The view from the balcony of our room, just after sunset, overlooking the Gulf of Mexico.
We just finished the first day of our much-needed 3-day vacation. Monday afternoon we flew with the kids to New York. They were angels. They are the perfect age for flying and the flight is the perfect length (only 1 hour) for kids. It was great to see Papa and Grammy. On Tuesday we visited the gorgeous dam near their home and met Papa for lunch, spent some time in the hot tub (Colin heaven), played trains, watched TV, and relaxed.
This morning the alarm went off at 4 am...just 3 hours and 45 minutes after I'd gotten up to take Ethan to the bathroom. I was so tired I seriously considered canceling our vacation just to get more sleep. Then I realized I would get a lot more sleep if I actually got up and flew somewhere sans kids, so I made myself get out of bed. Here's how we spent our first day:
4:45 am: Leave for the airport. Luckily the kids are still asleep so I'm able to avoid the tears (mine) that usually accompany my leaving them to go on trips with Jason. I highly recommend sneaking out in the middle of the night. I only cried a tiny bit the night before as I was putting Colin to bed.
7:00 am: Flight takes off. Jason and I promptly fall asleep. I wake up as we're landing in Ft. Lauderdale.
10:30 am: Call Grammy on our way to get our luggage. Make sure the kids aren't completely freaking out that I wasn't there when they woke up. Neither kid cared much, and Ethan is too busy playing to talk to me. This actually makes me feel good. Pick up a rental car (a cute little 2-door convertible that we don't feel cool enough to drive) and drive to the keys (Key Largo, to be exact).
12:00 pm: Lunch on a dock overlooking the Atlantic. We eat and watch a dolphin swim around the flats. We've been at our destination for approximately 12 minutes before we're both completely relaxed and enjoying ourselves.
1:00 pm: Shop for gifts for Grammy, Papa, and Ethan, so they'll all consider letting us do this again sometime.
2:00 pm: Check into the hotel. Call the kids on the computer to show Ethan what we bought him and to remind Colin what we look like. Call Morgan to wish her a happy birthday. Happy birthday, Morgan! Nap briefly, then go lay on the beach and nap some more.
4:00 pm: It gets temporarily cloudy and windy. Move to the room to nap even more.
5:00 pm: Run 4 miles. (Seriously.)
6:00 pm: Return from run and immediately go jump in the pool, then the hot tub.
7:00 pm: Clean ourselves up.
8:00 pm: Go to dinner at a restaurant overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. Eat bread, wings, filet mignon, and key lime pie (of course). Undo any good effect achieved by the earlier run.
9:00 pm: Call Grammy to make sure the kids went to bed okay. One in-law is extremely patient with my many obsessive-mother calls and the other tells me to stop calling (I won't name names since they are in fact doing me a favor and I am in fact probably annoying both of them). Considering I'm in the same time zone and it's free for me to call, I think I'm exercising quite a bit of restraint already. Get to the room in time to watch the American Idol results.
10:00 pm: Debate between falling asleep immediately and updating the blog. Fall asleep as I'm updating the blog. Please excuse any typos.
We are getting up at 7:00 am to go diving. Then we'll probably do some more napping. I love vacation.
5 comments:
Hey Kim! It's been a long time! I got the address for your blog from Rob Taylor. We are in neighboring wards and our youth do some of our activities together. One night we figured out that we both knew you. I was so excited to hear that he knew how to contact you. I would love to chat with you and catch up. It looks like you are off having a wonderful time this week. Send me an email when you get a moment. My address is mnles6@gmail.com. If I don't respond right away, it's because I am due to have baby #4 any day now. Hope to hear from you soon.
Heather (Summers) LeSueur
Hint: Grammy was not the one complaining about the calls. The boys are so sweet. I love having them here.
We agree - vacations, especially without the kids, are true vacations and should be a priority in every marriage! Hope you continue to have a relaxing time!
I think I could handle a day like that! Paradise!
Derek says vacations are exactly what you described - napping, sleeping, eating, napping, and - oh, did I mention sleeping?
You're so good to run 4 miles. Bravo to you.
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