To Quote Charles Dickens...

"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." In this case, I speak not of the French Revolution, but of our 2010 Florida vacation.

Best of times:
This is our first vacation as a family of four, and that in and of itself is very exciting.
The girls have also proven to be stellar travelers. We had an evening flight out of Minneapolis last Friday night, so we didn't land in Florida until 10:30 p.m. central time. That's two and a half hours past bedtime. By the time we got our luggage and our car and made the short trek to the hotel we were going to be staying in for just one night, it was midnight. There wasn't one meltdown all evening! And they were so well behaved on the plane. We just couldn't have asked for an easier time of it on the way down.
The girls are easily pleased. We haven't done anything that I would call spectacular, but Maddie and Ibby seem to be enjoying themselves immensely. Whether we take a walk around the neighborhood where our rental house is and collect treasures or go to the park or the beach or a restaurant or sit on the dock and throw rocks in the canal or float in the pool or watch the pelicans catch fish or kick a soccer ball around the front yard or just hang out on the lanai soaking up the sun, both girls have been really content.
Despite our change of locale (and weather and time zone), we have managed to maintain a daily routine, and I think that has helped immensely with everyone's mood. The girls are exhausted when nap time rolls around, and Richard and I have allowed ourselves a few afternoon snoozes as well. What a luxury!
The sun has been shining every day. Even on the two days we had rain in the morning, the sun showed itself in the afternoon.
We had a few days where we did not have to wear our coats outside. That little taste of summer was intoxicating!
How lucky we are to have been able to get away from Minnesota and the daily grind and the snow and cold (though I hear spring may have sprung while we've been gone) and enjoy some time together.
Renting a house was definitely a smart move on our part. It's really nice to have enough space to spread out and move around, and having our own pool has been fun though we haven't been able to swim in it as much as we would have liked. We are situated on one of the many canals that are a unique feature of Marco Island, and we are only three lots from open water, so we've seen some interesting water creatures (though no dolphins or manatees), and lots of boats have gone by which always excites the girls.
Fresh seafood. Enough said.
The Worst of Times:
The sun has been shining, but the wind has been blowing, and the temperatures have not been the warmest. Earlier in the week, we could shed our coats by late morning, but starting Wednesday, cooler temperatures settled in, and we've been forced to wear long pants and jackets (though we've been refusing to wear socks!)
Richard has been working almost continually since we arrived. Poor guy has gotten very little sleep and almost zero time to relax. This has put a crimp in our schedule, so we have not been able to get out and see some of the attractions we were really looking forward to like Corkscrew Swamp Santuary and Big Cypress National Preserve. We'll just have to save those activities for another visit.
It's been cool enough at night that we've had to run the furnace.
No dolphin or manatee sightings!
Thinking about what is facing us when we get home (Maddie has some medical tests to undergo on March 10...more about that later...and I am having knee replacement surgery on March 15...(please tell me I'm too young for that kind of surgery because I am, but it's still necessary)...has been messing with my ability to sleep at night, so my desire to catch up on some ZZZs really isn't panning out.

All in all, the good probably outweighs the bad, but this hasn't been the best vacation we've ever had. Well, it has and it hasn't. Know what I mean? Good thing we are headed back here in June, so we can attempt a do over.

We'll be back in Minnesota late Saturday morning. Until then, we'll try our best to enjoy our last day and a half.