Ben had a work trip to Florida so I invited myself to come with him. My sister in laws in PG all said they were willing to help with the kids so I got to go! I am not ready to be done nursing yet and middle of the night babysitting is a lot harder to ask for so Raymond got to come with. We flew out on Saturday morning and barely made our flight! We Were THE last ones to board. We changed planes in Houston and I was happy to get to sit next to Ben for the 2nd flight instead of squished between 2 grown men in the very last row. If you are a frequent flyer you KNOW that is the last place you want to be. But, again, I was happy to be on the plane at that point. Anywhere on the plane. We checked in to one of the beach hotels in Ft Lauderdale that night.

our beach and our hotel – Bahia Mar

We ate at a really nice Brazilian restaurant. The most authentic we’ve found to date but Raymond decided to cut a tooth right then and got super grouchy. We left in a hurry and decided not to eat out any more during our trip. We enjoyed the warm ocean water and looked at the beach while watching conference and looked at the beach while Raymond napped. We went on a couple of walks. We bought our food and snacks at 7-eleven where they were affordable. The bridges and waterways were fascinating.

Raymond testing out the water

Ray liked his cage for playing NOT for sleeping.

waiting for the bridge to lower

warm waveless water – that has been my florida ocean experience

Monday we woke up to rain but it was warm rain. We checked out of the hotel and headed to the State Park that we had passed earlier. We went on a walk through the park and passed some amazing waterfront homes. Then we punched in the next location on our GPS and went to the FLORIDA EVERGLADES. We went on an air boat! Air boats are fun! and gliding over the grassy swamp was fun. We had a fun tour guide and saw one wild Gator, and lots of gators in their exhibit. We got back in our rental and found the SawGrass Shopping which was a HUGE mall and TONS of people were there. We people watched and window shopped and enjoyed spending the afternoon together.

trying to capture the beauty behind us at John Birch State Park (?)

should I take my boat or car in to town?

Ready to go on the air boat – Ray would suck his thumb whenever he was a little worried or scared or tired.

cutting through the grass, wind whipping through your hair, warm sun shining down…

They call it Gator Chasing and we did find one gator and he came right up to our boat.

Coming back in from our boat ride. About 30 minutes. 20$ per person. Raymond did not like it but finally fell asleep.

Monday night we checked in to a new hotel where Ben had his conference. It was a little inland from the beach – the Bonaventure. We tried Lucille’s Diner and waited FOREVER for Monday night football to start – East Coast time is crazy! and parking in Florida is meant for cars not vans and SUV’s and every where we went Raymond was the star attraction. I maybe saw 10 other kids the whole time we were gone! Ben was in classes on Tuesday and Wednesday so Ray and I went on long walks around the resorts and golf course and we hung out by the pool and listened to my audio book and did a little shopping and eating.

the new hotel pond

the water was a little cool and Ray was nervous about the water fall.

eating cheerios – i’m still amazed when its so warm that you don’t need a towel… weird

The reason we ate in most nights and were glad we had two beds… the crib was a great play area but Ray DID NOT sleep in it.

these little lizards were EVERYWHERE

I picked Ben up at the hotel right after his last Class and we headed straight for the airport. We experienced the 9:00 hour 3 different times with the time changes but we eventually got back to SLC and home to our beds and Raymond finally slept without me! I enjoyed my vacation. It was fun to try new things and new places and be the minority and take a break from cooking and cleaning and have more time with Ben. I didn’t hear the word mom for 5 days! that was weird. We missed the kids and were excited to pick them up Thursday morning!