Well, we are officially back from our trip to sunny, warm, gorgeous, perfect Florida. It was really hard to leave, even knowing that we were coming back to much less snow than when we left. We could not have asked for more perfect weather. All during the time we were outside, I'm pretty sure that we saw a total of 5 minutes of cloud cover, I'm not joking. Gwen, my fish, was out in the pool an average of 4 hours a day. Trevor had probably a combination of being a little bit nervous of spending a lot of time in the pool after he got an ear infection on the 4th day. I specifically asked the doctor about him swimming and he said that I couldn't keep him from swimming on his vacation. While I saw his point, I had thought that part of Trevor's issue could have been how much he loves to dive down to the bottom and pick things up. I remember how when it is a level deeper than 3 ft of water, there is some pressure that you can feel in your ears. Probably not something that he should be doing until his ears are clear. The antibiotics he got were for 10 days so I asked Trevor to try not to dive down to the deep end for the rest of the trip. I think also part of this lack of extreme interest in the pool was a result of his other interests. While the trip to see a spring training game was good, he loved to be outside throwing his baseball or any ball around and playing catch. He enjoyed (after getting his swing back) playing golf. He built a sand castle at the beach, and did get out into the Gulf, but was more interested in the sand side of things. But his biggest event was the Sunday brunch that we had on the last day. He remembered it from last year, and it is pretty much your standard brunch: an omelet station, waffles, eggs Benedict, potatoes, bacon, sausage, muffins, doughnuts, cereal, fruit, OJ, water, and coffee. Trevor ate four plates of food. Granted on a few of the plates all he had were eggs, but it was clear he tried to save up room for this food event. Our reservation was at 10:30 so I even had him eat a bowl of cereal before we went because he is a morning eater, like me. Gwen was excited the most about the coffee cups which she called tea cups. She was able to get orange juice in them and stir and drink it with her spoon like some of the coffee drinkers do.
Gwen was really able to enjoy her time in the pool. When we went to the beach, my mom found some sand toys left by the owner of the house, and it had two dolls with hair and a small baby doll. She played with them in the sand, but wanted to spend most of her time in the water. Unfortunately, I didn't bring her swim vest and so she couldn't go out on her own. Not that I would have let her have free reign, but she knew she couldn't swim without it so she had to stand where she could touch. The water was chilly compared to the heated pool water at the house, but it was a much better beach experience than last year. Last year we had to have on our coats and the water was really really frigid. As is per usual, Gwen did want to make sure she did everything that other people did so I took her to the driving range and putting green to go golfing on Saturday. She hit a few balls at the driving range and then we headed over to the putting green. She had a much better time there as I think she likes that she can make sure it gets into the hole. Soon, we headed home to go swimming again. But she got to do her golfing! Anyway, the thing that was so nice about Gwen and her swimming was that she was entertained a lot of the time by her toys and did things by herself. She did enjoy it more when someone else was in the pool with her, but she was able to play with her dolls and the "new" dolls that we used at the beach. That left the adults to watch her while eating on the porch, sitting on a lounge chair, or chatting outside the pool. She was also very tired out by the end of the day. A few days she passed out on the couch for a nap around 4:00. I know she too had a wonderful trip. A huge difference was also the change of clothing. When we put on our clothes for the trip she was exclaiming, "No sleeves! Look mom! No sleeves!" It will be nice to be able to wear those again here.
While Trevor was recovering on Tuesday, Russ, my dad, and I all were able to go golfing. It was the first round of the year for Russ and I and he started the year off much better than I did. I was able to get in a birdie but that was about it. Then on Friday, when Trevor, my dad, and I all played 9 holes, I actually made an eagle. I wouldn't doubt that it will be my last, but hey, I'll take it. Because my grandpa came back to visit on Sunday I was able to tell him about it. My dad's side of the family are the golfers, so it was nice to be able to share it with him. For those wondering, it was the first hole, par 4 an L shaped hole to the right. I hit a good drive and chipped it in with a 9 iron, maybe 50-60 yards out. Some lady had driven up and asked to play through because Trevor was with us and I was not pushing him to get going. I had to tell her more than once that no thanks, we'll move along. So I think I was a bit upset at her. Anyway, fun day for me. Friday and Saturday evenings I went back to where Russ and his dad were playing golf for their evening events. Unfortunately they did not win their flight like last year but I think they both had a good time. I also completed my final course for my accounting degree on the Tuesday we were in Florida. So I can check that off the list. Now I can finally look ahead to all the other things that I have been pushing off doing until I have a little more time. I probably should also get my resume together in case I really want to push the job seeking piece of things.
Something that kind of popped into my mind during the trip and has come up on more than one occasion, are family traditions. Not necessarily the ones you think of that are yearly events, but also things like the way your family took care of things. When you get married or even when you date someone, how those family traditions carry forward, even without thinking. I grew up with my mom driving a station wagon then a mini van. I never cared one way or the other about it, but when I had kids and needed to be the driver of the kids, it wasn't a problem for me to get a mini van. I was talking to someone who simply could not see themselves as a mini van driver, not because she didn't like them but because her family never got one. Now, if you family did do something that you yourself detested, I can see why you wouldn't get one or do things that way, but otherwise it seems almost genetic that it follows that same pattern. An example that happened on our trip is that when I was younger, my grandfather that lived in Florida owned a house that had a pool attached. It was so much fun to be able to get dressed (or not...ha ha) and jump in the pool. It was also so easy! If I was hungry, I could get out and sit at the lounge chair with a little table and eat some snacks. I think there were some chairs that went in the water if you wanted to have a beverage while in the water. Could you ever do this at a community pool? Not the getting dressed part, at least. You could eat but you would have to pack it in advance or go out and buy it somewhere. It was just so easy. Now, he didn't always live in this house, when I got older he was married and they lived where we had to go to a community pool. It was fine, but not as easy. Now, my parents are renting a house and it is a priority to have a pool at the house. There have been questions as to why they don't look at condos or other similar areas that have a community pool, and to most people, making the trek a few hundred feet to the pool isn't that big of a deal. But to us, it is what we know and what we like best. Had we never had the pool attached to the house, we may never have even thought about it. But we did, so now it is what we prefer. Just a thought that I had....
Pictures are up from our trip. Hopefully they can make me keep the Vitamin D high until I can get back outside again in the warmth. I keep hoping that the snow keeps shrinking and shrinking faster and faster....
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