I had never been to Florida.  I had no idea what to expect outside of oranges, gators and the 8 billion photos I’ve seen of friends and family posing with Mickey Mouse ears on in front of Cinderella’s castle. 

A couple of weeks ago, we packed up and headed down for a full 5 days.  We hadn’t originally planned on a visit to the happiest plce on Earth, but later decided to squeeze it in (that post later).   Who knew, at the time, when were planning our mid-April vacay, that Ottawa would still be buried under a blanket of snow by the time we left and that more would come while we were gone.  Not me, but I’m glad we left when we did.  Especially when WestJet – best airline ever – offered to extend our stay for free when an incoming storm was forecasted on the day were to return.  2 more days in Florida?  Sign me up!  Thanks for being so awesome, WestJet.

We were staying in the Daytona Beach area.  I have never seen a more beautiful beach.  The sand was like powder.  The kids were happy.

 We were all happy.  But mostly the kids.

Sadly, I have no pictures of Wesley frolicking in the waves.  A mere 5 minutes after our first visit to the beach, a ‘huge’ wave rolled in and swept him down, rolled him around and dragged him a few feet.  This sounds more dramatic than it actually was, but to a 2 year old who had never been to the ocean before, it was terrifying.  He spent the rest of the week WAY up on the sand, building and destroying castles, racing around and asking us if he was safe.  🙁

But that’s not to say he didn’t have his own fun.

When I visit a new place, I always end up trying to imagine myself living there.  Not the vacation version, but the everyday humdrum.  The rushing to work, doing groceries, going to the gym version.  Some places I am very drawn to.  I can picture my life there.  Sometimes in a sad way with the realization that I will probably never actually get to experience life there.  And some make me glad for where I do live.

Florida had me at hello.

I’m not even sure I can picture the everyday, but the beach, the palm trees, the warm breeze on my cold, white Canadian face confirmed that this would not be the last visit.

If only the bugs there weren’t so creepy.