the florida recap.

the clan spent the past five days visiting mercer's great-grandma and grandpa in sunny florida. mercer did not disappoint, spreading happiness and cheer everywhere he went. he slept well, ate well, and even behaved himself quite well on the two 2.5 hour plane rides. here's a quick recap of our fun.

thursday, january 24: car service picked us up and took us to white plains airport at 6:30am. had to wake mercer up, but he was in good spirits. he fell asleep as the plane took-off, but only slept for a half hour. arrived in orlando around 11AM, got our rental car (a chevy HHR - not a car, not an SUV, but peppy to drive) and took off for dunnellon, where his great-grandparents live. mercer did well in the car (and new car seat) and we arrived in dunnellon around lunch time. the weather was pleasant - upper 60's. we said our hellos, talked, squeezed, and poked at mercer for a good while. we went to a spaghetti dinner put on by the youth group at great-grandma and pa's church. it reminded pop of the spaghetti dinners he used to volunteer for with his youth group. mercer had a little bit of cheerios and pasta, too!

friday, january 25: after breakfast, we all went to rainbow springs state park so mercer could see some wild flowers, trees, shrubs, swamps, and waterfalls. the springs were bubbling and remains around 74 degrees all year long. the weather was breezy, but very nice. then we headed to ocala for a late lunch. mercer had a little piece of cucumber that made him throw up, but other than that, he was happy. we did a little shopping and relaxed for the rest of the day, wishing it were warm enough for mercer to take a dunk in the pool.

saturday, january 26: we decided to take a road trip to cedar key, a kind of a tourist destination an hour north on the gulf of mexico. pop hadn't been there before, and we're always looking for ways to expose mercer to new things. it was a bit rainy on the way there, but it cleared up in time for us to take a walk around. it was a quaint little town where we had a very good lunch. mercer made fast friends with the waitress, who was completely taken by him. we even let her carry him around the restaurant a little bit so we could have a few bites to eat. after lunch, we strolled the town, browsing here and there; showing mercer the gulf. afterwards, we drove to a mall we thought had an indoor merry-go-round, but they must have taken it out because we couldn't find it anywhere. no worries, it was still fun. that night, we ate dinner at a fine italian place called carmella's. pop had the veal, mom had some pasta, and mercer ate baby food, pasta, sauce, and probably some cheerios.

sunday, january 26: after morning mass, great grandma and pa showed mercer off to everyone while we chatted and drank coffee and ate doughnuts. then it was off to a big breakfast. mom, pop, and mercer napped for a little bit before going to ocala national forest that afternoon. it's a huge park. we were in search for some quick and easy hiking trails, but we discovered that the park is really more for RV'ing, camping, and that sort of thing. we did find a nice lake to dip mercer's feet into. he enjoyed watching the waves lap ashore. once we got home, great-grandpa grilled up some delicious steaks for a very good sunday meal.


monday, january 27: we lounged around most of the morning, watching cartoons with mercer. we had to get back to the airport by 1pm to drop off the rental car. we said our goodbyes and vowed to come back to florida when the weather was better for swimming. we will, for sure. mercer was pretty good on his flight back. unfortunately, the flight coincided with naptime and dinner time, so he was a bit whinier than usual. making it easier though, was the extra seat we had in our aisle. someone must have canceled. oh, how beautiful it is when they close that cabin door and you have an empty seat next to you.

thanks to the great-grandparents for a wonderful trip. it's good to be back here in the freezing northeast.