Thanksgiving was in Florida this year, per our designated rotation. Owen was a bit more of a seasoned traveller by now, but not necessarily a better one, ha! But we had some really fun things planned for the week, and were looking forward to catching up with the family and enjoying some sunshine. And of course the turkey. (well for the carnivores of the family, anyway!)

We were glad to make it through airport security with our carefully packed pb&j sandwich lunches – apparently jelly is sometimes considered to much of a “liquid”. The flight was as difficult as I expected it to be – Owen does NOT like being confined to someone’s lap for that long! On our last trip to Florida (in August, for Ashley’s wedding), I had bought him his own seat. And was really wishing I had done so this time too. But we got there anyway, I suppose as long as it isn’t bad enough to get us kicked off the plane, it must be a success!

We were all staying at my aunt’s house (even though she herself was not able to make it down from Michigan), and the pool there was a little cold, so we spent many hours at the community pool. Owen loved the water, and would happily jump and splash in it all day!

We had also signed up to run in the Gobble-Gobble-Four-Miler race on Thanksgiving morning! My dad came down with us to see us off, then went back home to help prepare for the feast while we ran. I hadn’t been able to get in as much practice as I was hoping in the days leading up to it, but the sea-level advantage was more than enough to let me run the whole 4 miles, with a decent time even though I was pushing Owen in the stroller! Lily ran it too, and impressed us with her determination. All in all, a very fun way to start Thanksgiving morning! And we were definitely ready for that feast now.

The feast was at Mike and Tina’s house (my brother and SIL). They live a little more out of town, towards the everglades, and the kids have a great time exploring in the jungle behind their yard. After a very satisfying meal, Brian was out on an expedition with them – Cam and Lily suddenly came running from the woods (everyone else was sitting on the back patio). The scene played out something like this…

 Cam: “Everyone LOOK! I found a SKELETON!!!” (runs toward adults holding a mostly rotted raccoon carcus)
Adults: “Ewwww! Cam, gross!!”
Lily: (runs up holding her piece) “oh, don’t worry everyone! It’s okay, I found the SKULL!!!”
Adults: “AHHH! Omg, Brian, what did you DO??”
Brian: (looking suddenly sheepish) “I didn’t kill it, I promise.”
Adults: (continuing to look shocked and disgusted) “Yeah we know, it STINKS!”

So I’m not sure everyone else was quite as excited about the find as they were, but good for them to be enjoying nature at least 🙂 The kids also spent some time making a baby-gift to give to Ashley (their new cousin was due to arrive in a few months!) It was a name sign to go on his door, and turned out really cute.

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Thanksgiving was done, but there were still several days of fun ahead! We spent a day at the Naples Waterpark – Lily even got up the courage to jump off the high dive, and Owen loved splashing around in the kid area and lazy river. it’s always a favorite, and we are really glad that they have such a nice waterpark right here in town.

We also did our traditional trip to see Santa at the North Pole in Bass Pro Shops! As usual, they had done an elaborately themed Winter Wonderland, complete with games and crafts. Owen didn’t really want anything to do with Santa and couldn’t cooperate long enough for a good picture, but everyone still had fun.

Our next adventure was the Sesame Street Live show at Germain Arena! Owen had loved seeing Elmo and the gang in Jamaica over the summer, and generally does really well at kid-themed stage shows. This was no exception! He was mesmerized the whole time, and Lily even enjoyed it too.

Other adventures included playing paintball at Tina’s sister’s house, and spending a few hours at the beach! Lily had never played paintball before, and enjoyed it more than I thought she would, despite getting hit pretty hard a couple of times.

At last though, it was time to head home. The kids were sad to say good0bye to their grandparents and cousins. Lily had especially formed a very strong bond with my dad, thanks to many early morning chats in the kitchen before anyone else was awake 🙂

The flight to Colorado Springs was one of the most difficult ever with Owen – he threw such a screaming kicking fit at one point, that the not-very-nice older man in front of me turned around and lectured me about not “letting” him kick his seat. Sigh. But again, we didn’t get kicked off, so all’s well that ends well. And next time, we’ll buy him a ticket and bring the car seat!