Family, yes. Sunshine, of course. Free babysitters, that’s a no-brainer. I was looking forward to many things before we set sail on our trip to Florida, but what I was most looking forward to was upgrading our children. Travel has a fascinating effect on children. Pretty much any time you expose kids to new situations outside of their comfort zone and force them to adapt and think in new and unfamiliar ways, you get all these new synapses firing inside of their tiny brains and new neural connections are formed and they start thinking and talking and acting in completely new ways as enormous developmental milestones are smashed. Basically, they level-up. We had seen this with Emily after every single trip we took with her to England and the US and I couldn’t wait to see the new light bulbs exploding over both her and Sebastian’s heads this time. And I wasn’t let down. For better or worse, we now have shiny new kids, barely resembling the ones we left with just three weeks ago. Cool.

Monkeys at the Zoo

We’re back in Barcelona now after spending the better part of a month in the Sunshine State. We overcame the jet lag in the predictable amount of time. That was rough. The massive family get-together (for Chanukah?) went down without a hitch. And then everyone hightailed it out of town. So we drove north to Tampa (Lutz?) to visit my dad and sister.

Tampa day trip #1: Museum of Science and Industry
General impression: a ghetto-yet-enjoyable version of the incomparable CosmoCaixa. Buy-one-get-one-free coupons: thanks, dad!
High point: all the hands-on activities in the Kids In Charge! center: weight compensated tug-o-war, lying on a bed of nails, making a stop-motion video, etc.
Low point: their Disasterville! is a disaster, and the fact that four out of five of every installation was in one way or another broken.

Tampa day trip #2: Lowry Park Zoo
General impression: the best zoo I’ve ever been to, with tons of great activities for kids. Free guest passes: thanks, Amanda!
High point: watching the kids wear silly green helmets while they rode ponies, and riding a roller coaster with Sebastian (Emily was too scared).
Low point: the safari tour sucked. Couldn’t understand the guide, didn’t get as close to the animals as I’d hoped, and the fumes from the head car were noxious.

Our final week in Florida had us revisiting the joys of poolside living, sneaking onto the private beach of a luxury hotel, marveling at unnecessarily ornate Christmas lights, being peed on by a wild turtle, battling fleas and eye infections, and avoiding the annual bout of familial plague. Good times. We flew home today and, all things considered, the journey could not have been smoother. And tomorrow we fly out to England for Christmas with the in-laws. Quick, swap the bathing suits and sandals for scarves and wooly mittens!

Owl and Dragon