We're still in Florida, though today you wouldn't know it. For the first time since we've been here, the weather is cold. However, it's still sunny, and warmer than the weather at home, so we're not complaining! Besides, we're having so much fun with the grandparents and great-grandparents.Liam's typical day starts with Granny getting him when he wakes up. He eats his yogurt with the grandparents while we get a little more sleep (yay!). Then he plays for a while before his morning nap. Then we go out -- to the beach, or the pool. Yesterday we saw the space shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center. Liam likes walking around looking at new things. Then we have dinner at home and Liam plays some more. Liam's grand-dad sometimes reads him the new books from Roy and Muriel in Ireland. Then he has a bath and falls asleep listening to the frogs, crickets and ocean waves.
Once and a while we make the 2-hour drive to the great-grandparents south of Tampa. Liam and I did this by ourselves a few days ago. There he crawls all over the floor looking for trouble -- lamp cords, remote controls, mini-blinds, anything little hands are supposed to keep away from. So we try to take him outside as much as we can.
Liam has tried some new things while on vacation. The "Greats" live on a golf course, so we walked along the cart path one afternoon. There are so many interesting birds to look at, and of course we always have to look for alligators. Liam learned to drive the golf cart, when we went to the clubhouse for lunch. There he also stole Mommy's pickle, which he devoured. He's also tried macaroni salad, which is also a new treat.
We went to Kennedy Space Center yesterday. It looks like we will not get to see the shuttle launch as we hoped. The launch has been postponed indefinitely. We did learn that there are only 13 shuttle launches left. Then NASA is switching back to the rocket and capsule program, ending the shuttle program entirely. So we have only 2.5 years to get back here to see another launch. Lester and I love space exploration, and we hope Liam also likes learning about the planets and space missions. They said the first person to set foot on Mars is currently between 5 and 15 years old -- I guess Liam's a little young. But it was encouraging to learn that it will be in Liam's lifetime (and hopefully ours too!) Wouldn't it be incredible to be a little boy seeing humans go back to the moon and on to Mars?
And one last bit of news... Kailie Bale was born on New Year's Eve. She will be the newest kid on the block back home, replacing Devin, who is inching up on 6 months old. Welcome Kailie, Liam can't wait to meet you!
I have a few photos from our vacation, but they take forever to upload on the library's free wi-fi. More soon.
