My Weekend in Snapshots {Florida Edition}

It's weird posting a weekend recap while on vacation because all the days feel like Saturday, with nothing to distinguish one day from another except for things like BINGO night (Tuesday nights), and about a million posts on Instagram reminding me that today is in fact Monday, and not Sunday, thank you Cyber Monday.

If you've been following along on our Florida adventures (#thefrasersvisitflorida) over on Instagram, then I apologize if a few of these are repeats, but nevertheless, here's a few snapshots from the fun we got up to over the past few days.

1. I'm counting Thursday as part of the weekend, since technically, down here, it was a long weekend (not that you'd ever know a long weekend from a regular one when you live in a retirement community!), and we celebrated with a full Thanksgiving dinner. Jim's dad cooks a mean turkey and even better stuffing, so getting to have this meal a second time this year where someone cooks it for you, was just plain awesome.

2.  On Friday we spent the evening walking along the beach as the sun was starting to go down. Sully loved walking in the water and wasn't afraid of the waves at all (which I'm not sure is a good thing yet since I'm pretty confident he would run right into the ocean if we let him!).

3.  The weather here in Florida has been exceptional, with the past several days in the high 20s (low 80s for you American folk), and we've been sure to get over to the pool on a few separate occasions. Jim and I even snuck over for a few hours while Sully napped on Saturday which means I finally had time to pick up my book! I felt this title was very fitting for bringing with me on vacation.

4.  Saturday nights are a popular time to head down to the beach as everyone gathers around while people drum in a big circle. Families bring chairs, wine and snacks, and children run around dancing and playing. It's a lot of fun and this weekend's sunset also didn't disappoint.

5. On Sunday, Jim and I ran out to a few stores on our own, making sure to include a stop at Trader Joe's. In Canada, Chapters is my happy place, in America, Trader Joe's does it for me. We stocked up on groceries for the week and I made sure to grab some of my favourite non-perishable items to take back to Canada with me.

We still have another week left in paradise and I'm now at the point where I'm trying to will time to slow down. The sun sets here early (which is no different than back home), but it definitely makes the days feel short. I'm not ready to come back to the freezing temperatures!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Thinking Out Loud {#5}: I Heart America

For today's Thinking Out Loud post, I'm talking about my love for all things American:

1. Don't get me wrong, I love my country, but whenever I'm down in the states, it's hard not to get a bit jealous of all the things they have that I want frequent access to. And don't even try and tell me that the novelty would wear off, because buying groceries at Trader Joe's couldn't possibly ever get old. Or choosing between 15 flavours of peanut butter. Or buying beer and wine for the cost of a coffee. No, those things will never, ever get old for me, my friends.

2. Speaking of stores in America that we don't have…walking through Target yesterday was so bittersweet. On the one hand, I was like a kid in a candy store (or a mom in Target, haha), filling up my cart as I explored every aisle. It was the best, and I wished I had unlimited luggage space and unlimited funds to buy ALL THE THINGS. But I couldn't help feeling a mix of anger and sadness at the fact that Target couldn't make it in Canada. What is wrong with Canadians that we couldn't support this store!? I know the Canadian version wasn't exactly the same as the American ones, but it was still a great store. It definitely filled that gap between Winners and high-end stores. RIP Canadian Target.

3. Have you guys ever shopped at Publix grocery store? Second to Trader Joe's, it is my favourite grocery store down here. I can't even explain why except it seems like everything is on sale whenever we go!

4. And you know what was on sale when we went the other day? These amazing Chobani flip yogurt snacks. (A dollar a piece!). I ate two different flavours before I took this picture, and I will definitely be going back for more. My question is though, how will I be able to go back to eating regular old yogurt after this?

5. In hindsight, it's probably a good thing, for both my waistline and my wallet, that I don't have regular access to American grocery stores. Because delicious things like this come home with me. Only my favourite cookie ever, which I only get to enjoy when I fly with Westjet. And just when you thought chewing was too hard, there's a "peanut butter" version.

6. In an effort to counteract all the extra calories I will be consuming during our time down here, I joined my mother-in-law and father-in-law for aerobics this morning. I'm usually a bit of sloth on vacation, preferring the pool lounger to exercise, but I'm trying to make the most of the extra sets of hands for toddler wrangling I have here. There's even a full gym here which I'm working up the motivation to go and use. I didn't waste luggage space with workout clothes for nothing!

7. The retired folk in Florida have it made, and whenever I'm here, I'm reminded of how much of a retired person I am at heart. Jim jokes that I already fit right in…besides the pool and gym, the community here is full of all my favourite activities - shuffle board, mini-golf, ping-pong, billiards, BINGO night, movie night, there's a library, an endless supply of jig-saw puzzles (my favourite!), plus a full schedule of daily activities that residents can join in on at any time. When can I move in?!

Confession: I basically stop eating, drinking or sleeping when I'm working on a jig-saw puzzle, which is why I only do them while on vacation now. I have issues, I know.

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends! I'm happy to report we will be celebrating with turkey dinner today!


Linking up (as always!) with Amanda from Running With Spoons!

Do you work out when on vacation?

Canadians: what's your favourite store in American that we don't have in Canada?; 

Americans: favourite grocery store?

Favourite "retired person" activity? 

Hello, From Florida!

Hi, friends!

In case you missed the memo, on Sunday, we packed our bags, said goodbye to the snow, and hopped on a plane to Florida! It seems like ages ago we booked our tickets and I thought the day would never arrive. But here we are, chilling with Jim's folks in their retirement community for the next two weeks.

Do pictures of palm trees ever get old? I hope not, because I just love palm trees. A sight I will never tire of.

This is our third time down here visiting them, but out first time with a third wheel. Luckily, we were able to snag a direct flight and even splurged for upgraded seats (probably not worth the money, but we made sure to consume copious amounts of free food, snacks, Cesar's and beers during the flight!). Sully was a trooper on the flight and even rewarded us with a two hour nap on my lap (who is this kid?).

The weather in Florida has been lovely, but not overly hot. The humidity always takes me by surprise when I get here, and I could feel my skin slurping up the moisture almost immediately after getting off the plane. Gone are my dry hands and lips, and even my pre-vacation breakouts are almost cleared up! Am I the only one that gets the most massive, needs-its-own-zip-code, pimple before vacation?! Ugh.

On our way to Jim's parent's home, we stopped to eat dinner at Cracker Barrel, which has become a bit of a tradition.

Mmm, tarter sauce! This kid never fails to crack me up.

Our vacation's with Jim's folks always consist of a lot of eating, shopping, relaxing and playing games. And by shopping, I mean checking out all the cool stores we don't have in Canada. Like Publix, my second favourite grocery store after Trader Joe's, Kohl's, and Target (RIP Canadian version).

I also turn into a woman of retirement as soon as I come here because basically everything retired people do here, I love. Jigsaw puzzles - check. Bingo - check. Read, lay by the pool, and drive around in a golf cart - check, check, check!

Jim's Uncle Keith and Aunt Ethel have a golf cart down here and Sully thinks it's the best thing ever. He drives around and around with his Papa, a big grin plastered on his face.

We had our first pool day of many today!

It was a bit chilly with the wind, but we Canadians are tough (as evidenced by the lack of anyone else at the pool!).


P.S. If you want to follow along on some of our vacation fun and adventures, I post daily on my Instagram account and my snapchat (user name: slicebrie)!