Our Florida Trip -- Part I

By Tiffany George


It's hard to believe we've been back from Florida for a month already! We took the kids on their first airplane ride to Florida back in March. We went to visit our friends the Alphonsos, whose son Wesley was Andrew's best bud in Rochester before they moved south last October. We had the best, most relaxing time and really had a chance to enjoy our kids and each other.



First of all, no, we did not go to Disney. The primary reason is that Andrew is terrified of dress-up characters, so a day at Disney would be torture for him. I also don't know if I'll ever shell out nearly $100 a day per person for a park....but don't mark my words! This vacation was more about enjoying the sunshine, playing with Wesley, and taking day trips to enjoy nature, which is what our kids are thrilled to do! Wesley had really trimmed down since we saw him last! He was great while we were there and shared his toys, home, doggy, and Mommy with us all!

Our flight departed at 6 in the morning, so we woke the kids bright and early to head to Manchester. They were so excited to go on the plane! Just as we stepped aboard, Andrew was invited up in the cockpit to sit in the copilot seat and check out the controls. He did take a look around, but didn't quite make it into the chair. He has talked about this ever since we got home!


We had a layover on the way down and the kids were great. We really couldn't have expected any more from them on the flights.

Here are some photo highlights of our trip:

Andrew at the beach on day 1, thoroughly enjoying being able to play in the sand!

Natalie being cute too!


Family photo on the same day!

Andrew, Wesley, and Natalie in their undies playing in the shooting water area. Even though it was FREEZING Andrew could not resist the fun! We went here on two days.

This photo captures Andrew's "real" smile. Pure JOY!

This beach and very fun tree to climb were right beside the water area. My adventurous kids climbed right up! Please notice my arm in the back there! I would not allow Natalie up that high without a prop :o)

One night we went to this restaurant for Family Fun Night. Kids ate free and they even had face painting!

Notice Andrew's teary eyes as he waits to have a bumble bee painted on his arm. In addition to the other events, they also had a dress up Barney. Andrew was on pins and needles all through dinner and had just encountered Barney first hand before this photo was snapped. So terrifying!


Wesley had a huge bin of dress-up clothes that the kids loved to paw through. Here is Natalie, the princess witch!


Here are my cuties just being themselves! They love to hold hands and we love it too! Here they are walking down the nature trail at the Florida Oceanographic Center, Andrew's favorite stop on our trip.





Notice Wesley giving Andrew a back-hug as the kids posed for this photo in front of the large game fish tank. We saw them feed huge rays and even a shark!

Andrew at the touch tank, admiring a shell.

Natalie at the touch tank, gently rubbing her shell.

The "plate" of food that Andrew got to feed to the sting rays. Fish, squid, and shrimp were on the menu. And even though Andrew was hesitant to pet the rays, he plunged his hand right down to the bottom of the tank to feed them. We couldn't believe it!

Here is Andrew in his sting ray feeding debut!

Andrew immediately after the sting ray sucked the food from his hand like a vacuum. That face is priceless! He couldn't believe he did it either!


Andrew and I witnessed this huge hermet crab move from one shell to another. Quite the lesson in Biology!


Florida is fun!