Four Generations are Florida Bound

My fabulous mom planned a '4 generations' Naples, Florida trip for us a few weeks ago. AND oh wow, did we have a great time! My mom sure was brave in taking us on the trip......one Mama Jane, one pretty pregnant daughter and a 2 year old. We were all able to keep up with my mom fairly easily.

ZK and left Bowling Green at 3:50 am Monday morning and headed to my grandmother's house to pick her and my mom up for the airport. Our plane was scheduled to leave at 6:30 and it surely did. I was worried as to how Zoe would do, since this was her first ever airplane ride.... she did WONDERFUL! In fact, she even read the "instruction booklet" along with the flight attendants and ohh-ed and ahhh-ed when we took off. She enjoyed looking at the clouds outside the window. By the end of our our short two hour flight, she had fallen fast asleep (in her own seat, buckled up). She slept through the entire bumpy landing and while passengers exited the plane. We had to stay on for the last leg of our trip.

After arrival to Fort Myers, we had a short little drive ahead of us to get to Naples. Once we arrived, we quickly changed from our clothes to our swimwear! The weather was PERFECT! Sweet little Zoe had been awake for a LONG time this day. She was so tired, but once she saw the ocean and pool, there was no sleeping for this toddler. We were able to play in the water for a few hours. We went to our room and Zoe saw her rental crib. Immediately, she wanted to get in it (for those of you that know her, this comes as no surprise). She fell right to sleep.

That night, we went out for pizza. We ate at a place called Cozmos. It was fantastic. It was an authentic Italian pizza joint. The owner was there talking with all of the guests. He even sent us a plate of some type of Italian donuts, on the house! They were fantastic! After this, Mama Jane decided that she wanted to buy a bathing suit to have for the rest of the trip. Mission accomplished! Zoe was burying Mama Jane's feet and thought it was SO SO funny! Zoe wasn't one tiny bit afraid of the ocean. The water was calm and the sandbar was the perfect depth for toddler fun!
Zoe and Mimi had fun in the sand. As much as I wanted to be playing in the sand, I was under the beach umbrella.... in the SHADE! The heat index was over 100 degrees and that is HOT for a pregnant girl!

The next couple of days we spent all of our daytime at either the pool or beach. This was the most kid/family-friendly place I've ever stayed! Our hotel pool was awesome for young swimmers. It had a large step area for Zoe to splash and play in.... and for her to become comfortable with the water too. Of course, she is a little fish (if you remember from a few posts I made about her last swim season). After a little while, she was jumping in the water from the side of the pool. She always wore her floaties, but still went under with each jump. I'm pretty sure that was her favorite part of swimming. My mom, Mama Jane and I all enjoyed Zoe's pool and ocean entertainment. She was such a hoot!

Zoe loved loved loved it that she figured out how to float on her back....... such a cool trick!
Yes, here's our little fish UNDERWATER! It sometimes scares me to death, but I'm so glad she loves the water!!

On Thursday morning we went to the Naples Zoo. It was so HOT. I think with the heat index, the temperature was over 100 degrees. The zoo did have these fan-water mister things set up along the path, which really helped cool us off. Zoe enjoyed seeing the kangaroos, bears and the macaw birds. We also got to see white tailed monkeys that were really neat! After we left the zoo, it was time to check out of our hotel and head back to Ft. Myers.

The trip home proved to be a bit more eventful than our arrival. We were supposed to leave the airport at 6:30 pm, Florida time. A huge summer rain storm moved in all along the coast of Florida causing lots of planes to be grounded. I think we would up leaving Ft. Myers around 7:30. I've never seen a plane being boarded so quickly. The flight attendant announced that ALL passengers should just GET ON THE PLANE. He said there was no time to look around to choose a seat or to make sure that you got to sit with your sweetie. Basically, it was: Get in, sit down, buckle up and hold on. The flight attendants didn't even leave their seats during the flight. It was a bumpy ride, but the airline knew that this was their chance to get everyone to Orlando to make connecting flights. So, that was kind of interesting. We finally made it to Nashville a little after 11:00pm and back home to Bowling Green around 1:30 am. Whew, and yes... little Zoe was AWAKE when we got home. She was on such a high after seeing her daddy. She was also happy to see all of her toys..... and her crib. Zoe was finally asleep a little after 2:00.

We had a FABULOUSLY FANTASTIC trip! I just can't say enough about how great of a time I had with my mom and grandmother (and Zoe too). I'm not sure if Mimi and Mama Jane enjoyed Zoe more or if Zoe enjoyed them more..... it's definitely a toss up! We L.O.V.E. you Mom (aka Mimi) and Mama Jane!