Florida

Florida trip was nice but didn't feel very relaxing. First, I was a bundle of nerves flying with Liam. He slept both there and back but I kept worrying that he would have a melt down. I thought it was funny when we boarded the plane. We were getting the evil eye from many directions. The woman that was sitting in front of us asked if they had any other seats. To bad for her that the plane was completely full. After the flight she turned around and told Liam that he did a really good job. He smiled; I gave her a dead stare. Second, I was worried about Liam sleeping in a new environment, which he did okay but not awesome. Third, Liam was getting sick and it seemed to hit him hard has soon as we landed in Tampa. His little nose wouldn't stop running. Thank goodness babies are quick healers. He was feeling better by the 2nd day.

Here is a quick run down of all the events.

Day 1-Thursday- Headed to the airport in the lovely rainy Indiana weather. This was our first visit to the new airport. I think it looks super nice and seems really easy to navigate. We met up with the Smiths and headed to our gate.

Once we arrived in St. Pete we got our hotel room and Melissa and I headed to the store for some much needed formula and diapers. I think it is funny that when I was younger the first thing I would head for in the grocery store would be beer. Now I look for diapers and formula. Of course beer was still on the list, just not the first thing. :)

The Florida sunshine was super bright when we entered the store, but when we left the clouds had rolled in and thunder was rumbling in the distance. Rain and little babies don't mix. Once we arrived back at the TradeWinds Hotel we decided to just order room service.

Liam didn't want to sleep. I think I got up 50 times before I decided to just put him in bed with us. This was the first time Liam ever slept with us. I could tell that he enjoyed it because this was the only place (at night) that he wanted to sleep.

Day 2- Friday - Since Liam had a terrible night of sleep we didn't get up until 8:30. We were going to head to the coffee shop at the hotel when I received a text from Melissa telling me that it wasn't worth the long hot walk. Instead we headed for the lobby for coffee.

After coffee, we took Liam to the baby pool. He had never been swimming before so I was super excited to see his reaction. He loves the water. He instantly started slapping the water and giggling and smiling. So cute. Since the baby pool went so well we decided to head to the beach. Once we got to the beach I noticed Liam's eyes looking really red. His nose was super snotty and I was afraid he was getting pink eye. I still was determined for him to dip his toes into the gulf. Once he got into the water he started to cry because a wave hit him in the face. This wasn't a good way to introduce the ocean to him. He calmed down and started to enjoy the warm water. I could tell that he didn't feel great so I took him up to the cabana to wipe his nose and give him some water. It was super hot out and I could tell that his cold was exhausting him. He took a hour nap in the cabana and pooped his pants. This was a sign to go back to the room.

After Liam was cleaned up we headed out for a quick lunch. Liam was so tired so Kevin and I had to eat lightning fast. Once we got back to the room we all took a nap together. By the time we all woke up and got ready it was time for dinner. We decided to eat at Crabby Bills. I really wanted to see a Florida sunset so we headed to the beach after dinner. We walked for a long time pushing liam's stroller on the wet sand. By the time we got back to the hotel it was dark. We were unaware that our hotel does a fireworks show on Friday nights. This was an awesome display. It felt like the fourth of July.

Day 3- Saturday- Liam decided to wake up before the sun. We decided to head to the lobby for coffee and then go back to the beach for sunrise. We walked for awhile on the beach and then got some breakfast. After we ate we went back to the room to let Liam take a mid morning nap. It was only 8:30 and he decided to sleep for a couple hours. I think he would have slept for longer but I was getting antsy. I start applying sunscreen to him and this woke him up. oops. Once Liam was awake and completely covered with sun screen we headed back to the kiddy pool. After swimming there for awhile we decided to go to the beach. We met back up the the Smiths. I took Liam down the the ocean and eased him in. He started to look a little nervous but when I started to slap the water with my hands he became relaxed. Melissa was in the water with Jonah trying to get him to enjoy it, but he was crying. The water somewhat clear so you can see the fish swimming. Kinda scary and kinda cool. Kevin and I would take turns holding Liam in the water. He really started to enjoy it. So cute. It was so hot the only comfortable place to be was in the water so I'm glad he liked it.

After playing at the beach we all went back to the room. Liam and Kevin took a nap while I sat on our balcony watching all the people at the beach.

For dinner we all decided to head to John's Pass Village. I haven't been St. Pete in 10 years so of course I'm not going to remember directions perfectly. I should have looked at a map before we left the hotel and everyone was following us. Of course I got us lost. We figured it out and it was super easy to get back on track. Once we got to John's Pass we needed to find a place for dinner. Six adults and 3 babies. We decided on a place called Sculley's . The food good but I wasn't starving. I just had a salad and some bites of Kevin's fish. After we all got ice cream. I gave Liam a tiny taste of Key Lime ice cream. He wasn't into it. I'm sure it was too cold.

I was starting to get anxious because I knew that we were leaving the next morning. Finally we were getting into a good groove and it was time to leave. That is what always happens.

Day 4- Sunday- After waking up again super early, I double checked and then triple checked everything in the room. I didn't want to leave anything. Our flight was at 10:30 and we wanted to be on the road by 7:45. Everything seem to be on schedule until check out. This is a high end hotel but it didn't feel like it at check out. First they had everything screwed up on our bill. We had a $100 credit and they split it between our room and the smiths. Well the were trying not to give us the entire credit and it was becoming very frustrating. They also said we Melissa made the reservation that they wouldn't charge for cribs, but yet we were both charged. The woman behind the desk then started to argue with us about the bill. I wonder if this woman has ever heard the phrase that the customer is always right. It was $20 to take off and she was fighting us on it. She basically was calling Melissa a liar. I could feel my head getting hot. After arguing and getting everything sorted out it was after 8am. I started to panic. I'm not sure why I thought we needed to speed to the airport; we still had 2 hours. I wasn't sure how long it would take to get to Tampa from St. Pete. I didn't know if there was going to be traffic. I didn't know how long it would take to return the rental car. I started to think that 2 hours wasn't going to be enough time. Of course once we got to the airport and the rental car was returned will still had over a hour to get to the gate and wait.

The plane ride home went smooth. Liam started to get fussy because it took forever for the plane to take off. Once we were in the air Liam was sound asleep. I was holding him in a strange position for 2 hours. I was afraid to move. Once we landed I thought my arm was going to fall off.

I was starving when we got back to town so Kevin did a quick drive thru run at Taco Bell. After eating, kevin went to Robyn's to pick up the puppies and I worked on getting things unpacked and laundry started. I wanted everything done before 8:30 pm. I wanted to give Sunday night football my full attention.