I know, it's been a long time. Sometimes, life keeps you busy.
Easter came and went. It was the perfect weather, all of Joe's side of the family were able to come and visit and fun was had by all. I couldn't be more thankful.
After Easter, I had planned on visiting my family down in Florida. Originally, it was just going to be me, but after talking with my sister I figured it would be a good idea to bring one of my kids with me to visit their cousin Ben since they missed each other at Christmas. I decided bringing Anne with me would be fun. Just the idea of having one child with me on a plane to Florida just thrilled be beyond belief. Just one! I'm so used to 5. Also, the idea of having some one on one time with her just made me happy. When I told her that she was coming with me she was just as excited.
The night before we were to leave for Florida, I spent an hour of it on the bathroom floor feeling very sick to my stomach. The nasty stomach virus had come to our house. Luckily, I didn't throw up and was feeling somewhat better the next day. Thank God Anne didn't get the bug. However, after landing in Florida, I get a text that Bernadette had starting throwing up. Poor thing.
My sister came to pick us up at the airport and brought us immediately to see my Mom at Utopia, a facility where she receives treatments. We got to meet the people who treat her and the other patients that have become friends. We spent the rest of the day just relaxing at Joys house and resting up for the next day - Legoland!
What a fun place this was! It was a great weather day. I didn't think it was too hot. The crowds were very reasonable too! Legoland is a new attraction in Florida somewhere in between Tampa and Orlando. Again, just having to look after one child was just amazing. Anne is such a good kid, it was just like going with my best buddy. Fun! Of course, the whole time I kept thinking of how much fun my other kids would of had if they were here. I kept taking pictures of the things I knew they would have loved.
As soon as we got there, I knew I had to go buy some sunglasses for Anne because it was so bright.
We also needed to find out what rides she could get on.
She measured at exactly 48 inches which was the height she needed to be to ride most of the rides at the park. That made her happy. We walked around for a while and she saw her first roller coaster that she was excited to try. It was called The Dragon. Joy and Ben decided to pass and we would meet them after it was over. While we were in line Anne was very quiet. Quiet in the way that worried me a little. I thought she may have been feeling sick and I asked her if she was feeling ok (thinking that nasty virus had got her!) and she said she was fine. She had lost her chattiness all of a sudden and the wait in line was sort of quiet. As soon as we approached the ride she started getting anxious. It finally dawned on me that she gets very quiet when she's nervous! We got on the ride and it started slow but then the big hill approached and then off we went! Anne started screaming, "Help me! I want to get off! Ahhhhh...." I stopped screaming and assured her she would be fine and that it was almost over. I think she was glad that she tried the roller coaster, but had decided that she wasn't very fond of them. That was the last roller coaster of the day. I am totally proud of her! I was too chicken when I was her age.
There was another area of the park called the Imagination Zone. Here, we were able to build a car made out of legos and then test them on their various race tracks. You can return and modify your car until it works to your satisfaction! Anne and Ben went to work. Anne was very focused when building her car. She spent a lot of time on it. She finally lifted her head up with a look of satisfaction and pride and said, "I'm done!" Ready to test her car out on one of the race courses, she turns and immediately runs into a woman that causes her car to fall onto the floor. It falls apart. I look at Anne and she just starts to cry. I felt so bad for her. Poor thing! I pick up all the pieces since she is stuck in the depths of despair! The woman who ran into her helped me pick the pieces up, but looked at Anne and said, "They're just legos!" Geesh, thanks. I'm sure that made her feel much better. Luckily, she got the car back together and was able to test it. It turns out that her car was not very fast and it veered to the left or to the right.
Also at the Imagination Zone, the face of Albert Einstein made out of legos! Amazing! They had a ton of things made of legos, obviously! I took too many pictures of that sort of stuff. They had a place in the park called Miniland where they made real cities made of legos. It was really cool.
They had parts of Florida, Kennedy Space Center, California, New York, Las Vegas and my favorite, Washington, DC.
They were all made with such great detail! They had a few areas in the park where they had videos showing the makings of various lego structures. I know there are computer lego applications that aid these builders! There must be!
The highlight of Legoland was the Ford Driving School where kids can obtain a driver's license. While they wait in line, a photographer takes their picture which they will later put on a very official looking piece of plastic and sell for $14.99. They put all the kids in a room to watch a video on how to observe traffic rules (red light, green light, yellow light, stop, etc...) and then they separate the parents and the kids. The kids go grab a car while the parents go to the viewing area to watch their kids put what they've learned into practice. There is a reason kids do not operate motor vehicles. It was so very entertaining to watch especially when traffic jams occurred and the looks on the faces of the kids stuck in it!
Anne was a very good driver! I told Anne at the beginning of the day that she was allowed to get one souvenir at the park. She chose to get her $14.99 driver's license. She didn't ask for anything for the rest of the day. She really loved it!
The rest of the trip was spending time with my nephew Benjamin and with my parents. My mom is doing so much better from where she was during Thanksgiving. My parents are living with my sister while she is receiving treatments nearby. She is now breathing on her own, eating well and is beginning to regain more mobility. Her main goal now is to get back to walking. I got to see her rigorous daily routines and two of her physical therapy sessions. I really admire my mother for all that she is doing. She's working hard. My father, another example of love, dedication and hard work.
Spending time with my nephew was fun too. We would sleep into the late morning, go to the pool in the afternoon and spend hours there. Anne absolutely loved this since we rarely go here at home. She improved so much in her swimming (never had lessons) that I think it's only going to be a matter of time now until she can say, "Yes, I can swim".
They played video games! We went to the mall and did some fun shopping, had lunch, and got treats. At night, we all just hung out. One night we went to the Fair that was happening at the mall. There was a Ferris Wheel that I wanted to go on with Anne. Once she took a look at it from the bottom and saw how the cars on the Ferris Wheel wobbled a lot while rotating, she didn't want to go on it. Sigh...oh well. We had a lot of cotton candy, fried oreos and fried dough to eat. We went on other fun rides and played a lot of games in which they won many little toys! It was a lot of fun for those kids.
On the day we were going to leave we went to the Farmer's Market downtown St. Petersburg. I love going to them. Even if I don't buy anything, I just like walking around.
Here's my sister with a couple of coconuts.
Anne eating some pizza baked in a wood fire oven. It was so delicious! Yummy.
We all shared. This is Pad Thai - yummy too!
It was sort of hot day. Anne was resting in some custom made expensive chairs.
Anne was looking at the bees that produced the honey being sold.
This I haven't seen before. A pickle bar! Oh yum. I bought some of the garlic marinated ones.
This is my mom out and about. She was having a good time.
This is my nephew Ben and Anne. They are one month apart in age. I'm so happy I was able to take this trip with Anne and to spend time with my family. Thanks to my Dad and Mom for helping us get to Florida, thank you Joy for bringing us to Legoland and taking us in! Thanks Ben for letting us spend time with you and letting play with all your fun toys/games. Thanks to Joe for watching all the kids while I was gone. Love you all! See you this Summer.
