Diary
 

Home Up


 

Sarasota, Florida

January 18th through January 22nd, 2007

Thursday, January 18th - 33°, Cloudy

    We managed to get out of our house around 1:40pm today – later than we had really wanted to get going but still enough time to make it to the airport. We made a mistake in going through Milford to get to the airport, as the town was way too busy for us to make it through quickly. We stopped at McDonalds for lunch on the way because we didn’t leave early enough to stop for a sit down lunch like we had hoped. We did manage to make it on time however, and the plane actually left Detroit early. Our flight was pretty uneventful as the kids all managed to behave themselves for the most part (although Drew got pretty squirmy during the last 45 minutes or so). We landed at the St. Petersburg/Clearwater airport around 7:30pm, and stepped off the plane outside into the nice balmy 70° weather of Florida. Dad & Mom, along with Sherry & Connie, came to pick us up in two vehicles (we don’t fit too well in a single vehicle anymore, especially with luggage). After we made a quick stop at McDonalds (once again) for dinner, we had an uneventful drive down to Sarasota, where we headed to Dad & Mom’s trailer and did some quick unpacking before settling in for the night.

Friday, January 19th - 73°, Sunny

    Everybody in the fifth-wheel was up around 7:00am today. Jayden needed to be fed, so that meant that I woke up with her and Tara (since we all slept together). Dad & Mom typically get up much earlier than we do, and they were up as well. The kids were all woke up so that we could get ready to go to morning coffee at the park’s hall, called Woodland Hall. They were going to be mentioning Great-Grandma Parrott’s birthday at today’s coffee. Since she didn’t know that we were down to see her, we thought that would be a good time to surprise her. She didn’t see us all walk in, and Tara went over and kissed her on the cheek while telling her happy birthday. It took a while to register what was going on, but she was very excited. She squeezed Samantha so hard when they hugged that Sam’s hot chocolate squirted out of the cup all over her sweater.
    After the morning coffee, we split up to do separate things. Dad & I went to Dennis & Karen’s to help him finish laying the wood floor in their new addition. Tara and the kids went with Mom, Grandma, and Connie to “Sugar and Spice” to eat lunch after dropping Steve off at work at “Publix”. They also took a drive through the subdivision that my grandparents lived in many years ago to see what the two houses that they lived in looked like today. I later learned that my Grandfather actually built the second home (with help, of course) – I had always assumed that they had it built for them.
    We met back up at the fifth-wheel to get ready to go to the “Michigan Dinner” that evening. The “Michigan Dinner” is held in Woodland Hall also, and was basically a pot-luck style dinner (you were responsible for bringing a dish for the 8 people at your own table) while sloppy-Joes were provided for everybody. Since our group took up one whole table (that is with Great-Grandma & Steve eating at another table!), I was guaranteed at least some food that I would eat. We also saw our friend Jeff’s parents there, as they were also staying in Sun-N-Fun this year. Tara talked to them briefly, but we were barely awake enough to eat after spending the last few nights up late packing and getting ready to go.
    Once the dinner was completed (we won a free lunch at “Boon Docks”, the parks on-site restaurant), Tara and Connie took Tyler, Sam, and Drew to the pool for a quick swim. They spent so much time in the water that Drew’s diaper filled up with water and fell right off. Dad and I spent some time walking around the park after leaving the dinner and stopped at Great-Grandma’s house for a short time, we all then headed back to Dad & Mom’s to turn in for the night.

Saturday, January 20th - 78°, Sunny

    Once everyone was up and dressed today, we headed out to the end of Dad & Mom’s street (“Avenue C”) to watch the “Sun-N-Fun Homecoming Parade”. Just before the parade started, my cousin Shelly and her husband Dan, as well as their daughter Logan showed up to surprise Grandma. She was especially pleased to see another one of her great-grandchildren. We weren’t really sure what the whole parade was for, but it started out with a bunch of veterans marching and was followed by several groups of people that were bunched by state (or province for our Canadian friends). Tyler even participated in the parade by jumping on somebody’s motorcycle to finish out he parade route. Once he was returned to us, we walked down to the pavilion to have lunch (hot dogs and hamburgers were for sale in addition to pop and beer). A “Blues Brothers” group also provided entertainment, although we ate inside to provide some breathing room for Sherry to put her leg up on the table (she had surgery on her ankle the week prior to our arrival).
    After we finished eating, Mom and I took Tyler and Sam to the pool for a swim, while Tara stayed behind to feed Jayden and Dad stayed behind to help get Drew to take a nap. When we returned from swimming we got ready to go out to eat.
    We ate at “R.J. Gators” tonight. It is a restaurant located just down the road from Sun-N-Fun and we were told that they had decent grouper. Our group tonight consisted of Dana, Great-Grandma, Steve, Connie, Logan (who spent the night with Connie), Dennis, Karen, Justin, Meghan, as well as our usual group of Dad, Mom, Tara, Tyler, Sam, Drew, Jay, and Me. We took the opportunity to sample some Florida alligator tail (mainly just to allow Tyler to have a taste – both of the times I have tasted it I thought it was kind of tough and chewy). After we finished eating the wait staff sang “Happy Birthday” to Great-Grandma and brought her a free dessert, which she then passed around the table for everyone to take a bite of.
    After we had eaten, everybody rode over to Denny & Karen’s house to talk for a while. Mom, Tara, Drew, Jayden and I took a detour into Target to pick up a few essentials before joining them. Tyler took the opportunity to do some wrestling with Logan and Justin’s dachshund Kobe. When we finally left, we returned to the trailer to head to bed for the night.

