December 22, 2011

Christmas in Florida

Wednesday, December 21st

me, meredith — Meredith and I got up bright and early on Thursday and headed to the airport to fly down to Florida for the holidays. We'd be spending Christmas with my family in Stuart, FL and then renting a car and driving up to the panhandle to attend Ty's 3rd annual New Year's Eve party!

Super warm for December!

On our way to LGA.

Florida here we come!

Coastline / wing alignment.

meredith — Stopped at an IHOP for a quick bite on the drive up to my parents house.

meredith — Jump kick for joy!

dad — Family dinner later that evening.

Friday, December 23rd

dad, meredith, mom — Up bright and early hanging out with my folks.

Later that afternoon, we all piled into my dad's MEGA SUV (It's a hybrid, though!) to do some eating / shopping.

Florida countryside.

meredith, mom — We went to a Thai place at some huge, open air mall.

We walked around for a bit afterwards and marveled at all the weird gadgets they sell at Brookstone.

me, meredith — The monochromatic Battjers with a big nutcracker.

Back at my parents house, we put our gifts under the palm tree.

mom — I encouraged my mom to open the gift that I'd gotten for her that had just been delivered...

...a zafu and zabuton for meditation!

Saturday, December 24th

On Saturday morning, I was drinking my coffee on my parent's porch...

...when I spotted a huge crane out on the grass. He let me get really close!

dad — Later that afternoon, my dad busted out his golf cart (that has his and my mom's name on it!)...

...and we drove over to the driving range to hit some balls.

dad, me — Headed back home!

Later that afternoon, we drove out to the beach!

mom — My parent's friends came over with their daughter and after dinner we decided to play...

...the Jeopardy board game!

It was complicated, but got better as we continued drinking.

meredith — We went next door late night to hang out with Uncle Bruce and check out the new videogames he'd gotten for his Xbox Kinnect!

dad, meredith, mom — Mom trying out the dancing game.

mom — Work it!

After you'd finished dancing, the game would show you a screenshot of your moves along with your score!

lennon — After everyone went to bed, I watched Netflix on my laptop and spotted my UCB improv teacher Lennon on an episode of How I Met Your Mother!

Sunday, December 25th

meredith — Merry Florida Christmas! Meredith and I went for a walk to explore the foliage.

Love these prehistoric-looking ferns.

uncle bruce — After lunch, Bruce came over to unwrap some presents! His girlfriend Elyse...

uncle bruce — ...got him a fancy new RC helicopter!

dad — Dad got a...

dad — ...book of dirty jokes! He immediately cracked it open and started scanning for gems to read out loud. Haha.

meredith, mom — Mer showing off some stocking-stuffer loot.

I got two new books from Mer.

Right up my alley!

Enjoyed twilight and the warm breeze on the porch.

Monday, December 26th

me, mom — There's not a whole lot to do in Florida. By day four I was going a little stir crazy so I borrowed the neighbor's bike and my mom and I went for a bike ride.

The not-so-exciting Florida landscape got a whole lot more interesting...

...when I spotted this beautiful Florida softshell turtle next to the bike path!

Hello, gorgeous! She was a little weary of me at first...

...but then came out of her shell a bit when she realized I meant her no harm. Look at that snoot-snout!

Adorable.

After a brief sunshower, we were treated to an amazing rainbow!

meredith — Later that evening, Mer and I went for a swim and a hot tub.

Tuesday, December 27th

meredith — On Tuesday I convinced Mer to come out on a bike ride - maybe we'd get to see another turtle!

me, meredith — No luck turtle spotting but we did get to see some other exciting...

...Florida wildlife! Two huge vultures feasting on...

...a possum that looked like Barbara Maitland's afterlife face in Beetlejuice. haha.

Later that afternoon, we took a drive to go to another crazy outdoor Florida mall that had the most hardcore landscaping I've ever seen. They had a whole fake river running around the place!

dad, meredith, mom — Halo view.

chris b, jennifer, lila, lucy — Later that evening we went over to Bruce's to see Chris and Jen's girls open their Christmas presents!

dad, lucy, mom — Excited Lila.

elyse, lila, lucy — Elyse with Lila & Lucy!

Wednesday, December 28th

elyse, lila, lucy — On Wednesday morning, we packed up said farewell to my parents and got ready for the big long drive up to the Florida panhandle to attend Ty's New Year's Eve party! Lucy, Lila and Elyse were there to send us off!

Five hours of driving later, we decided to pick up some goodies for New Year's on the beach!

We wound our way through the maze of a store...

..until we found the "Large Assortments" section. This is pretty much the only kind of shopping trip I can get excited about.

Yes! The only thing that's more Florida than being able to score scary fireworks is...

...WAFFLE HOUSE! Man, I love this place.

meredith — Mer and I stopped off and got ourselves a nice light dinner.

I was cashed after seven hours on the road, so we stopped off at a hotel in Chipley, FL. The only place that was open to get something to eat after 10pm was Pizza Hut. So we went for it.

Thursday, December 29th

The view from our Chipley, FL hotel. We packed up and hit the road for the last hour or so drive to Santa Rosa Beach.

meredith — On our way out of town, we spotted a big thrift store and stopped off to do some costume shopping for Ty's New Year's Eve party. Last year's theme was Great Gatsby...

...this year's theme was 70s Porno. I think I found my look.