This year we opted-out of Spring Break. But before we knew it, we had opted-in to a trip to Fort Myers Beach to see my parents for mid-winter break....granted it was more like full-on-winter-Florida style break, aka, it's sunny but only 57º. Somehow we survived.
The trip started out dramaticly. Since Max could not take the entire week off due to school being in session I flew alone with the two kids. Five minutes after Max dropped us at security, we found ourselves in the "special lane" in a full search because my bag tested positive for explosives. I got the "special treatment," while Ryan got shy and nervous and Elise got curious and slightly pissy.
After the drama had calmed, we settled in to wait for the plane. With Elise's peanut allergy, we get to board first and sanitize the area. It helps when flying Southwest since they don't assign seat numbers. The kids did great and rose to the occasion. We landed by dinner time and were welcomed by my parents. And we made it to a sport bar just in time for the Superbowl. It definitely made for a good close to an otherwise out-of-the ordinary day.
Our first full day was low-key and cold for Florida. Since it was sunny, we started with a long walk and a roll. My parents brought down the kids scooters along with their bikes (so I got to take a ride during nap down to the beach.)
Later in the morning, we hit the pool. Thankfully it was 80º, though the air was only 56º. The kids didn't seem to mind though.
Before dinner we headed out to putt-putt. The shocker was that I WAS IN THE LEAD for most of the match. Elise stayed interested as my parents helped show her the ropes. Ryan enjoyed it, but didn't love that his mom was stomping him! We finished off the night with Mexican food and $1 margaritas. It was a good day!
Day three was particularly cold, which didn't set off any red flags as we drove to the Everglades, though the temperature should have. Apparently gators don't appear during gator tours when it's that cold and there's no sun to bathe in. The tour driver must have felt badly about it, so instead turned our boat ride into a joy ride. Let's just say that Elise was less than impressed.
What WAS slightly more impressive to our kids was the cat in the zoo attached to the boating center. The 40+ gators, siberian tigers and lions did little for them. They didn't even flinch at the implied danger by the fingerless sign (what?!?). But they spent the most time looking at the stray cat under the bush!
Elise's spirits eventually perked up and she did enjoy the zoo.
Ryan's most exciting moment (outside of scoring a stuffy in the gift shop from Nami and Papa) was getting to hold an alligator. Elise was in line to bravely hold it after Ry...until a kid dropped it and it ran wild for a minute. She jumped out of line pretty quickly after that!
Overall, the kids settled into condo life pretty well. We had a stunning view of the inter-coastal waterway, family and overstuffed couches. What more could we ask for? Ok, we needed Max for the fun to really begin!
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