Christmas with the Faheys

Instead of exchanging presents, my family has an arrangement to reallocate that money toward taking a vacation together. This year, the destination was Cocoa Beach in Florida. When I first heard that we were going to Florida, I have to admit I wasn't jumping up and down with excitement. It's not exactly a cycling or cultural destination. What do people do other than sitting by the pool and relaxing at the beach? How would I keep myself amused? But, I figured the destination wasn't the point - it was about spending time with my family.

My parents had scheduled the trip so that I could go on the way back from my bike race in Costa Rica. By the time I crossed the finish line at La Ruta, I couldn't have been more excited about sitting by the pool and relaxing at the beach. When I arrived in Cocoa Beach, my dad showed off the bike that he and my mom had bought at Walmart for $65 for use during the month that they would spend there and they talked of going for a ride with me. It broke my heart to tell them that I had no intention of putting my bike together or getting in the saddle anytime soon. I spent the whole first day laying by the pool getting a sunburn and catching up on the approximately 600 emails that flooded my blackberry upon my arrival in the US (no data reception for the whole week in Costa Rica). We went for a walk with my parents on the beach. It was blissfully relaxing. Florida wasn't so bad afterall.

My sister, her husband and my insanely adorable nephew Rory arrived that evening. By this time, my 23 hours of 'relaxing' had caught up with my and I was jittery for some action. We decided to check out some of the tourist destinations - Disney World, Sea World, Epcot Centre, Merritt Island Nature Preserve and the Kennedy Space Centre (though this ultimately got dropped from the itinerary due to exhaustion). We had more to see than we could comfortably fit in the few days that we had there together, so we would have to forego watching gator wrestlin' at Gatorland and finding redemption at The Holy Land Experience.

Mom and Dad babysat Rory while Meriah, Todd and I experienced every child's wildest dream - 3D movies with smell effects (apple pie and chili cheesedog burps - ew),

rollercoasters that made me feel like I was going to black out (who wants to go faster!!),

giant fish splashing groddy water on enthusiastic spectators, Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream sandwiches. It was a great time, but thoroughly exhausting. I'm looking forward to the next family holiday already. I hope we go somewhere relaxing. Maybe I'll even take some good pictures with me and the WHOLE family (I'm such a jerk).