Christmas Break

OK, so I know I said I would get this posted a week ago. Sorry! To make up for it, I'm going to include tons of pictures in this post!

Christmas morning we got up and opened presents! Chase was really excited to see that Santa ate his milk and cookies, and fed the carrots to the reindeer! His gift from Santa this year was a fun, winding race track for his cars:

Grandma and Grandpa K got him some fun things, too!

After we were done opening gifts Brian and I finished packing up while Chase got to play with his new toys (or in this case, IN them!):

When we were all set to go, we headed to the airport to fly to Tampa to visit family! Chase was great on both flights there (phew)! I was so worried after that horrific flight home from Idaho this summer, but we discovered the beauty of media entertainment this time. We downloaded some Nick Jr. TV shows (Dora, Diego, etc.) onto my iPod for the trip and anytime he got antsy we just stuck the headphones on him, turned the iPod on and he was zoned in. What did people do before this luxury? We will never get on a plane without it again.

When we got to Florida it was pretty late so Chase went right to bed, but in the morning he had more Christmas gifts waiting for him!

The next day we drove to Sun City Center to visit my Grandma Paine (Chase's only living great-grandparent):

We had a nice time visiting with her, but Chase was very antsy and whiny, especially when he found out the cool train set he fell in love with in the lobby was broken. I was disappointed he wasn't in better spirits for his visit with his great-grandma, but hey... he's 3! You can't win 'em all, I guess.

Next stop on our visit was the Tampa aquarium, where Aunt Jen won Chase over with her marine knowledge and infectious enthusiasm!

Grandma and Grandpa W took us to St. Pete's where we had fun at the pier...

...and got up close and personal with a pelican:

Then we headed to Orlando for a few days. On the way there we stopped at a rest area and were alarmed/amused at this sign posted there:

We told Chase he was going to be able to go swimming in Florida, and as soon as we arrived at the resort we saw the pools... and his eyes lit up. Trouble was, it was 54 degrees outside. Aw, who cares? We're on vacation, right? Brian is such a good dad....

They hopped around, testing all the "heated" pools to see which one was the most bearable. This one didn't win (Chase's face says it all - click on the picture to see it better!):

But he loved every second of it:

They finally found a not-so-boiling hot tub to swim in, while Shiela and I shivered on the sidelines:

While in Orlando, we went to Gatorland:

We saw, well, lots of gators... and there was a petting zoo...

...and an aviary:

I do NOT do aviaries, so I took photos from the outside, and managed to get this shot of a bird landing on Chase's head (which he wasn't a fan of, by the way):

I also got this shot of Brian right before he told me Chase fell and landed in a plethora of bird waste (look at his face!):

But I think the hit at Gatorland for Chase was getting to ride the train! He and Grandma strained to see the train coming around the corner:

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, Chase finally got to ride:

This boy LOVES his trains!

One thing I love about hanging out with someone else who loves taking pictures is the fact that I actually get to be on the other side of the camera sometimes! Brian's dad asked us to pose for a couples pic and I was so excited, but my lovely husband has that, "Really, Dad? I have to smile for ANOTHER picture?!?" look on his face. *sigh* We tried!

We went to Downtown Disney and ate at the coolest restaurant:

And afterwards Chase dragged his grandparents up and down the streets...

...and conned them into some free rides:

Grandma and Grandpa took Chase back to Tampa with them one day early so Brian and I could have New Year's Eve to ourselves in Orlando. It was so nice! While Brian and I shopped and watched the Mizzou game, Grandma and Grandpa took the opportunity to bond with their grandsons and took them to the beach. When we got back, Brian and I heard all about it from Chase. He especially loved burying Ryan in the sand, apparently!

Finally, Aunt Jen took us to see her office and marine lab, where Chase got to help feed the marine animals:

And he also got to hold some things, including this starfish:

I was amazed at how fearless he was when it came to touching and holding the animals. He even touched a crab!

While we were in town we even managed a big dinner out to see Brian's Aunt Carol, Uncle Rodney, Aunt Elaine, Uncle Carl, his cousin Jason and his wife, Glenne, and their son Smith... who is just a little younger than Chase. They had a great time playing with trains at the restaurant together.

One of the last outings we had in Tampa was a trip to Celebration Station, where everyone but Elmer and me rode the go-carts. They had so much fun!

Chase and his cousin Ryan had such a blast playing together. I have been a little nervous about having two kids, not sure if we could really handle two at once, but after watching Chase and Ryan entertain each other for hours I thought, "You know what? This could be nice!"

Our flight back was a bit of an adventure. We had a connection through Dallas and learned our flight back to Killeen was cancelled. We were originally told we could get out the next morning and they would put us up in a hotel. Not ideal, since I had to work the next day and we didn't have our luggage (meaning Chase would have to live on the 2 diapers I had in my bag), but we thought we could manage. We were then told they wouldn't be able to get us out until the NEXT day, putting us in a hotel for 2 nights without luggage... and that just wasn't doable. So we hunted around for a rental car place that would allow us to do a one-way carseat rental as well, and ended up driving the 2 1/2 hours home. $160 for 2 1/2 hours... crazy! But we got home and now Brian is trying to get some reimbursement from the airline. Chase was an ANGEL through all of this, by the way. He could have made the whole ordeal so much more stressful but he was perfect. Phew! Makes up for that horrible Idaho flight experience, I think! :)

There are LOTS more photos posted in our Photo Album if you're interested!