Thanksgiving in Florida

This year for Thanksgiving I was able to make the trip back to the states to see everyone and introduce Jaydon to more of the extended family. I was able to get a whole month+ off between my saved up vacation and the various holidays in Dec ( Eid, National Day, & Christmas). Unfortunately, Steve wasn't able to get as much time so he stayed behind and met up with us later in CO for Christmas. 1st stop on our trip was to Florida where my parents and aunt have just bought a condo near where my grandfather and other relatives live. Jaydon and I flew from Doha to DC with Steve's parents (see previous post) and in DC they headed off to Alaska and I caught a flight to Miami. 24 hours of travel time and Jaydon slept for maybe 5 hours of it - he was a baby zombie by the time we arrived and apparently so was I because I lost his passport on the plane. No worries though - United found it and mailed it back to me. I was so relieved that I've promised myself to resist trash talking US domestic airlines until at least the next time I have to travel on them. Once in Miami my mom and sister meet up with us to drive to Ft Myers. We stayed the night in Miami and drove the next day. It ended up pouring rain the whole drive turning a 2+ hr trip into a solid 5 hours. Jaydon had had quite enough at this point and was not on his best behavior so at one point we stopped and let him enjoy the rain. And boy did he, by the time we got him back in the car his pants were completely soaked and he was content enough to sleep for almost the next hour or so (a big relief for everyone in the car). Aunt Sarah was only able to stay with for a few days because one of the rules in the military is that holidays are awarded by lottery and if you get Thanksgiving then you don't get Christmas. Well luckily this year she won Thanksgiving and was able to give Jaydon his first Christmas present (a little early of course) in person. He enjoyed tearing up the tissue paper the most (I think she put extra in it just for that reason) and the cute penguin bag squeaked which provided many hours of entertainment for Jaydon and Jimmy (my parents poodle) over the next days until it was demolished. Aunt Sarah had the foresight to realize that a baby coming from Doha and going to Colorado for Christmas was likely in need of some warm clothes so she got him some flannel overalls and this adorable sweater. She also couldn't resist giving him a shirt from her squadron - it'll be a few years before it fits but Jaydon is working hard at growing as fast as he can. With all that fun it was time to get the party started and open up the bar. Jaydon was quick on hand to help out however he could. The next visitor who arrived was Jaydon's Great Grandpa Forte who will turn 92 in March. Jaydon settled right down on his lap and they spent an amazing amount of time just sitting with each other (for anyone with a 10 month I think you can appreciate how rare that is). They even spent a little of Thanksgiving dinner together until it was time for Jaydon to have his first taste of turkey. He was a pretty big fan of the dinner... squash, green beans, turkey, potatoes - what's not to like. But his favorite was definitely the pumpkin pie and whipped cream for dessert. After all that eating and meeting people it was time to hangout with Grandpa Forte and relax a little before the next big Florida adventure.