We had a really nice visit with Eric’s family in Florida. The weather was great – low 80s, a little rain, a little humidity but nothing too bad. We got in plenty of R&R – I took a nap or two every day! We did manage to squeeze in some fun, too. Eric’s mom and sister went with me to register for baby stuff and Eric and his dad went to the Don Garlits Drag Racing Museum.

We had a crab fry one night – yummy live blue crabs.

Karen, Eric and Dana did all the prep while I took the photos. I’m a wuss. If I clean the crabs, I can’t eat them. You can see they got a little punchy – eviscerating crabs will do that to you, I guess.

Eric’s parents have 3 dachsunds: Hilde, Hermie and Hans. This is Eric relaxing with Hans and Hermie – you can just see Hilde off to the side.

Our last day was absolutely gorgeous – no humidity, even! We drove out to Crescent Lake, which used to be a pirate hideout, and had more seafood for lunch.

Eric’s sister Dana and Mom Karen

Eric’s sister and her husband have 5 birds – 3 cockatoos and 2 parrots. This one (Maisy, I think, but could be Maxine) took a shine to Eric and tried to eat his sunglasses.

Here’s Eric’s dad Butch with the male parrot (Gosha, I think? Not sure of the spelling).

It was a nice getaway and family visit. We’re going on vacation again later this month – our last hurrah before the baby comes.

We’re in Florida visiting Eric’s parents and sister. They have a dial-up connection, so posting will be even lighter than usual this week. We got here on Saturday evening and already I have a small pile of baby gifts to bring home. Yesterday we had SOS for breakfast (my favorite – Eric’s dad makes it, and it’s two meals in one – I never need to eat lunch when I’ve had SOS for breakfast). The temps are mercifully down in the 80s this week – totally bearable, even with the humidity. And yesterday I got to take two naps before having a big dinner and catching up with some extended family. Ah, vacation!

Major Award

Originally uploaded by genesister

I scored big at my family’s annual ornament exchange, with a little help from my brother. Our ornament exchange involves the stealing option, and I almost lost this one, but Jon rescued it and gave it back to me (and scored some major points in the process). This Christmas Story ornament is actually two in one – you can hang the lamp and crate together or separately. And the crate talks! When you open it up it plays one of 3 quotes from the movie, so you can hear The Old Man say “fra-gee-lay”! Best. Ornament. Ever.

I’ve been out of town for a few days, celebrating my mom’s 60th birthday in San Francisco. It was a blast. My sister wrote a lovely post commemorating my mom’s birthday, and I really can’t improve on it in any way, so go read it.