The Official Florida Post

Where do I begin? First, a huge thanks to Dan's parents, Mike and Debbie for inviting chaos to their rented condo! They rented a condo close to the beach in Florida for the month of April so we went for one week. The whole crew was in FL- Mike and Debbie, Lara and Charlie with their boys Peter and Dane, and Pete and his girlfriend, Erin, and US- all five of us! Dan's grandparents Jim and Sue, plus the Purdy family (cousins)- Connie, Dave, Tessa, Jenna, and Jack were also there. Fun group!

On the way out to Florida, we had a really early flight, and we were so nervous and anxious to see how the girls would handle their first airplane ride. We were lucky to fly with Dan's brother and dad to help out. One baby was able to sit on Mike's lap, and the other two with Dan and me. All three girls ended up sleeping for half of the first 2 hour flight and basically all of the following 45 min flight. So far so good....!  We were pleasantly surprised. The girls attracted a lot of attention at the airport and on the plane and people were nice about everything. 

So...what'd we do for cribs and highchairs, you ask? WELL, there's a thing called the "Triplet Connection" where people ask each other for advice and I have seen people reaching out for help when traveling. I posted whether there were any families in Pensacola so we could borrow three pack and plays...and guess what! It worked and we picked up three cribs on our way to the condo (not even out of the way, really) to borrow! I love Triplet Connection! For highchairs, we recently got gifts from a family friend, Anita. They are fabric highchairs and they work well! (You have to really supervise because they aren't completely fool-proof.) I included a pic below showing how they work. They are such a great alternative and pack really small! Perfect!

Madeline showing off the highchair for the week.

The girls needed a couple of days to adjust to all the new-ness. You could tell they were overtired and overwhelmed. They were scared of the ocean for the first half of the trip and didn't even want to touch the sand at all. A lot of crying went down and I was a little scared it would be a long week. Madeline was the hardest to adjust, Sofia the easiest. It's so funny because that's not always the case. They weren't into the pool at first either! We eased them into it and evenutally they had so much fun with the pool AND beach. It was even more fun to watch them! (They started to like the sand TOO much and started putting handfuls in their mouth. YUCK! We definitely had to stop that new habit).

 We went to see the Blue Angels practice- the first attempt the clouds were too low but we saw it the following day. The girls didn't love it, but I did! (They especially didn't love me covering their ears and sitting too long). On that first day we attempted, we went to the Naval museum instead, which was very interesting. The best part, of course, was a little playground they had. The girls went hog-wild! They were running (no, walking really fast!) all over the place! Even though they weren't together and didn't have matching outfits, they still attracted a lot of attention. Everyone was asking about them!

Sofia and Maddie

Hi Peter!

Sofia and Josie LOVING the museum playground

Here's some fun pics!

The girls loving the pool (not at first)

Sofia hard at play outside the condo (we were on the first floor so we had a communal yard for them to enjoy!)

Madeline

I just love this picture of Josie

Lara and Peter enjoying the beach

Dan and Josie- she was the biggest daddy's girl in Florida!

I tried to get a group shot with my girls but they are too busy!

Josie! (and mom keeping a close watch!)

(Maddie) Yes, they DID eat a lot of sand (quickly taught them NO!!)

What do you see, Maddie?

Surfin' babes!!

Grandpa dipping Sofia's toes in the ocean!

Easter was our last day. (Side note: my triplet mom friend, Elizabeth- yes, the same one who gave me the Choo-choo wagon- gave me these handed down Easter dresses! I was so thankful I didn't have to go shopping for them when I was so busy with getting ready/etc. Thanks again, Elizabeth!) We brought them to church and they lasted, oh, maybe 3 minutes into the service. We brought them to a big empty room (Lara and Peter joined too) for them to run around in. They had fun but no service for us! After church we had a delicious brunch while the girls napped. After nap they got to go on an Easter egg hunt! Dane had a blast and the girls got in on it too. Their eggs had some baby treats- lucky them!

Grandpa and grandma with ALL the grandkids!

Family Easter picture- windy and bright!

Easter Dresses- Madeline, Josie, Sofia

Josie found an Easter egg!

Daddy showing Maddie what to look for

Sofia and Maddie

 The trip back went alright too. Dan's brother, Pete, held a baby on the flights back home. The problem was when a baby would see me and had to be with me! Plus, the first flight was at 5 pm, a notoriously fussy time of the day. We played musical babies for sure. I felt badly for Pete- not a very relaxing way to travel. Thank you so much again, Pete! Thanks to Charlie too who helped us out until we parted ways in Atlanta. I don't think we could have handled any of that by ourselves! The second flight was better because they slept the whole way (the flight was at bedtime).

All in all, the trip was a success! Tiring, yes, but we had a lot of fun. I have realized that vacations are no longer vacations with young kids, but it was life in better weather! :)  Thanks again, to everyone. Now, we have the countdown to the big move! Our first night in our new house is Saturday. THIS Saturday. Wish us luck! (Luckily it is just a move across town, not the country.)

If you made it through the whole post, good job! Sorry it was so long!

PS. BLOGGER, WORK ON YOUR FORMATTER! It is impossible to work with and this post looks screwed up!