Florida or BUST!!

Well, we made it to Florida...all in one piece. The flight went as well as could be expected given we had to get the kids up at 3:45am to head out for the airport. Overall they did pretty well – only a few meltdowns, but nothing that got us kicked off the plane. Thankfully Chad had two open seats next to him, so we had 6 seats open for us to take advantage of. Carson thoroughly enjoyed running across all three seats on each side of the plane for about 45 minutes of the flight. We managed to get him to take a 20 minute nap, but other than that there was no sleeping. :( Here are a few pictures from the plane:

Carson putting on his chapstick for the 100th time



Peyton watching Elmo and having a snack



When we got off the plane Peyton was very upset that she didn't see Grandma & Papa the second we stepped into the airport, but when we got out by the baggage claim and the kids saw them they ran screaming to them. It was pretty cute to watch! They definitely have missed them!

After we got our bags we headed back to Chad's parent's condo. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then Chad and I took off for the Twins game. The weather was perfect...slightly overcast and about 80 degrees with a slight breeze. We were able to visit with three other families from our church who happened to be at the game, too. It's funny that we see our pastor and his family every Sunday at church, but the most time we've ever spent with them is at a Twins spring training game. We had a great time...and the kids had a blast hanging out with Grandma & Papa, too.

So...remember how I said we had to get the kids up at 3:45am this morning? Well Peyton was SOOOOOO excited to be in Florida with Grandma & Papa that she refused to take a nap. We finally just got her down about an hour ago (8pm Minneapolis time). She was so incredibly tired, but just kept fighting sleep. Should be an interesting night. Keep your fingers crossed that the kids sleep all night.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of us enjoying the weather wandering around the condo grounds this afternoon & evening:

Feeding bread chunks the ducks, fish & turtles (and Peyton & Carson!!) off the bridge ***Notice Carson's chapstick in his hand***


Carson going for a walk over the bridge


Peyton preparing for her first slam dunk


Carson manning the jumbo tub of bubbles


Carson & Daddy coming back from the marina


Peyton & Daddy heading out to the pier


That's all for Day 1 folks! I'll do my best to post pictures from each day of our trip. Tomorrow we're heading out for an action-packed day at the beach!

P.S. I'm sorry to report that Carson's beloved chapstick fell overboard into the duck pond. The rest of the evening was a disaster as we tried to explain to him it wasn't feasible for us to dive into the nasty duck pond with the alligators to retrieve his chapstick. We'll definitely be stopping by Walgreens first thing tomorrow for another tube!! :)