WE MADE IT
Our flight on Friday, Feb. 22nd departed at 7:15am, which made for a very early morning for all of us. Amazingly, we left our house right at 5:00am (our goal), picked Julie up, and made it to the terminal with plenty of time to spare. By the time we got through security, got to the gate, walked around, and ate a little breakfast it was time to board the plane. Ava was pretty indifferent when it came to the airplane (perhaps she didn't inherit that gene from Scot) and actually preferred to have the shade pulled down rather than look out the window. So, we moved her to the middle seat so we could keep her entertained from both sides. No sleeping for any of us. But, I packed enough trinkets to keep her interested (thank you Target dollar section). Lots of snacks helped too.
When we landed, we took a tram to get our luggage, and then took a shuttle to get to the rental car place. Ava loved the variety in transportation. Scot installed the carseat in the minivan and we headed off to St. Pete Beach after grabbing some lunch at McDonald's.
So, now Ava's been up for about 8 hours - all of it in various states of travel, which is way past her usual threshold. We were kind of crossing our fingers that she might nap when we got to the hotel. What a ridiculous thought that was! As soon as we got to our room and looked out the window and saw the beach there was no other option besides going to the beach. And thus began "Ava go beach!" Here she is, barely able to contain herself, looking out onto the beach like a caged animal.
All suited up and enjoying herself immensely:
We headed back in to the hotel to clean up for supper. We decided to keep it easy and eat in the revolving restaurant at the top of our hotel.
She stayed awake long enough to eat the bread on the table...and then she hit the wall. 15 hours of constant activity finally caught up with her!
Unfortunately, her little snooze throughout dinner was just enough to get her a little rejuvinated, so we had a little trouble getting her to sleep in the room. After much protesting from her crib, we cuddled her in our bed, threw in "Lady and the Tramp" and she ended up falling asleep around 9:15. What a LONG day. I wasn't too far behind her.
DAY 2
Ava was awake promptly at 7:00. We ended up making a little habit during the trip of watching a Disney movie every morning. It gave us all a chance to ease into the day (well, Scot and me mainly). She really enjoyed the classic movies, which we hadn't ever really tried to watch before. Cinderella especially was a huge hit. We walked over to IHOP and had a really nice breakfast there. The weather left much to be desired this day - it was fairly cool, overcast, and ended up thunderstorming in the afternoon. Julie didn't join us for breakfast because she wasn't feeling well...and later in the day Scot ended up taking her to the hospital. After some pain meds and IV fluids, she felt quite a bit better and ended up recovering over the next day. So, a pretty uneventful day, but relaxing nonetheless. We went to a really fun restaurant for supper that night - The Conch Republic. The food was great and we had the BEST Bananas Foster for dessert, which is definitely a Scot & Heidi favorite.
DAY 3
Day 3 was nicer. We ate breakfast outside at the hotel restaurant and then suited up for beach time. Headed in around lunch time and put Ava down for a nap. We booked a boat ride that looks for dolphins, so we ended up waking Ava up to make the trip. Even after an hour nap, she was still tired and was fairly miserable to deal with during the boat ride. The boat ride was supposed to be about 1 1/2 hours, but we had some trouble rounding up the dolphins so it was over 2 hours before we were back at the dock. 2 hours was just way to long for her to sit in a boat. Diane and Scot and I enjoyed the trip and we did see some amazing dolphin "surfing" towards the end. They basically jump in the wake of the boat - it is pretty cool. But, not quite the right entertainment for sleepy Ava, oh well...we tried out the swimming pool when we got back to the hotel, and Ava liked that just as much as the beach. We went out to an Italian restaurant for supper and called it a night.
DAY 4
Our last full day at St. Pete Beach was by far the best. It was warm and sunny and we hung out at the beach and swimming pool all day. We ate lunch on the beach and ventured out to a bar/restaurant for supper. Capped the night off strolling around some shops with cake batter ice cream. Good stuff...
DAY 5 - Going Home
We needed to leave the hotel around 11am to make our flight at 1:50. So, we thought it would be a good idea to get Ava as tired out as possible in the hopes of a restful trip home. After a quick breakfast in our room, we headed to the beach and the pool right away, savoring the last of our good weather...It was really hard for all of us to say goodbye to the beach, knowing we were returning to the snow and cold of Minnesota. UGH. When we got to the airport, we found out that our flight was delayed TWO HOURS. That meant we were stuck at the airport for at least 3 hours before we departed. I couldn't think of anything worse...but we were SO delighted to find that our gate area had an indoor play area! I almost fell to my knees in gratitude when I saw it. It kept Ava busy pretty much the entire time we waited. Northwest also gave us $50 worth of vouchers, so we had lunch at a Mexican restaurant. After we boarded the plane, we still waited at least 30-45 minutes before we took off. This was probably the most difficult time of the entire trip - Ava was so overtired and completely inconsolable, not wanting to be in the seatbelt or confined to the seat altogether. She FINALLY fell asleep just before we took off and slept the entire trip, so it ended up being OK. It was a really long day and we were all pretty happy to be home in the end.
The trip went so much better than Scot or I could have imagined - we just didn't know what it would be like to travel with a toddler and have her sleep in our room too. But, for the most part, Ava was a total champ. She had so much fun and it was equally fun for us to watch her experience so many new things. It was a really wonderful vacation - we didn't try to do much and took the days as they came. It was also great to have the extra hands (especially Grandma's) to help us out. And it really sucks to be back...
To see more pictures, follow this link:
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=214489027/a=37988106_37988106/t_=37988106
