St. Pete Beach

As timing would have it, Thursday was Halloween which meant we had been planning to go to Trunk or Treat at the church.  The kids were disappointed that we weren't going to go so I thought maybe we would go for like an hour and leave for St. Pete from the church.  But Thursday morning when I got up, I decided that would mean we would get there pretty late so I managed to persuade the kids to skip Trunk or Treat and just leave in the afternoon.  It actually didn't take much persuading...just the promise of getting to swim when we got to the hotel.  

Duncan got home early from work (since this was a work function and all) and took Brady to get a haircut and then we were off.  Going in the afternoon worked much better with Colby's nap too and he slept the whole way there.  

Our accommodations were on the top floor and I was curious to see how big the room or rooms were.  In previous years we've stayed in one room which would be tight now with six but certainly doable. Fortunately adding a kid seemed to catapult us into the next tier because this year we got two rooms and a sitting room with kitchen.  Of course, this may be because this hotel had many suites while the one in Jacksonville did not. Either way, we were very pleased with the set up and the girls were tickled that they had their own room and each had their own double bed.  Thankfully at two, Brady was just excited to have a spot to set up his pack and play in the girls' room.  Meanwhile, we lugged the swing for Colby which forced us to use the roof top carrier.  I know...seems a little weird for a weekend trip but those darn swings take up a lot of room. 

After checking in we checked the place out and Duncan and the kids went for the promised swim.  Later, we went on a hunt for a place to eat and found it one minute down the road in the form of IHOP.  It was about 6:45 at this time and as we pulled in, we noticed there were no cars in the parking lot although there was a sign lit up that said OPEN.  We walked in and there was not a single other customer in the restaurant. Apparently Halloween is a good night to go out to eat!  We were more than happy to have the place to ourselves and we got free kid meals to boot.  

Friday morning Duncan had meetings.  I was able to drop the girls off at a special program put on by the hotel for 4 - 12 year olds.  They also had child care for 0 - 3 year olds but when the hospital person gave me the sheet with the information on it, it said it was $55 for three hours.  This was babysitting provided by the hotel and I think I may not have had to pay (since the hospital was) but I was like "Holy cow!"  Imagine paying for that.  Honestly, the whole place would have made you feel like you were being nickle and dimed. It was $10 to ride the paddle boats, $4 to go down the slide, etc, etc.  Of course, we didn't have to pay for anything fortunately.  Calleigh was amazed at this fact.  When I picked the girls up, she told me how they went for a treasure hunt all over the hotel grounds and how "we went in the store and got all this stuff and it was FREE!  We didn't have to pay for anything.  Everything was FREE."  She must have repeated "Everything was FREE" about two dozen times over the weekend.  She just couldn't believe it. Anywho, even if the babysitting for Brady was free as I suspected, I didn't see myself dropping him off there by himself.  Instead, the two boys and I hung out down at the beach with Jenny Davis and Lisa Myers and their kids.  

It was interesting walking around with the two boys.  For four years, I identified myself as a mother who only had girls.  If someone who didn't know me saw me with the two boys they might have thought that I was just a mother of two boys.  It was was kind of a strange feeling to think that I now have two of each and I'm just as much a mother of boys as I am of girls.  

Speaking of boys and girls, we had found out on Thursday that Shawn and Camille are having a girl.  That just works out so perfectly and I'm glad Acadia will have a sister.  With this addition it also means that the Latimer cousins will be tied up again with eight of each.  Who will be next to have a baby?

After Duncan got out of his meetings, we went back to IHOP for lunch (only about three other tables this time) and then they hung out at the beach and pools for the afternoon.  I stayed behind with the boys because I especially wanted Brady to have a nap which he did.  He had woken up a few times during the night so I knew he was tired.  

I thought the food was especially good over the weekend.  Every meal except Friday lunch was provided for us.  Not a good thing for someone trying to lose 15 pounds, mind you!  Getting the meals proved to be a little challenge however.  In Jacksonville, the buffet line was in the same big dining room as all the tables.  For the breakfasts where I didn't have Duncan with me, I was able to situate the kids at a table next to the buffet so that I could watch them while I got the food.  Unfortunately, at this hotel, the buffet was outside the seating area.  Shoot!  There was no way I could get the food while pushing Colby in his stroller and I didn't want to leave them unattended at the table.  Fortunately an employee helped me so it worked out.  Of course, once we got to the table, there was a bunch more stuff that they wanted (drinks, milk for their cereal, etc).  Thankfully we found some people I knew to sit with so I could leave them.  I didn't want to make a million trips though so I "stole" a big tray they used to put dirty dishes on and took that with me.  Problem solved.  I would say this eating set up was the only negative to this hotel as compared to Jacksonville.

Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.

Emily Escobar holding Colby at a different meal.

While Friday was a beautiful day, Sabbath was not.  It was raining.  To get from the dining room to where the meetings were, we had to walk for a ways outside.  The hotel provided us umbrellas but with the wind, it made for an interesting walk.  The kids were just thrilled to have their own umbrellas though.  I guess if any day it was going to rain, it was good to be that day.  In the afternoon we had already planned to go visit Aunt Shirley in Largo so we weren't planning any outdoor activities anyway.  Aunt Shirley, who is nearly 80 although you can't tell to look at her, had a health scare a few weeks ago when she had blood clots in her lungs.  So it worked out well that we were over there to go visit her.  On the way there, I was telling Calleigh how scary it had been for Aunt Shirley to go through the experience with the clots and this is what she said:

Calleigh: "Why was she so scared?"
Me: "Because someone could die from having something like that happen to them."

Calleigh: "But she can just pray to Jesus and he will be with her.  Plus, her brother is a preacher."

Somehow I have to find a way to talk to her about how sometimes bad things can happen even when you pray.

On our way back from Aunt Shirley's, I saw a billboard with an advertisement for First Watch.  I knew we would need a place for lunch on Sunday....

Me: "Oh look.  A sign for First Watch.  We should hit that up tomorrow."

Aubree: "Yeah, and we can eat there too."

Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.

Before we left for Aunt Shirley's, Brady and Duncan took a little nap. Brady actually fell asleep right on Duncan who was thrilled!

Saturday night they had a lot of activities like face painting, balloons, snow cones, games, etc.  Calleigh and Aubree had made friends in their class with a seven-year old and five-year old and Calleigh declared that the seven year, named Abigail, was her best friend...I think she meant of the weekend.  They both had gotten cats painted on their face and that was just very exciting for them.  I finally met the girls' dad who is the Director of Imaging at East Orlando.  They also happened to have an 18-month old son. I told them they needed to have one more son to match us but he seemed appalled at that notion.  Guess it's not for everyone.    

Saturday night the clock changed which meant everyone was up by about 7:00.  I was not complaining because Colby was a rock star over the weekend.  Friday night he slept from 9:00 - 5:45 and Saturday night from 9:00 to 6:30 (well, 5:30 the new time).  At home I had been waking him up before I went to bed but since I wanted to go to bed earlier at the hotel, I didn't do it.  Clearly, I'm not doing it any more even at home.  Now if I can just get him to go until 7:00 or ideally 7:30, it will be perfect.

Sunday morning Duncan had his last meeting.  We hung out some more at the beach and pools and then left for home. We made a few stops on the way home with the last one being at Walgreens so I could get an ear wax removal kit.  Yup, it's that time again.  Every few years I get an episode where my ear is so full of wax that I can barely hear out of it.  I've noticed a problem for a few weeks but it finally came to a head yesterday.  It was my left one and if I laid on my right ear, I almost could literally not hear.  I put in the drops and tried the bulb syringe to try and get it out myself by squirting water in there but to no avail.  I think the most annoying thing about it all is having to go to the doctor.  

Thank goodness for in-laws who can watch your kids on such short notice.  I dropped them off on Monday morning at 10:30 and then it was off to the doc with Colby.  I really need to get a non-OB doctor but usually I just go to the Center for Family Medicine at Winter Park because they have a bunch of docs there that you can see really quickly. I figure if I have my own doc, I won't be able to get same day appointments.  The doc tried to get it out with a tool but as I suspected, he couldn't so the nurse came in to spray warm water in my ear.  I won't lie, it hurt because of all the other prodding that happened in there first.  But, I gritted my teeth and the wax came out pretty quickly.   And voila!  I can hear again.  

I think that catches us up.  Have a great rest of the week!