Tony and I took turns driving, while Andy played with Christopher in the backseat.
"Thirteen hours? Are you teasing me, Daddy?" We were concerned about how Christopher would travel that far, but he was a trooper and slept most of the way. He probably fussed/cried for a total of 15 minutes.
Saturday morning, we drove to Tampa, FL, where we dropped Tony off at some friends, and then made our way to St. Petersburg to visit the Rehnkes: Uncle Ernie, Aunt Linda and Liz.
That evening, they took us to a major league baseball game at Tropicana Field stadium, where we watched the Tampa Bay Devil Rays play against the Kansas City Royals.
We sat up in the club and ate dinner for the first few innings...Christopher was more interested in looking down on the field rather then eating.
After we ate, we went down to our seats - three rows up behind home plate!
"Hmm...what's this?" My new favorite of Christopher's many expressions. He's wearing a Devil Rays bandanna that they gave us as we entered the stadium because it was "pirate night."
Christopher was more interested in watching the game and looking at all the stadium lights rather than smiling for the camera.
Liz took him down front to ask if he could have a baseball from the game.
"Can I eat it?"
"I love it here - so many lights, a pretty girl, and my own baseball!"
"Um, what's this big blue thing, Mommy?"
On Sunday, Uncle Ernie flew to Guatemala for a medical missions trip. The rest of us stayed behind to play in the pool. Christopher loved his floaty from Aunt Linda.
"Can I please have your hat, Mommy?"
Christopher loved the pool, though he rarely smiled while he was in it because he was too busy focusing on splashing.
Aunt Linda, Christopher, Rachel and Liz at the mall in Tampa.
Sunday afternoon, we drove to Kissimmee, FL, where we met Andy's family at Orange Lake Resort. We stayed in the condos there until we left for home on Saturday. It was pretty hot, so Christopher and I stayed inside most of the time, just relaxing, playing with toys and reading. We drove to the beach once. He didn't like the waves and wasn't too impressed with the sand, so since it was an hour away, we stuck to the pools for the rest of the week.
Here's the "mega-fam" in front of the Verizon mural that Little Tony painted. It's hanging on the wall outside the Verizon store in the mall in Tampa. We all drove down to see it on Tuesday and get a family picture with the mural and the artist! =)
Back row: Tony, Mom, Stephanie, Little Tony and Zach.
Front row: Andy, Rachel, Christopher, Nichola, Allison, Megan and Jenny.
Christopher was enthralled with the hanging advertisement over one of the boutiques. He could watch it spin in circles.
Crab grass. We had an open field beside our condo. It was fun to fly the kite here. What do you think of the grass, Christopher?
I don't like it, Mommy.
Auntie Meg bought matching shirts for herself and Christopher: "I do all my own stunts." She's now in the process of teaching him all his own stunts.
Family picture at Orange Lake.
One morning, Andy, Stephanie, Christopher and I went out shopping and found a hotel called "Gaylord Palms." We had a great time touring the hotel which had a large arboretum complete with a full-sized sail boat converted into a restaurant. They served us cigar shrimp ( jumbo shrimp wrapped in lettuce, a wanton wrapper, spices and coconut - served in a glass globe with dry ice beneath it so it was "smoking.") and nachos with pulled pork, black beans, red peppers, cheese and mango salsa. Mmm mmm...hungry yet?! There were waterfalls, ponds with Koi fish and "rivers" with alligators and turtles. This place was huge and Chrisopher never stopped looking all around.
On Thursday, Andy, Tony and Megan went fishing on the "Handler" with captain Dave. They left at 6 pm and fished until 11 pm.
No, not their catch...this was the bait...SHARK BAIT!!!!!
See how close they are to shore? Remember this for later.
Tony catches a baby hammer - head shark.
Megan doesn't know quite what to think of her baby sharp nose shark.
Getting bigger...Megan caught a 3 ft. sharp nose shark.
The saga begins with the hook...
...starting the fight...
...the fish went under the boat, so Andy had to lean over the edge so the line wouldn't get cut by the propellers...
...still fighting...in the dark...
...and still fighting..."argh!!!!!!!!!!!"
...first sighting..."uh, guys, this looks kind of big..."
...the catch...check out that mouth!...
BIG FISH! A 10ft, 270+lbs lemon shark! Remember how close they were to shore?
Needless to say, they had a lot of fun on this fishing trip.
Saturday evening, Andy, Tony, Christopher and I headed for home. We left after supper at 6:30 and drove straight through the night, arriving home at 6:30 am on Sunday. Again, Christopher was a trooper and slept most of the way. And that's it - our vacation!
P.S. Sorry for the long post...what can I say? It was a busy, fun-filled week.
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