Our family took an 8-day trip to Florida to visit grandparents in Gainesville and DeLand for Thanksgiving. Brielle did well during the two long plane flights, despite a large amount of turbulence. At one point we were caught in the aisle on our way to the bathroom and had to hold onto the seats around us to keep from getting knocked down. I tried not to look too worried because I didn't want to alarm her. But after we were safely back in our seats and the turbulence stopped, Brielle said, "All done scared." Our brave little girl...
We spent the first night in Gainesville at Granddad Scott's house. Brielle seemed to remember Paige the cat, although this time she could call her by name. She was extremely interested in Paige but very gentle with how she tried to approach her. Brielle generally kept her distance and excitedly waved "hi" to her. Unfortunately Page was pretty cautious, perhaps remembering the Brielle's last visit when she was a little too enthusiastic in her approach.
But Brielle did enjoy a lot of positive attention from Grandma Sujata. Brielle came around the corner to see Sujata sitting on the couch and flashed her a shy smile.
Brielle was also excited to see Aunt Amy, Uncle Todd, and Cousin Stella (who is turning 2 this month).
Unfortunately, Cousin Stella was sick with the croup, so she was feeling off and had lost her voice. Brielle sympathized with her.
But Stella was excited to see Brielle and did her best to find the energy to play. They enjoyed chasing each other around the house, going on walks...
...and checking out the amenities in Papa and Nana's new neighborhood.
We had Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant at the nearby golf course.
After dinner, Papa took the girls to see some huge cranes on the course.
Whoops! They got too close.
Daddy gave Brielle the cue that it was time to go so that she'd know exactly when to start running away.
The next day, it was time to celebrate early Christmas!
The next day we headed out to nearby Blue Springs to see the manatees. They swim in from the ocean during the winter.
Luckily for us, they had just arrived THAT morning!
Our group found other fun things to explore while there.
We had a great visit with family and really liked Nana and Papa's new house. It will be a fun place to visit in the future.
Finally, we headed back to Gainesville to continue our visit with Granddad and Sujata. Sujata's cat, Sally, let Brielle get closer to her than Paige did, but she was still pretty cautious.
Brielle brought her a gift (catnip ball).
As always, we enjoyed our favorite restaurants in Gainesville, as well as relaxing at Granddad's house. This time we also went to the zoo...
I didn't get the best shot of this, but I thought that the downed tree on the right looked just like the ostrich...
Brielle had a great time handing Sujata as many leaves as she could fit in her hand. She cleaned off the entire deck!
The next day we returned to one of our favorite locations - the butterfly habitat at the museum.
Unfortunately, it was pretty rainy, so many of the butterflies were hiding. But we did have the place all to ourselves...
While we were there, we decided to explore the museum as well.
Brielle's favorite part was an interactive exhibit for children with a fan that blew objects up a tube. The only way to get her to leave was so secretly push the off switch and tell her it was "all done".
Back at home, Brielle gave Sujata hugs and kisses and played piano with Granddad.
Thank you for a wonderful visit, Granddad, Sujata, Paige, & Sally!
It's fun getting home after a long trip, but the journey home can be challenging. Unfortunately due to "weather" (according to the airlines) it took us 27 hours to get home from Florida, including a night in a hotel in Houston. This is a challenge for any two year old, especially one who was sick. But Brielle has a really good attitude in these situations. She seemed to see the hotel as a fun adventure, and here she is dancing around the airport...
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