  I was super surprised that he walked up to them (by himself!) for a picture.  This is waaaay outside of his usual comfort zone and totally attests to how jazzed he was with the whole situation.

Though the rollercoaster with Gramps came in a close second...

Too short for the ride (ask how many times he has been measured in the last month, checking to see if he is tall enough yet for the ride next year - go on, ask!), the kid was able to walk through the inside of Hogwarts.  This made for a very. happy. kid.

Waiting for a Dr. Seuss ride (that had a lot more swirling than they admitted, to those that were already swirling just from pregnancy;)

The Hogwarts Express.  Holy moly ;)

(Don't worry, Dad, there's more to come for Florida!)