A weekend in Florida

We’ve been endeavouring to get to Florida since we got to the States in December, and finally we managed a trip this weekend. Things started off on the right foot when we arrived early, at about 11 AM on Saturday morning. Natalie picked us up from Fort Lauderdale and we headed staight back to their place to surprise Samantha who didn’t know we were coming. (Danielle was let in on the surprise a little earlier in the week, and bounced out of the door to greet us when we arrived).

After some lunch, the girls took Buddy, Kristy and I for a canoe around the lake in the backyard – lots of fun, but paddling is hard work! So when we got back, we took a swim to cool off then headed out for some Mexican for dinner. We were pretty shattered after such an early start (to get our flight), so we called it a day and had a good night’s sleep.

We took a lazy start on Sunday, with a sleep in followed by a huge breakfast. Since Kristy and I seem to take the rain with us when we travel, it was absolutely pouring down outside. So instead of hitting the beach, we stayed in and played some board and card games with the girls. Unfortunately, Danny had a pre-arranged road trip to go on, so her time with us was cut short just before lunch time. We dropped her off at a friends place, said our goodbyes, then headed over to Sawgrass Mills – a massive outlet mall.

We did some power shopping whilst the rain poured down outside, and almost got flooded in! Philip bravely made a dash for the car, getting soaked in the process, but ensuring a dry ride home for the rest of us. And they say chivalry is dead in this day and age! We had dinner at home, and after Natalie and I took Buddy out to chase some toads, we hit the sack.

Monday looked like it was off to a promising start, with a strange yellow light shining out of the sky. Sunshine! We’d heard it existed, but after so much rain we had our doubts. So after breakfast we started packing our gear for the beach, but of course, it started raining. Again. Oh well – instead, we played some card games (thanks for teaching us all the new ones Sam!), and then headed over to Natalie’s Mom’s for a leisurely lunch.

I was three-quarters through my club sandwich when the call came from American Airlines to say our flight had been cancelled, so after making some new arrangements we made a mad dash home to pack, and make another mad dash out to the airport… and, well, you know the rest from here.

Though a lot of rain kept us from getting out and seeing more of the state, we had an absolutely wonderful time in Florida. It was so nice to stay in a house and to have a backyard! And needless to say, it was awesome to see the Cookes again, and we can’t wait until they come visit in NY or we next go down (hopefully for longer this time!).