Fabulous Florida--Frolicking with Owen

Day three of our visit to Florida began with a Grandma and Owen play session on the screened patio. Owen loved having such a rapt audience!

Next on the agenda was a quick shopping trip with Tori for garden supplies. Then Jim and I played with Owen at his favorite park while Tori drove to the airport to pick up Jacob.

Owen kept us both hopping!

It was interesting for us to note that all of the children brought to the playground during our stay were under the care of their fathers.

Owen took off running when he was ready to go. I was beginning to notice a pattern!

We celebrated Jacob's arrival with another delicious dinner prepared by Tori. I think Jacob really appreciated the home-cooked meal.

Fabulous Florida From the Beach to the Playground

The second day of our stay in Florida started out with a trip to the beach. Tori hadn't been to the beach with Owen for two or three months. Owen was excited to be back! The first thing he did was bury himself in the sand. That sand felt so good!

We tried throwing things in the ocean to see if they'd come back to us.

We wrote "H's" in the sand--Owen's favorite letter these days.

Of course, we had to build a sand castle...

...and slide down the hill. Here's Tori and Owen enjoying a snack break.

When Owen sensed that we were getting ready to leave, he took off running. He took me on a wild goose chase before I finally caught up with him and got him headed in the right direction.

After lunch and a good nap, Owen and I played with his parachute. Running around the dining room with that parachute flying out behind me and with Owen close at my heels squealing with delight was one of the highlights of the trip. When I reached the point of exhaustion, Grandpa was happy to take a break from his work and play a little basketball with Owen on the screened porch.

The windy evening inspired us to take the kite to the park.

Owen loved flying that kite. He'd take off running as fast as he could and the kite would trail in the air behind him.

There was an intriguing playground next to the field where we were flying the kite. We couldn't resist trying it out.

We've been learning about how important it is to play to relieve stress and anxiety. We got in a lot of it during our second day in Florida. It felt great!

Fabulous Florida--Dinosaurs at the Zoo!

One of the advantages of having a grandson in Florida is that you get to travel there once in a while (especially when you're tired of the cold weather) so you can play with him in the warm sunshine. We made the long journey the last week in March. Our visit was quite an adventure!

Before we could even walk into the house, Owen had to demonstrate his skills on his tricycle and scooter. Because he can't reach the peddles of his tricycle, he pushes himself along with his feet. When it's time to stop, Owen just drags his feet. Next we got a tour of Tori's and Ryan's new house. It's a fabulous first home. I especially loved the huge kitchen and our private accommodations.

Grandpa and Owen sharing downtime.

The next day, we left Grandpa home to figure out how to work through the technical difficulties so that he could do his work and set off for the zoo. We were greeted by a ruckus as we entered the zoo and discovered some monkeys having a very loud conversation.

It was the perfect day for a visit to the zoo--sunny with temperatures in the seventies. That sun felt so-oo good!

Helping Owen down the chute to view these leopards up close and personal was not an easy task for Grandma but we made it.

We hoped to see the new baby giraffe but mother and baby were hiding. Owen was disappointed that he didn't get to feed them the special crackers.

He did get to feed the birds, though,...

...and the flamingos. Owen was a delightful companion to take to the zoo.

We were distracted by giant birds feeding their young. It was an amazing sight. There were about five nests in the tree on the right.

It took me a while to notice that alligators covered the ground below.

Of course, Owen didn't want to leave when it was time to go. As we dragged him through the store, I offered to buy him a special prize (to distract him). Owen immediately asked, "What's a prize, mamma? It didn't take us long to find the dinosaurs.

Owen and I built a track so Thomas the Engine and friends could take his dinosaurs on a ride through his playroom.

My visit to Florida was off to a great start. Thank you, Tori! Jim had been experiencing technical difficulties (possibly related to all the construction taking place in the neighborhood) all day and had had a hard time doing his work. He was thankful for the play break with Owen. I couldn't wait to experience the next adventure.