Piper goes to Florida!

Last Thursday, Piper and I flew to Florida to spend some time with Grandad (my mom's father).  We had a wonderful visit!  It was so nice to see Grandad and some of my other Florida family that I hadn't seen in a long time.  Plus, Piper got to meet lots of family members she hadn't met yet!  I tried to do my best to document our entire trip, and for that reason there are a TON of pictures in this post.  I hope you enjoy seeing our adventures!

Piper loves planes (we see and hear them all the time as they fly over our house), and she was super excited when she saw one up close.

The flight down was a little rough both because of turbulence and Piper's turbulent behavior.  Luckily we had an entire row to ourselves for her to be a little wild and crazy.  She really likes this flap book, and it kept her entertained for about .20 seconds on the flight.

Our first stop in Titusville was to introduce Piper to her great-great aunt Mary Jean and uncle Rodney.  They are the sweetest people, and we had so much fun catching up with them.

Next stop was the best seafood restaurant in town, Dixie Crossroads.  Piper was NOT a fan of meeting Mr. Rock.

She did, however, love to look at the fish and turtles swimming in the ponds outside the restaurant.  Fishes, or shishes as she calls them, are one of her favorite things at the moment.

More fish-gazing

I was reluctant to share any of my rock shrimp....

....but Piper like them so much that I didn't mind!

After lunch, cousin Lauralee (one of the owners) let us feed the fish.  I have a good video of this that I'll post later.

We also got to feed some pigeons.

Every year for Christmas, I make a family calendar for Grandad.  He has four years of these, and Piper spent HOURS of our visit looking through them.  She especially liked finding pictures of her daddy, uncle Bob, and fish.

No one is quite sure why, but Piper was taken with her great-uncle Bob.  She pestered him while he was trying to take a nap, and we all let her pick at him to get back for all the years he has picked on everyone else :-).

Bob and Julie brought a huge lunch for us to eat and a basket full of toys for Piper to play with while she was visiting.

Piper loves her great-aunt Julie!

Cousin Anthony saved his birthday cake so we could share with him.  Ice cream is a very rare treat for Piper!

I think she liked it!

On Sunday we went to church!  Piper got to meet many of Grandad's friends there.  And she was perfect in the nursery!

After church we changed clothes and headed back to Dixie.  Piper still wasn't sure of Mrs. Rock.

I love this sweet picture!

Once her belly was full, she would at least pose for a second with Mr. Rock, as long as Grandad wasn't too far away.

Grandad was into watching the Little League World Series, so Piper would sometimes sit with him in the evenings to watch "bay-ball".  She even pitched a temper tantrum or two when we wouldn't turn on "bay-ball" for her!

I'm not sure how this picture got out of order.  Anyway, the outside of Dixie is decorated with scenes from Florida's natural wildlife.  Piper loved seeing the shishes, alligators, and birds that filled the murals.

We were so busy visiting (and eating) that we didn't even get to the beach until Monday.  We were able to meet my friend Kelly there with her little  boy Liam.  Piper loved playing in the sand and the water!  She also liked it when I took her out into the deeper water and we floated over the waves together.

We practically had the entire beach to ourselves, so we could allow the kids to wander about as they pleased. 

On the way home from the beach, we stopped at the wildlife preserve visitor's center so Piper could see their big alligator and turtles.  She wasn't about to touch the alligator on her own!

But she would do anything with Grandad!

Before we left Titusville, I had to take Piper to Koiblers to eat.  I have so many special memories of eating there with my mom, grandmother, and great-grandmother that I so wish Piper could be apart of.  But I know they were with us in spirit!

This is the only picture of me from the entire week!

I'm not sure what brought this on, but her face is too cute not to share.

Piper made several new stuffed animal friends, including these two alligators.

We were so sad to leave!  Our plane trip home was much more enjoyable, however, than the one to Florida.  Perhaps this was because Piper got some energy out before the two-hour flight!

Piper got to enjoy some rare screen time with Mickey Mouse and friends on the plane trip home.

We were so fortunate to be able to take a week and visit in Florida.  I made many memories with Piper and Grandad that I know I will cherish!

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