Jaime and Emma's big adventure

After a little needling from Amy, I decided it was finally time to write the big trip blog for all of you. So, here you go.
As I've already told you, we started our trip in Indiana, staying with my parents for a few days. We went to Bouncertown, where Emma had the time of her life sliding down huge inflatable slides and playing arcade games for tickets and prizes.
Then we flew to Tampa to stay with my mom's sister, Carol (Cah'-wul, to Emma), and her husband, Bill (a.k.a. Beeel). Turned out that the Tampa Bay Bucs head coach was on our flight. Carol saw him across the baggage conveyor belt from us, getting his bags. She thought he looked awfully small for a former football player. But it was nice to know that even someone who makes millions of dollars a year has to get his own luggage like the rest of us peons.

So we stayed with Carol and Bill for a few days, and we got to spend time with my mom's parents, Papaw Maurice (Papaw Morse) and Mamaw Nina (Mamaw N-eye'-nuh), who stay down there in the winter. Emma loved Papaw Maurice and always wanted to sit next to him. It was so sweet. We went to the trailer park they stay in, where they were having the annual park-wide picnic. It would have been held outside, but it was really windy and cold, so they held it in the rec building. Emma was the star of the show there with all the old people. They don't see a lot of little, little ones like her. Papaw always says, "Boom boom boom!" to kids. It scares some, but Emma loves it. She always walked around saying, "Boom boom!" It was very sweet.
Carol, Emma and I went to Gymboree one morning so Emma could have a little sense of normalcy on our trip. The class was great - pretty similar to the ones here - but it seemed that most of the kids were there with nannies. It was nuts. Afterward we went to the local mall, where they actually have an ice skating rink inside the mall. Emma LOVED watching the skaters. I wanted to take her, but they didn't have skates small enough for her. Carol was mortified that I was going to take her out there - for fear she might hurt herself - and was so relieved when they didn't have skates her size. LOL

On our last night with them, Carol and Bill took Emma and me to Crabby Bill's restaurant, which is my favorite place to go when we're in the St. Pete area. It was wonderful, as always. :)
After our stay there, Bill, Papaw and Mamaw drove Emma and me two hours north to stay with my dad's sister, Carolyn (Cah-wul-inn'), and her husband, Jerry (Jeh-wee), who Emma fell in love with, I think. She stuck close to him the whole time. They have a beautiful house in a neighborhood of retirees who were excited to see a little one walking around.
Friday night is pizza and movie night at their house, so we went to their favorite local pizza place for dinner. It was a lot of fun. We sat in a booth, and while we were waiting for our pizza Emma made salt-pepper-parmesan cheese-red pepper concoctions on all our plates. It was funny. We watched "RV" with Robin Williams, which was funny. Mostly Emma just ran around, but she was in the room, so it counts.

My dad's father, Papaw Bud (she says that one pretty well, actually), drove up to visit on Saturday, which was great. Emma loved him. He brought a beautiful heirloom that was my grandma's for Emma, a lovely snow globe with an angel in it that plays "Amazing Grace." He said he just knew Grandma Martha would want Emma to have it. I'm so sad that Emma never got to meet Grandma Martha. They would have loved each other so much.
After church on Sunday - which was an adventure, as Carolyn and Jerry attend a church where the average age is approximately 70-75 years old, and Emma was the main attraction for everyone, and she wouldn't be quiet so she and I had to go hang out in their little nursery and color pictures - and lunch at Applebee's, Carolyn and Jerry drove us two hours south to where Chris's uncle, Thom (Emma called him Tall Man for a long time because that's what she thought I said), and his wife, Kathy (Kass'-ee), live, which is actually only about 10 minutes from Carol and Bill's place. Thom's son, Tommy (Emma has that one down pat, as she fell in love with him, too), had just had a birthday, and everyone was over to celebrate when we arrived. So Emma got to meet all kinds of second- and third-cousins neither she nor I had met before.
Tommy's daughter, Briana (I don't think Emma even attempted that one), fell in love with Emma and played with her and took care of her. It was so sweet. Kathy took Briana, Emma and me to a nearby pond to feed the fish, turtles and birds. It was so cute seeing Emma so excited to throw the bread in the water. She wanted to get as close as she could. And Briana just wanted to protect Emma. Very cute.
Kathy took Emma and me to the Clearwater Beach on Monday, and Emma got to feel the sand between her toes and put her feet in the freezing cold water for the first time. She HATED having sand stuck to her hands and feet - she doesn't like being dirty - but she had fun.
Kathy took us to the airport on Tuesday, and we flew back to Indy and stayed with Chris's folks. Aunt Cayla (Chris's sister) picked us up at the airport, which was a lot of fun for Emma. She loves her Aunt Cayla (Cay'-yuh).
Emma and I drove up to Noblesville on Wednesday to have lunch with my friend Amy, which was lots of fun. We ate at Qdoba, which I love. I forgot to get a picture of Emma and myself with Amy, but I did take a photo of Emma at Qdoba, so that'll have to do.
FINALLY, on Thursday, we flew home. May I just say how nice it was to get home to my own place and sleep in my own bed and sit in my own chair and use my own laptop and see MY HUSBAND?! We had a fun time, but holy crap...13 days is a long time. I'm just saying.

So, that's it. The trip in a nutshell. A very large nutshell. If you've made it this far, good on you. Here are all the pictures I took. There are tons.

That's all for now. More later.

Always remember: When you travel, go where you know people so you can get free room and board and free food.