Melissa's Meanders: Bon Voyage!

Like so many Northerners, I headed south to Florida for my summer vacation. Unlike most tourists, when I go to Florida, I stay with my sister out in the Florida countryside...well away from the beach. I love her new house and the great big yard out back!

Hanna loves playing in her new yard!

Even though it was raining and cloudy for the first 5 days I was there, I had a great time babysitting my niece and just hanging out. We found other fun things to do with our time like blowing bubbles, riding a bike and building a doll house to play with!

An excellent rainy day project...Hanna even helped with things like gluing and smoothing on the contact paper.

One cloudy and drizzly day, we went to the zoo and took pictures of the animals...I used my camera, and Hanna used her Leap Pad and tried my camera! We saw lots of neat animals, but Hanna's favorite was the peacock.

I loved the monkeys!

On the first nice day, we went swimming at the PGA National Resort and Spa! It was finally a great day for swimming!

Later that day, I got to see Hanna perform in her dance recital. Her adorable antics made the whole crowd chuckle. The Lion King dance routine with her 2-4 year old age group was precious.

On Sunday we went to visit with our family in Geneva, Florida which is further North. We enjoyed spending time with my 93 year old grandpap, my aunt and uncle and cousins.

Finally with two days left of my trip, the sun really came out and we hit the beach. We drove to the coast and met my sisters' sister-in-law and her kids at Juno beach for the day. Hanna and I both love swimming in the ocean.

Finally on my last day, we got some carrots and set off on a bike ride to the end of Hanna's new street. Her neighbor owns an assortment of goats and sheep that Hanna couldn't wait to go feed. She was a little hesitant at first but soon called the petit animals her friends.