Thanksgiving in Florida

So back in October I mentioned something about being better about keeping things up to date.....That ship has sailed. At one point I thought this would get posted before Christmas, and then before the New Year, and now its February...I. Am. A. Slacker. No other words for it. There have been more than a few occasions I could have worked on this, but I didn't. I chose to be (a little) selfish and just...do nothing. That's right, I did nothing. I am furthering the belief of working moms everywhere that stay at home moms sit around and do nothing. Except that my "nothing" was to enjoy a relatively short break from cleaning, driving, emails, coaching, mothering, cooking, refereeing, disaster stopping, life of a crazy person. Yup, I took a whole hour out of a day here or there to just stop. I imagine that those of you that have "full-time" jobs do this too, don't tell me you never get on facebook during work for a break???? Not judging, just saying don't judge me for my slacker behavior. No matter what your circumstance, you deserve to be slackerish, aka selfish, every now and again.

Anyway, I'm clearly getting off track from what this was really supposed to be about - Thanksgiving. Well, Chris's parents have been spending winters in Florida for more than a few years now and have wanted us to visit. When we were in Michigan there was High School dive season that got in the way and then we moved and we had pregnancy/newborn reasons to decline. But not this year. This year we were settled (finally) in Cincinnati, there was no diving to interfere, the boys have most of Thanksgiving week off of school, and we have a minivan with DVD to keep the troops entertained.  So it seemed like the right time to finally make the trek down south for a visit. Sunday to Friday in Florida for Thanksgiving, we were all excited.

My brother used to live in Estero, between Naples and Fort Meyers, in Florida. Since moving back north, my brother sold his condo to my dad because he still loved traveling down there for visits. The condo is about 45 minutes from Sanibel Island where Chris's parents stay. My dad wasn't going to be using the condo over Thanksgiving so he was more than willing to let us stay there. It isn't very big, but with Chris's parents able to to take a kid (or two) most nights, it worked out great.

It is roughly a 15 hour drive from Cincinnati. This is a LONG drive, but with 4 kids, it seemed a whole lot easier than expensive flights over a busy holiday. Our first crazy long road trip (of many) for a family vacay. And we survived. I'm still not sure how, but we did.

We decided our best option was to leave a couple of hours before dinner, stop for a real dinner (no fast food) so we could get out and stretch and change into jammies, and then Chris and I switch on and off for an all night ride leaving Saturday afternoon and finishing Sunday morning. The kids watched movies, played games, and slept. Chris and I took turns driving, switching throughout the night to sleep. And we made it. Without killing anyone. A major accomplishment in my book.

The week was glorious. We had absolutely NO PLANS. Our only goal was to enjoy the warm weather, spend time with Pete and Ginger, and enjoy each others company. Mission accomplished. We spent our days at the pool, playing football outside, reading, lounging, and visiting with family - my Aunt Steph even made the trek down to visit for a few hours :) At one point we felt bad that we hadn't actually "done anything", but then we realized it had been far too long since we had had a break that it was A-Ok to be a little lazy for a change.

Pete and Ginger had Jake and Brenden stay with them for a couple of nights. And then it was Rylan's turn to have a couple of nights to herself with them. They got to spend time swimming, visiting the beach, go to the bookstore, check out the alligator by Pete and Ginger's house, eat yummy food, and so much more. I was so happy they could have a break from our family crazy time and that Pete and Ginger could truly get some quality grand kid time with each of them. With our lives constantly being crazy, its nice for them to get a break and have each of them be the center of attention. I wish I could give each of my kids that kind of time, but right now its just not possible. But its nice to be able to put them in the hands of others that love them as much as I do in order to get that kind of attention that they need and deserve.

We spent Thanksgiving at my dad's condo. I cooked the turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. And Ginger brought a plethora of amazing veggie side dishes. It was all very yummy. It was a pretty relaxing day of playing football, watching football, and eating yummy food. A great end to our visit.

We decided we would leave Friday with our same plan for getting home as we had to get down to Florida. Chris and I thought it would be best to have nearly two full days to readjust before we had to head back to work and school on Monday.It was another brutal drive, because of the amount of time and most of it through the night, but by far the best decision. It was so nice to have the time on Saturday to recover and do nothing. Sunday we had Futsal games and diving practice to help us ease back into "real life" on Monday.

It was a great trip. And even though the long drive was tough, I'm sure we will try to do it again. Its a straight shot down there, I-75 the entire way, and we always have a free place to stay. And lord knows its nice to get out of this cold weather to visit the warmth and sunshine in the winter!

And here are a TON of pics, in no particular order: