Our trip to Florida was interesting. I was really anxious about flying with Natalie, but luckily she did great and we were even able to snatch an extra seat for her car seat. Once we arrived, Eric and I quickly decided that we dislike the state itself and will probably not return any time soon! The climate can be best described as a dirty, damp sock, which was my first turn off. Maybe I’m just spoiled by my mild California weather, but I’m baffled why anyone would choose to live there. Or even visit. Second, the main airport in Orlando is a joke- we waited for nearly an hour and a half just to claim our luggage. And then, another hour wait to pick up our rental car. Once we hit the road, we had no choice but to take toll roads to get to where we were going. Needless to say, after a long day cooped up on an airplane, we all were cranky, hungry and tired.
We finally met up with Mike and his family after a quick stop at Taco Bell- the only place open after 10pm apparently- and the fare was sub-par, even for Taco Bell. Then we made our way to Mike’s friend’s house, who he was house-sitting for and where we would be staying for two nights. We quickly set up the co-sleeper and settled in for the night.
The next day, the day before the wedding, we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel (which, sadly, was also not so good) with Mike and his family. Then we drove to the venue to help set-up the reception hall. That night, Eric went out with the rest of the groomsmen for a movie and dinner while I tagged along with Mike’s mom, sisters, and cousins for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Natalie was pooped at this point after having been out all day and, in a lapse of judgment on my part, was sitting too close to my soup bowl and managed to grab the spoon and spill it all over her lap… the soup wasn’t too hot, but I still felt terrible. I took the rest of my dinner to go and tried to console poor baby while everyone else finished eating.
The day of the wedding, I was recruited to “help” with the flowers. I wasn’t thrilled to do it, since I was alone with Natalie (Eric was off taking groomsmen pictures and doing more set-up). Luckily Mike’s sisters worked on the centerpieces and the boutonnières, so I just focused on the bouquets. Natalie wanted to be held constantly, no matter where we were, and I couldn’t blame her considering we had brought her into a strange, new environment with lots of new people. That made it hard to work on the bouquets. Once Natalie finally fell asleep for a nap in her car seat, I was able to finish them and they turned out nice.
The wedding itself came together fine. It was a homemade, potluck style wedding with maybe 70 guests in total. The thunderstorms held off long enough for the ceremony at 5pm and then dinner and the reception that followed were nice. The music was a bit loud, so baby and I hung out in the lobby mostly until we decided it was time to head out. I also didn't take many pictures. Then we spent the night at a really nice hotel that I found on hotwire.com and all three of us slept well in a very comfortable and clean king size bed.
On Saturday morning, we checked out of the hotel and drove to Cocoa Beach to meet up with the rest of the wedding party for a little get-together on the beach. We stayed for maybe an hour and had fun dipping Natalie’s feet into the warm Atlantic. The beach itself was nice, and the warm water was a nice change from California’s chilly beaches, but the air was horribly sticky and hot. We didn’t stay long, since our flight out of Orlando was later that afternoon.
After we dropped off the car and checked our bags, we were glad to leave Florida behind and head out to Texas!
Our trip to Texas was a lot of fun! It was the first time Eric’s dad, brothers and the rest of the family had the chance to meet Natalie. And she was such a trooper, as we toted her about to so many new places and introduced her to lots of new people.
We stayed with Eric’s oldest brother Greg and his wife Vicki at their house on Lake Conroe. The weather was oddly drier and more pleasant than usual, since the area has been experiencing a massive drought for much of the year. The canal right outside Greg and Vicki’s home was reduced to nothing but cracked dirt and the main lake was nothing but a shallow puddle in the center. Boats and jet skis lay idle and useless in their dry docks. It was really quite sad.
First time meeting Grandad
Natalie with Cousin Andrew
One of my favorites of Natalie and Daddy!
Eric and Natalie (who wasn't too happy) with his Dad, Leslie and older brothers, Greg and Kerry
Eric’s dad had planned a luncheon on Sunday afternoon for all of the family to come out and meet Natalie, which was so nice. He reserved a room at a lovely Italian restaurant called Maggiano's and about 30 people came out, including many aunts, uncles and cousins that Eric hadn’t seen in years. We enjoyed a delicious three course meal as we chatted with everyone. Natalie fussed whenever someone tried to hold her, but otherwise did fine and ended up falling asleep with Daddy. We quickly realized however, that she preferred me given the choice between Eric and myself. It remained this way for the rest of our trip, although she did take to Auntie Vicki after a couple days- she started crawling up to her in the mornings and reached up to her.
The whole family
All tuckered out after a long afternoon
Natalie was spoiled on this trip!! In addition to goodies that people brought to the luncheon, Auntie Vicki bought her her first cowgirl hat and matching boots. And then there were the toys back at the house for her- a glow worm, a Raggety Ann doll, and an inflatable penguin that plays music when you tap it. She had fun playing with her new toys and watching the dogs, a beagle terrier mix named Oatie and a little, old grey mop dog named Peanut. Eric’s nephew’s dog, a lovely beagle named Lacey, was also at the house quite often. Natalie really enjoyed watching them play and chase each other around the house.
We spent a lot of time eating out… it was good food, but we’re not used to eating so much! We had seafood, Chick-fil-a, Japanese, BBQ, Mexican- you name it. Greg and Vicki were fantastic hosts and we had lots of fun shopping and visiting a few sites during our stay, like the Children's Discovery Museum in Houston and the Blue Bell ice-cream factory. We also went to an Astro's baseball game one evening. Natalie experienced many of her "firsts" on this trip- it was definitely a memorable one for all of us and we had fun showing off our lovely little girl!
Children's Discovery Museum
Blue Bell Creamery Tour
First taste of real ice-cream!! Classic!
First baseball game
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