The Lee Family: Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's

We headed out to Florida in the Baron on Tuesday morning. We originally planned to fly out the day after Christmas on Saturday, but got stuck with bad weather either here, en route or in Florida so we couldn't leave until Tuesday. The flight went smoothly and both girls (and Buddy) enjoyed a long nap before we arrived. Of course, once we landed at Grandpa and Grandma's, the girls were super excited and completely re-energized for their grandparents and the farm. For dinner we went to Sunny's for their delicious BBQ, since it is a favorite of all of ours. It's such great BBQ and we always love to go at least once during our visits to Florida.

We spent our visit enjoying the 80 degree weather, taking Buddy for long walks on the runway, taking Gator rides and Cub rides with Grandpa. The girls spent the first two days inside playing with their new toys and making up stories, but after that they enjoyed bouncing on the bounce house outside, Sofia driving the Gator around the farm like a maniac with Olivia in the back and going up in the Cub with their Grandpa one at a time. Both girls loved taking Cub rides with Grandpa and would ask him to go up every day. CK and I took a ride in the Cub together and it's always so relaxing to be able to look down on the beautiful fields and horses and just relax in the air.

On New Year's Eve, Connie and CK offered to keep the girls so CK and I could go out to dinner. We ended up driving into Gainesville and eating at a really good restaurant and enjoying a kid-free evening. When we returned, the girls were watching a video after having pizza and popcorn with Grandma and Grandpa. Earlier that day, we bought fireworks and decided to set them off. Unfortunately, it didn't last very long because Sofia and I set what we thought were finished sparklers on the back of CK Sr.'s truck where CK had set the fireworks and one of them went off! It scared Sofia half to death and hurt her eye and my ears and burned Olivia on her collarbone. Sofia was so upset that she just wanted to go to bed. She calmed down and went to sleep and CK took them out the next night to finish off the fireworks and let them get comfortable with being safe around fireworks.

Of course, Buddy thoroughly enjoyed his visit to the Farm which included at least one, but usually two, long walks each day. Surprisingly, he wouldn't wonder off too far from me and always was sure to keep good track of where I was at all times. In prior trips, he's run off into the trees and explored but never did on this visit. He did enjoy barking and raising a fuss at the donkey and the calves at the far end of the runway. The calves were as interested in figuring out exactly "what" Buddy was, as much as Buddy was interested in figuring out what those big black furry things were! They came close to sniffing each other, but Buddy's barks would scare off the calves. It was pretty humorous.

All set to go to the farm!