It may just be turning into an annual tradition. We traveled down south to spend time with my grandmother for her birthday. Last year, it was very brief & poor Jesse got sick with a bug on our short journey.
This year it was three of us and lasted a little while longer than before. My mom, Jess & I headed down for an extra long weekend. 600 miles later on the rented Corolla, we are now flying home. Inefficient arrangements caused us to be in a car more than I enjoy, but at least we got to visit those we don't see often enough anymore. We drove from Orlando to Daytona Beach on the first afternoon. Aunt Teri surprised us at dinner time by taking us to a Steeler themed pizza place named Giuseppi's. That made us feel more at home on our first night away. It rained a little bit that evening, but when the temperature is above 60, it's quite okay. We got back to their apartment ands played Yahtzee at Jesse's request. Grandma Gen beat us twice in a row and we learned that her secret was earning the upper section bonus points.
On Saturday, we got up & drove all the way over to the other (gulf) coast to see my Godmother in New Port Richey. After she fixed us a nice lunch, Jesse played/practiced piano awhile and then we headed to a sponge town named Tarpon Springs. We shopped and then met up with her son's family for a Greek dinner (more like a feast). I was very excited to finally try grape leaves & even got Jesse to try lamb in a gyro. We finished with the difficult choice of desserts from the bakery. We settled on a Baklava Napolean and some chocolate filled sweet selection which I can't remember the greek name of...it was very tasty though also!
Sunday, we headed back to Daytona Beach in time for some of us to check out the weekly flea market & attend a special Bethlehem presentation that evening. We also sang to Grandma T. & had some birthday cake.
I decided to surprise Jess with a trip to the Magic Kingdom on Monday. We got to see some of the brand new Fantasyland attractions. We actually covered more than 20 attractions in less than 12 hrs there. "Fast pass" was our friend. Jesse's favorites were Space Mountain & the Carousel of Progress. Although he had been there before, he could not remember very much so in some ways, it really seemed like his first time there. It was the warmest, sunniest day that we had for our trip and we truly had a fantastic time....even after getting stuck on "It's a Small World" for nearly 20 minutes. The drive back to Daytona Beach after a full park day was tough on me (while my little man was sacked out), but still worth it.
Tuesday was our last day & Gram wanted to take us to DeLeon Springs for a special griddle-in-table breakfast. We had their wonderful pancakes and enjoyed a relaxing stroll along the spring water. Gram even bought the boys colorful lollipops that had little stuffed turtles grasping the candy as extra treats/souvenirs.
It was nice to break away from the usual rat race routine amidst the bustle of Christmas & in sorrowful days following the horrific elementary school tragedy in CT. Lucky to still have, to be able to go, do & be together...& thankful for the time we have together is a gift....reminded again & knowing we are so blessed.
