How is the week after bringing home a new puppy not the perfect time to go to another state? We brought all of the kids down to Florida for a work/play trip. (Don’t worry – both dogs are in great hands.)
After a few days of concerts, fitting work in where we could, and trying to get the kids to adjust to sharing a room here and napping despite the exciting outdoors, we finally got to the vacation portion of our trip. We spent time at the beach, at the zoo, and at the model train Museum.
Tess and Remy remain consummate travelers, and Lilou and Griff continue to hate flying in particular. This has now extended to being contained in anyway, so high chairs and restaurants are no longer as effective as they once were. Now imagine a cross-state drive both directions in one day. Griff yelled A LOT.
I will admit that we have been spoiled. Our kids eat lots of food, love classical music, and have some semblance of manners most of the time. We often get congraulated at home or elsewhere when Griff is making googly eyes at a grandma or Remy politely holds the door for someone. We smugly enjoy how adorable our kids can be when they feel like it.
On Friday this week, they did not feel like it at all. Everyone was a little squawky at the zoo, which we chalked up to hunger. We found a great burger joint for a late lunch, and started making bad choices. The booth comfortably sat four; we squeezed four adults and four kids into one. Tess started to lose it but she was jammed into the middle of a booth, so we let it ride longer than we usually do. People in the booths behind us changed seats. We totally saw them, even before one couple pointed that out. That has never happened to us before, and we were mortified. Tess chilled out and we had a great lunch, thanks to the restaurant staff who were amazing and chef who made great food. Imagine our horror when a guy yelled “inside voices!” as he exited the restaurant. Thanks for that advice.
It’s been harder to get a read on when we are teaching them how to eat in a restaurant or act grown-up, versus torturing non-relatives with our children’s shenanigans. That said, they’re good so often we really can’t complain.
Saturday, we also got to visit Kerna! We watched the kids play in the yard, met her husband (he’s awesome), and laughed over kid stories on both sides. Our visits always go too fast!
The rest of our time here was magnificent. The kids all swim for real – Tess and Remy doing strokes, Lilou and Griff with heads under water. We tossed them in the air as everyone laughed, and played in the surf. Seeing them with my parents always makes us smile, as all of them are delighted to spend time together. As we enjoyed our last dinner in the condo, we joked about how strong our kids personalities are, and had ADULT conversations. While the kids are hilarious, discussing politics and work in a mutually respectful way has become too much of a rarity. We can’t wait to come back to Florida!
