Last week, Brielle traveled to Florida to visit with Granddad Scott and Sujata in Erica's hometown of Gainesville. Not only was it Brielle's first time riding in an airplane, but we had to fly for hours on three flights to get across the country. Brielle helped prepare by showing Mommy and Daddy the proper way to wheel a baby through the airport.
How did Brielle do on the plane? I'd say she probably did better than most one-year-olds. In fact, on one 4-hour flight there was a woman sitting next to me who actually slept almost the whole time because Brielle was pretty quiet! Brielle slept on a couple of the shorter flights. On the longer ones she got squirmy and insisted on standing up on our laps. Luckily she got some attention from some adults and kids who loved babies and this kept her entertained for a while. She had a couple of meltdowns when she had to go back into the seat, but she didn't stay upset for long.
Brielle was excited to see Granddad again. (I know they both look serious in this photo, but I kind of like it.)
She also loved having a new house to explore...and explore she did! She checked out every room, opened every cabinet, and picked up every object she could get her hands on. She particularly liked stepping up and down off of Granddad's suitcase. Granddad bought her some toys to entertain her, although she didn't always use them in the traditional way. For example, she decided that the stacking blocks would be fun shoes.
There was a phone in the guest room, and Brielle was particularly fond of picking it up, talking into it in a rather subdued yet serious tone of voice, hanging it up, then making another call. It was funny because usually when she imitates someone using the phone, she says an enthusiastic "Hi!". But when she used this phone, she sounded like she was phoning in some top secret information in a very hush-hush tone.
Along with relaxing at Dad's and Sujata's houses, we enjoyed another favorite Gainesville activity - going to restaurants. We went to Silver Dragon (the new Golden Lights), Leonardo's 706, and Bahn Thai. We were glad that Brielle enjoyed the restaurant visits as well.
It helped when Sujata played with her.
One of Brielle's favorite Florida moments was our visit to the butterfly rainforest exhibit at the museum.
Brielle was surrounded by thousands of colorful butterflies.
She ran down the pathway, stopping to point at butterflies and waterfalls. When she got near the end of the exhibit, she ran back towards the beginning to experience it again.
A butterfly landed on Daddy!
We also enjoyed a day trip to St. Augustine. Brielle rode in the stroller and pointed enthusiastically at things she found interesting, including fountains, colorful artwork, and dogs.
We took a mid-day break to enjoy some sangria.
We visited the beautiful campus of Flagler College, one of our favorite places.
Finally, we stopped for a nice dinner at the Columbian Restaurant.
Brielle enjoyed the outings, but perhaps the highlight of her trip was getting to see two kitties - Sally and Paige. She proved that she knew the word "cat", and called it out over and over as soon as she spotted one of them. Sally, Sujata's kitty, was pretty tolerant and let Brielle get close.
Brielle tried to entice Sally to play by shaking her "cat dancer" toy.
Paige was curious about Brielle, but a little more cautious. Still, Brielle was excited by her brief glances of her and called out "Cat! Cat!" through the window.
It was a long journey to get there, but Brielle (and we) had a fantastic visit to Florida.
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