Sunday, January 21st - 82°, Sunny

    We slept until about 9:00am today, and after everyone woke up we made bacon and eggs for breakfast. Mom had showered first today because she had to help get things ready for Great-Grandma’s surprise party today and because of that she was in and out all morning. We took turns getting ready and helping out with the party. Dad and Tara took Tyler, Sam, and Drew to the pool for a while. When they returned, Dad laid Drew down for a nap and Tara fed Jayden while I went to help Mom set up the party items.
    Once everybody was ready to go, we headed to the Pavilion to attend Grandma Parrott’s birthday party. We missed the actual “Surprise” part of the party, but Great-Grandma seemed happy to see everybody anyway. We got to meet Timmy’s girlfriend Anna and her Mom, and we also got to see many people that we hadn’t seen in a long time. The kids had a good time playing in the sand volleyball area and on the tennis courts. Julie’s husband Randy joined in along with Grandpa Gary and Tara, while Sam took the opportunity to keep score for the group.
    After the party wound down, Tara & I took the oldest three kids out to “Checkers” to get a shake (I was looking forward to a banana shake, but it wasn’t nearly as good as I remembered them to be). When we returned, I took the kids up to the pool while the rest of our group headed over to Great-Grandma’s to hang out for a while. Dennis & Karen, Chris & Gina, Dan, Shelly, and Logan, and Julie & Dana also joined us at the trailer, but had left by the time we returned from the pool. When it came time to return to the fifth-wheel for the night, Tyler decided to spend the night with his Great-Grandma (he had been wanting to for a couple of days now, and this was his last chance for this trip). Tara & I took one last trip back to bring him his pajamas from the camper, but he had already passed out. Once we returned, the rest of us turned in for the night.

Monday, January 22nd 80°, Sunny

    Being that today was our last day in Florida, we weren’t in any real rush to get anything done. We took our time getting up and getting ready this morning. Once we did get moving, we headed back to the pavilion one more time to participate in the “Sanilac County Picnic”. This one consisted of families that originated in Sanilac County, and have since settled in the general area of Sun-N-Fun (although it wasn’t limited to people who stay there).
    I wasn’t too thrilled with the pot-luck options here, so after eating I took Tara, Tyler, Sam, and Drew out to get some KFC and to try to fill up Dad’s truck with some fuel (we passed 2 stations with diesel to go to a station that was recommended only to get there and find that they didn’t even offer diesel). On our way to get the truck from the site, we stopped by Lake Ibis to watch the radio-controlled sailboat races for a short while. Once we finished with this lunch, Mom took Tyler and Sam to the pool once more while we stayed behind to repack the suitcases and to get the other two kids to lie down for a nap.
    With our packing completed, we loaded up one final time to head out for dinner. This time Dennis, Connie, and Steve, all of whom were going to assist us in going to the airport after eating, joined our family. We ate at “Don Pablo’s” tonight, since we couldn’t come to a consensus on any place to eat and they had immediate seating for us. After we finished our meal, we started the drive north to the airport. Besides some confusion with the signs in St. Pete, the drive was uneventful. We made it to the airport shortly after 8:00pm for our 9:55pm scheduled flight. The plane took off a little late, but we made it safely to Detroit, landing around 12:20am. By the time we got our bags, the van, and drove home, it was around 3:00am before Tara and I actually climbed into bed.

Trip Summary

    All in all it was a safe and successful trip. We had a good time while we were in Florida, although the flights were a little stressful. Drew did really well for the most part, but that last hour or so he really started to get antsy. We thought that he would fall asleep for at least part of the flight home, but no luck. Tara and I are both not sure if it was worth the effort to fly. The timesavings were a definite advantage, but we were both pretty stressed out by the end of each trip. It is much easier to control a crying kid in your own vehicle than it is to do in a plane full of strangers. If we were to go again for a longer trip, I think that we would definitely drive. If Drew and Jayden had been older (perhaps the age that Tyler and Samantha are now), this may not be the case – but then we would be forced to buy two extra seats, making the trip much more expensive!
    The primary reason for the trip was Grandma Parrott’s surprise birthday party, and that was a rousing success in my estimation. She was genuinely surprised, and everyone there enjoyed themselves. A lot of her grandkids came in from out of state, and she was excited to see us.
    The rest of the trip felt pretty hectic, as we were constantly on the go. That seems to be the norm for our trips to Florida, however, so we weren’t caught too off-guard by that particular aspect. As always, we wish the trip could have been longer. Until next time…

 


 

[Home] [Up] [Current Events] [Past Events] [Studio Photos] [Wallpapers] [Blog] [Update List]

 

© Copyright 1999-2024 by RodandTara.com. All Rights Reserved.
No portion of this site may be redistributed in any form via any medium.