V Is for Vacation!

We're back from a week in sunny (actually rainy) and warm (actually cold) Florida. Yes, the weather was a tiny bit iffy. And the weather forecasting? A lot bit iffy. In Chicago, when they say it's going to rain, it rains. In Florida, when they say it's going to rain, it doesn't necessarily rain. And when they say it's going to be 80 and sunny? It rains. But we're a family that rolls with the punches, and we managed to cram a whole lot of vacation into seven days--despite the fact that our trip got off to a rocky weather start. We had researched some indoor activities before our trip, like Latte Fun Cafe, so we did have some neat things for the girls to do when the weather turned drizzly and cold. If I had money and liked kids more, I'd totally open a place like that in Chicago. We spent another rainy afternoon at the Playmobil Play Place, which was pretty awesome and also cheap--just $4 for admission, total, unless you count the $40 we dropped on Playmobil toys before we left the place!

And, of course, we had many trips to the beach and the pool, where we swam despite the fact that temps never climbed much beyond 75 degrees. It's hard to condense seven days into a blog post that people will actually want to read, so I'll just give you the highlights:

--Watching the girls play in the surf on our first day of vacation.
--Seeing the animals at Lion Country Safari. An ostrich mistook his reflection in our side view mirror as another bird and pecked at it twice.
--Feeding giraffes at Lion Country Safari--a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
--Swimming at beautiful Dubois Park.
--Seeing jellyfish up close on the beach.
--Playing at the world's coolest park: Imagination Station.
--Putting Sadie in a wet swimsuit at a restaurant b/c she had a minor accident and I didn't have spare undies.
--Watching the girls swim.
--Having breakfast at the beach.
--Visting with Papa and learning the story of how he met Nana (which I shamefully didn't know!).
--Looking at old photos with Papa (it was especially nice to see old pictures of Nana)
--Trying to keep the girls from realizing that they were sharing their room with a gecko for the last three nights of the trip.
--Teaching Sadie the art of outdoor urination.
--Laughing harder than I've laughed in a long time when Sadie peed all over herself in a parking lot (she had to go too badly to take the time to squat down).
--Being carded at the Publix when I tried to buy beer. The clerk asked me whether or not I had ID for the beer in a tone that implied she was certain that I did NOT, in fact, have ID. She seemed a little taken aback when she got a look at my license! Been legal for 12 years, baby!
--Three words: Key Lime Pie!

Florida: By the Numbers
# of times I told the girls I was never taking them on vacation again: at least 10
# of times I laughed to the point of tears: 2
# of times Sadie peed outside: 3
# of times we went out to dinner: 3
# of times we went to Duffy's--Papa's favorite restaurant (for some reason): 2
# of times we went to the beach: 6
# of times the girls asked us to carry them so the dog wouldn't get them: 650
# of minutes we had to spare before boarding our plane this morning: about 5
# of bathroom trips the girls made on today's flight: 3
# of bathroom trips the girls made on our flight out to FL: 1
# of miles I ran while on vacation: 10 (pathetic, I know)
# of photos I took: a bazillion. There are a few below. The rest of the photos are HERE.
# of fish that died while we were on vacation: 0, thanks to our awesome neighbors!