florida

This past Thursday we packed up the car and the baby and headed down to central Florida to visit my husband’s parents. This was Henry’s first long car ride (it took us 7 hours) and it was definitely a challenge. I tried to plan ahead and think of as many snack and distractions to bring for him. I packed his backpack full of yummies and new toys, and loaded up the iPad with some movies and TV shows. We stopped twice to let him run around and let off some steam. Both places were in middle of nowhere Georgia filled with townies and I thought we were all going to be kidnapped. Dinner was eaten at Zaxby’s and we let him run around again in the parking lot at a Home Depot before changing him into his jammies and putting him to bed. He finally fell asleep around 7:15pm which was good and bad because my husband and I didn’t want to risk him waking so we rode the rest of the way in silence. No music, no talking, no listening to books on tape … total silence. I was so paranoid that we were both going to fall asleep but luckily we made it in one piece. 

Friday and Saturday were rainy central Florida days but we still made the best of it with lunches by the water, visiting with family friends, some shopping, home cooked dinner’s and lots of play time for Henry. We were even lucky enough to nap a few times while Henry napped. 

Sunday it finally cleared up and we were able to take a boat ride up the Chassahowitzka River in Homosassa Springs by Captain Walt. This was Henry’s second time on a boat and he was curious with all the new sights. The first was last year but he was only 3 months old and obviously doesn’t remember. People rarely see this side of Florida and most people assume it’s all beaches and golf courses. It’s nice that my in laws live near the nature coast because it is definitely a unique experience and I love it. This year was totally different with a toddler on our hands. He was so inquisitive and I loved watching him take everything in. 

We headed out Monday morning right before his morning nap, after a nice golf cart ride around the beautiful quarry that golf course is built around. On the way home we made a few stops, even letting him run naked at a rest stop, how trashy of us, but hey, he needed some air! We also stopped at Magnolia Plantation to get daddy and baby some matching Minnetonka Moccasins 🙂 The drive back wasn’t that bad and it seemed to go by faster even though Henry only took one nap. This trip had his sleeping all out of sorts but he was right back on his normal schedule Monday night when we got home.