Planes, Trains and Automobiles...

Reason for our absence: We’ve been away!

That’s right — the Lauzon family had a vacation! For the March break, and the week after, the four of us travelled 24+ hours, by car (!), to the sunny state of Florida to visit Grandma and Grandpa Henthorn, and Nanny and Pépé Lauzon. What an adventure!

We left home before sunrise on March 9th, and made it to Florida in two days, one night (we stopped in Virginia for the night). I was so surprised to watch the driving time pass, without any complaints from the boys. I navigated the map while Andrew drove the Subaru, and Quinn entertained both himself and Jake for the duration of the trip. Many thanks to such inventions as the portable DVD player and hand-held video games! Actually, Quinn spent little time with either of those devices, and preferred to play road trip Bingo or highway scavenger hunt!

Our time in Florida was spent divided between three popular places: the pool (any of three available to us at the RV park), Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (Pay for a day, return all year!), and the beach. The weather was fantastic for all but one of the 13 days we were there.

We opted to skip Disney this year, but Busch Gardens was an incredible, and much less sugary, substitute. We went three times, spending a good six hours each day. The first ride Quinn went on was called Gwazi - an old-style wooden roller coaster. It looked rather tame from the ground, but according to the park's coaster-cam, and accounts from Andrew, Pépé and Grampa, Quinn was white as a ghost, and did NOT enjoy it one bit. Andrew recalls with a grin "I couldn't enjoy the ride because Quinn was so scared"...

Rides after Gwazi were much quieter, including a train ride through the wild safari area, a giant play structure with mesh bridges and trampolines, a flume ride (Quinn was the only kid who insisted on wearing a poncho! For somebody who loves to swim as much as he does - like a fish - he HATES to get wet while wearing non-swimming clothes!), a Land-Rover tour through more of the animal safari, and a fair-style airplane ride, which to this day Quinn declares to be his favourite ride.

Jake was amazing at Busch - quite content to be pushed around in the stroller by Grandma or Nanny. He had lots of little naps along the way, and otherwise enjoyed the sights and sounds of the park, and watching the thousands of other people enjoying it.

Gosh - there really is so much more to our trip, but I am anxious to post some pictures, which will more clearly describe the fun we had.

Captions (in order): Our initial tour of the RV park with G + G | Jake at the beach with Grampa | Jake asleep in the stroller at Busch Gardens | Jake with G + G at Busch Gardens | Quinn in a display Jeep near the Rhino Rally ride at Busch | Jake and Quinn, then Andrew and I, at Fiddler’s Crab House in Savannah, Georgia on our way home...