The trip had loads of challenges: a super early flight, baby on a plane, 2 seats in one row and one seat in another, a huge wait for our rental car and car seats that made me want to cry, an hour-long drive to Sarasota from the Tampa airport, all 4 of us sleeping in one hotel room (a suite, luckily!) and a non-baby-proofed condo to hang out in.
But you know what? It was GREAT. The girls were fine getting up early and were amazing at the airport and on the plane. They both napped in our (awesome) mini van rental and our hotel room worked our perfectly. They ran (and crawled) around and had an amazing time at Nana's. Nana took us out back to show us the Koi pond which was a HUGE hit with Gracie. (There were turtles, too!) She also got a good look at the "really BIG ocean" that she has been talking about for a few months.
That night Sadie slept like a champ and Gracie, Chris and I, who shared a king-sized bed, didn't do so well. After a few hours of sleep, Gracie woke up and her eyes started playing tricks on her. Every light, sound, moment had her completely freaked out. Needless to say, there was a lot of coffee the next day!
We had a wonderful (messy) breakfast at the hotel and then while Sadie took her morning nap, Chris took Gracie swimming in the heated pool (Gracie will gladly tell you how she fell down the steps and went underwater - with a smile!) and then they went and found a beach! Gracie got to touch the "really BIG ocean" and brought me back a few shells.
We headed back to Nana's where we met the Vances. Oh, what joy this brought me! After a little warming up period, the girls played great together and we got some fabulous pics with Great Grandma.
GreatGrandma was quite proud as she led the gaggle of girls through the building to go back outside.
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| Gracie was up ahead running for the fish and turtles. |
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| Cousins! |
That afternoon we went back to the hotel for more naps. Then we headed to the Oscar Scherer State Park to check out the Vance's Airstream, Silvie, and to have some dinner. It was a perfect ending to a fast and furious trip.
That night everyone slept like rock stars. Some how we all really slept in the same room together... 3 of us in the same bed! (I had stressed about this for weeks on end!) We got up on time, had a nice breakfast and headed back to Tampa where we had plenty of time to play around the airport before the rather uneventful flight home. Thankfully, the A Terminal in Tampa had a great play section!
Oh, it was so good to be home!
