Dairy Godmother: Fifteen Things About Our Vacation

We had such a great vacation visiting my Mom in Florida. The only thing I would change about it was saying goodbye. We could have stayed forever! Quick, someone resuscitate my Mom! *smacks paddles together and yells, "Clear!"* Just kidding! But she did make our time there extra nice and we really miss her! Here are a few key vacation facts:

1. 1 minivan, 4 adults, 2 kids in booster seats and one toddler in a car seat. 20 hours of driving each way to get to my Mom's house in Florida. No video games, ipods, dvd's. No children were harmed (much) in the making of this vacation. Miraculous.

He's touching me!!!

(Subscribers: Click here if you can't see stupid video of me losing my mind)

2. At our first stop, a prison van pulled along side us and out came prisoners with shackles on all four extremities, loads of neck/facialish tattoos, orange jumpsuits and personal guards. Wolf ran out of our van right over to the prison van and started chatting up the guards. I almost died.

(Subscribers: click here if you can't see rest stop tales video)

3. I apparently only get inspired by deadlines and whipped up a new fave outfit made from a Martha Stewart tablecloth (skirt) and a garage sale maternity dress (shirt). I cranked it out the day before we left because I had a dream about the shirt.

4.We had a full bottle of milk break open and dump all over me, the seats, the purses and the van's carpet. Mind you, it was very hot out. Potential for stink was rising exponentially.

5. It was so nice to see my Mom! She is an excellent hostess and has a beautiful home, complete with carpet scrubber and upholstery attachment. Stink factor returns to within normal limits. Whew.

6. Did I mention she has friends with a pool?

7. We went to Homosassa Springs and visited our favorite rescued manatees. We braved Lucifer the hippo's "splatter zone" once again. We like to live dangerously.

8. We also visited Tarpon Springs, home of our favorite Greek restaurant and even more favorite Greek bakery, Hellas. And oh yes, I finally got my baklava! As I said, we like to live dangerously.

Opa!

9.We met two more of our vacation food goals-- Sonny's bbq and Thai Cuisine. I can't wait to go back! Jas became inspired to make Thai iced tea and her effort was greatly appreciated by all of us. It turned out perfect.

10.We played Quiddler at night and munched on a sensational dip my Mom made. Um yeah, I did gain 10 pounds.

(Click here for quiddler video)

11. Olivia had her first dip in the Gulf at Pine Island. I love driving there, you expect gator to come across the road as you cross the swampy part. The houses up on stilts (fancy houses on stilts) are fun to look at and I wish I could go inside and see what they are like.

12. Turns out that pop-its are fun, no matter how old you are. I like how each kid has their own style. Olivia's arms bounce several times after each throw, Vlad likes to cluster pop-its for effect.Wolf likes to throw them at people (arrrrgh!) and me, I like to squeeze 'em.

(Click here for pop-it video)

13. If you don't have a crazy neck pillow for the car ride, get one. Now. I made some for our last trip and got them back out. They are useful props for making Abe Lincoln beards and Hedwig and the angry inch wigs. Know what's better than a neck pillow? Hotel rooms after 10 hours of driving.