Florida Vacation

We spent last week visiting Barry's parents in Florida.  We were lucky to have gorgeous, sunny weather in the upper 70's and low 80's the whole time.  It rained just once while we were there, and the sun came out immediately afterwards, so we were still able to go outside.  This vacation was super relaxing, as we did not make any plans at all for once. We just did whatever we felt at the moment, which was a nice change.  But I'm sure that next time we visit, we will plan to drive down to Miami and Key Biscayne like we usually do.  We love to spend time on the beach where we got married!

Ryan has really overcome his shyness lately, and he is very animated and fun to be around.  I love that other people are finally getting a chance to see Ryan's true personality.  He is extremely active, has a great sense of humor, and loves to show off his dance moves and act silly.  He is beginning to put two words together like, "mommy car" and "more wawa" to express himself.  I lost track of keeping a list of all the words he knows because there are too many new ones every day.  

At the same time, Ryan will respond with no to any question that you ask him, and he will scream loudly if anybody tells him no.  Not so fun.  I know that the terrible twos start early, and this is part of a normal development stage that is actually very important for all children to go through.  It helps them to develop their sense of independence.  I am definitely still trying to teach Ryan manners and discipline (we have been somewhat successful with "please" lately) and I never take it personally or let myself get upset when he acts this way.  I still enjoy every moment that I get to spend with my sweet little guy.  Here he is having a great time playing catch and dancing to his own song:

Ryan sure does love his daddy... they are like two peas in a pod.  I love that they are super close!

I think that we went to the swimming pool every single day that we were in Florida.  Although Barry's parents have a pool in their backyard, we also decided to visit the neighborhood pool, which we had pretty much to ourselves on the weekdays.  Ryan had not been swimming since he was an infant, and I'm not sure if he even remembers that.  It was so cute to watch him splashing around and being excited talking about the "wawa".

This playground was conveniently located right next to the pool, so of course we let Ryan explore it whenever he wanted to.  He pretty much loves all parks and playgrounds, and this was no exception. Of course, he didn't like it when the camera came out, so I couldn't capture him having any fun.  Well, there's always next time!

I think that seeing these ducks was seriously the highlight of the trip for Ryan!  It's the little things, I guess!

We went to the mall with Barry's mom and had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants where you can make your own stir fry.  I like to fill mine up with tons of veggies, rice noodles, and peanut sauce. Barry's mom bought Ryan a new outfit (complete with a hat) at Gymboree while Ryan had fun at the toddlers' mini movie theater.  We never let Ryan watch TV or movies at home, so it is a very special treat when he gets to see them while we are out.  Ryan has started calling Barry's mom "mee-ma" because "grandma" is still too hard for him to say.  

On Friday night, Barry's mom watched Ryan, so that we could go out on a date. (Thanks for baby-sitting, S!)  We went to a car show/cocktail party (Barry's pick) and it actually ended up being fun because we were provided with unlimited gourmet food and drinks, and we got to see the insides of fancy boats, exotic cars, and private jets.

The cars themselves reminded me of real-life versions of the little matchbox cars that Ryan likes to play with.  I don't know anything about cars, but my favorite was definitely the colorful one on the bottom left!

It was really nice to spend a night out instead of staying home like responsible parents for once. (Thanks to Barry's dad for getting us tickets!)  We were going to attend another car event on Sunday, but we decided to stay in and watch movies instead.  You know, just sticking to the whole "super relaxing" theme.

We flew back home on Monday, and we will be leaving again for North Carolina this weekend for the 2012 Raleigh Get Your Rear In Gear 5K Run/Walk.  Thanks to our wonderful family, friends, and blog readers, we have raised over $1K in donations to benefit the Colon Cancer Coalition in memory of my mom.  Thank you all for your support!!!!!  For anyone who would still like to donate, it is not too late! Please visit my site:  Strides for Sue.  

I will blog about our experience at Get Your Rear in Gear and our time in North Carolina after we get back next week.