Spring Break

So this week the kids and I are spending their spring break visiting my mom in Orlando. Jon's spring break was at the begininng of March or something insane like that -- the university is on a totally different schedule from the public school districts -- so it's just the two kids and me traveling. The flight down was pretty smooth, which was nice. The last time I flew Southwest with the kids, in June of 2010, we had the Epic Projectile Diarrhea Cross-Country Flight Saga, which I don't have the strength to tell about now. I was a bit concerned Max would have ended up on their "no-fly" list after that but we got on the plane without incident and all was well for the duration of the flight. In-flight wifi was a plus  too.

The visit so far hasn't been bad; some things I expected but can deal with (the constant micromanaging of how I manage my kids). We're right now on a sort of vacation-within-a-vacation; my sister joined us and we're at a smallish resort on the Gulf coast in Treasure Island, which is right outside of St. Petersburg. It's a nice place -- you can tell it's about 50 years old, and it is kind of retro, but it's been beautifully kept up. It's definitely not an "upscale" place with tons of amenities, but I like it a lot.

To my surprise Max really did great with ocean swimming; I thought the waves would freak him out but he loved it. He had on his life vest and hung onto one of those "noodle" floatie things, and bobbed around in the waves and had the time of his life. He didn't even get fazed when a wave or two would slap him in the face, which totally surprised me. Emily had a ball too. Max and I headed into the pool for a while -- I think he'd had about enough waves and sand -- but that was nice too. Now they're both completely crashed out.

I do still get a little twitchy when both my mom and sister are around, because you can tell they totally don't get me or my parenting methods, and are quite sure they know more than me about everything. They've toned down expressing it considerably, but it still leaks out here and there. It makes me absolutely batshit crazy but I'm ignoring it as best I can. Other than snapping back at them or getting shit-faced drunk, there really isn't much else I can do to cope, and neither of the aforementioned options are viable right now, though I'm awfully tempted to sneak downstairs to the bar or maybe take a long walk on the beach in the dark...

Florida, though, as nice as it is to vacation here -- I definitely would not want to live down here. It just seems too "vacation-y" and weird; not only the tourist parts but all of it.

I think tomorrow we may go to Legoland on the way back to Orlando, and then after that I'm not sure what's on the agenda. Lots of swimming, maybe Sea World and/or Gatorland. Definitely not doing Disney. We went to the Magic Kingdom last year and it kind of sucked -- it was blistering hot, Max really wasn't into it at all, and honestly, I don't get the hype -- it is so insanely overpriced and it's just an amusement park full of Disney shite. I'd rather go to Cedar Point or even Disneyland in California, which doesn't seem quite so cult-like.

Right now I'm typing this lying right next to the balcony, and if I look to my right I can see the stars above the ocean and hear the surf. I think the one really bright star I see is actually Venus. This part, I could get used to... But I have to admit, as nice as this is, I like Lake Michigan almost a little more. I'm not a salt water fan, for one thing.

Well, I think I'm going to lie down and stare out at the stars for a while.