Florida

Going to Florida during Thanksgiving is a tradition in my family, we look forward to it all year long and this year was no exception.  I was actually a little more excited then the past couple of years for two reasons.  One being that I thought my sun issues were solved and I would be able to enjoy some sunshine (rather then hide under heavy clothing and umbrellas).  And two, being that Whitney is at an age where it would be really fun for her!!!

It started off a little bumpy with our plane ride.  Poor Whitney was not a fan.  I thought I planned ahead and had snacks, fun games and things for her to suck on so that her ears wouldn't pop.  Boy was I wrong.  Before the plane even left the gate, she was crying and yelling, "how do I get off of here???"  She did not play with one item I prepared and cried for most of the flight because her ears hurt her.  We took many trips to the bathroom due to a nervous belly, all the while screaming down the aisle as everyone looked on in annoyance!!!  Now looking back Kelley and I (she flew down with  Whitney and I) can laugh but at the time this next story was not very funny.  

When Whit has clogged ears at home she says over and over, "hello?" as if signaling to me that she can hear herself in her head.  So when the plane was taking off and landing she said this over and over.  However towards the end of the flight when she was getting aggragvated she began to yell...."HELLO HELLO HELLLOOOOOOOO?" and then would burst into tears.  Funny now because it must have seemed odd to the other passageners that someone was yelling this over and over at the top of their lungs but def. not something I was laughing about at the time.  Kelley also said it was comical to watch me as a nervous mother trying to make my screaming child stop.  Her account is that I was literally throwing food at her in attepmt to make her ears stop hurting...haha I vaguely remember that :)))))

The rest of the trip was a piece of cake compared to that!!  She got over the plane ride very quickly and loved loved loved the beach!  The first day we got there Whitney and Papaw started feeding the seagulls.  It as funny to watch (something we had to do early in our trip because when daddy came...we knew there would be none of this nonsense with the birds:)  Whit was actually holding up a piece of corn chex when a hungry one came and snactched it out of her hand!!  Gotta watch out for those guys!!

We made many wonderful memroies this trip.  Whitney jumping the waves, building castles with Papaw and Mamaw, walking on the beach to collect shells.  Fun dinners with live music. Papaw painting Whitney's toenails :)  Watching beautiful sunsets, playing with friends, Whitney's first boat ride and first movie theatre experience...

Too many more to write but always such a fun time spent with family and friends :)  Sad to see it come to an end again this year but now we have great memroies to think about and next year to look forward too!!