Finally on vacation

I had been anxiously awaiting and planning our Florida vacation for months. I clung to it as I saw other's beach pictures on Facebook and watched everyone return throughout the summer with beautiful tans. I was dreading the drive but really excited about taking C to the beach, visiting my brother, taking C to meet "Cat in the Hat" and spend some time relaxing in a beautiful resort pool. We hit a few bumps along the way with C being off schedule and in so many new places, but he really did great! The drive was, as expected, the worst part. God so cleverly decided to give us a child who will not sleep in the car. Or maybe he's a product of his Mommy's crazy routine and determination to have him sleep well in his crib. Either way, we got about 40 minutes max out of him on both trips. We stopped 6 times on the way down and drove through rain most of the way, which lengthened our should-have-been-9-hour-trip to 11!! Hector and I were exhausted due to coming off a no-sleep weekend retreat with the youth group. I never thought we would see my brother's house that night. But we did, and C was so exhausted he fell asleep rather well.

Our first day there, and my brother's only day off, we were hoping to make it to the beach. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and rainy most of the day. So, we sucked it up and relaxed that morning. After C's nap he and Hector and my brother went for a swim. They have a little backyard pool that was perfect for C. It took him a little while to warm up to the water, but before long he was jumping in to Daddy. Here are a few pictures:

The next day my brother and my sister-in-law both had to work but the sun was shining so we packed up and headed about 30 min. east to the beach in Sarasota. We just wanted to let C experience it since he was about 1 when he last saw the beach and didn't remember it at all. God blessed us with beautiful weather for the 2 hours we were there. However, we forgot our camera at the house. We did take a few pictures on Hector's phone but since he is in CA as I write this, I won't be able to include those. C was a little unsure of the waves, but loved it. It's kind of funny how the beach was such a regular part of life as Hector and I grew up and he will not have much opportunity to enjoy it.

The next day we had to drive to Orlando, where we finished off our vacation, to meet up with the band. We stopped by my brother's workplace, Sports Authority, to take advantage of his discount on some shoes and say our good-byes. It was a short visit but we are thankful for the time we had with them. We arrived in Orlando with enough time to get checked in and settled before Hector had to leave for a day of media responsibilities. We decided to splurge a little and get a "kids suite" so C would have his own space. He absolutely loved it!

It was well-worth the money considering the sensitive sleeper we are blessed with. That night we went to dinner with the other band spouses and their kids. It was fun to see them all together. C was a little stand-offish for a while but eventually loosened up. I enjoyed a good meal and good fellowship with friends and C left with a balloon made into a dog and a glittery baseball painted on his arm.

The next day was our day at Universal and Islands of Adventure. Dr. Suess land was our main attraction since Cat in the Hat has recently become his favorite book. We rode every ride and some twice and got our picture with Cat in the Hat. He had so much fun! Hector and I might have had more fun just watching him take it all in...or try to.

Universal didn't have as much to offer for Cohen but it did have a huge "ball factory." I don't even know how to explain it other than it was full of soft balls that you could shoot across the room with vacuumed air. Other than that he played for a few minutes in Fival's Playland where he found a big ball pit. We would have stayed longer but a major storm was about to unload buckets of rain so we made a mad dash to Bubba Gump's Shrimp for shelter and dinner.

It was a very full day! The next day we played in the hotel pool while Hector was soundchecking for their show that night at Universal. It was a great pool with plenty of space for him to play without a float! We had lunch by the pool and soaked up lots of sun. The hotel was beautiful and Italian inspired. Here are a couple pictures:

Hector came back after C's nap and we swam a little more before dinner. That night Hector played for Rock the Universe and I would have been alone in the hotel while C slept but I was pleasantly surprised to have a sweet girl I hadn't seen in a long time come visit. She was in a group of girls I discipled while I was in college...and now she's married and working her first job out of college. Crazy! It was so good to catch up and have company. The next morning we packed up and headed back home. This time the drive was only 9 hours...which made it so much better. We got home that evening and I think we all took a deep breath! It was a great vacation and busy two months, and we were SO thankful to be home.

There will be lots more pictures on Facebook, but I did have to end with this rather hilarious video! (This is the "harbor plaza" in the hotel where they had an opera singer each night.)