Back to Work :(

Before school started we took one last trip into the big city.  We walked a fair distance, and were thankful that M's legs kept up!

The fam at the Bean

M started 2nd Grade!  She was so ready to go back to school.  Her brother was driving her insane and the fighting between the two of them was driving me insane!  She was thrilled to learn the name of her teacher.  She had been pining for this particular teacher since last year, and I am so happy that it worked out.

One of the downsides of my job in education is that I am often unable to attend significant events for my own child's education.  The first day of school for her is also the first day of school for me, and I can't in good conscience take that day off.  We try to make the morning special and I demanded that Matt take the day off so he could do drop off and pick up.  Thankfully a text photo after drop off put a smile on my face.

Now for real challenge of the week, getting the kids out the door while Matt travels.  Thankfully I only have to be to work early one day this week.

Back To My Timezone

4:05AM.

Eastern time.

Yeah that was a bummer of a wake up.  We had to drive from O-Town back to Tampa for 8AM flights. I was headed home to the kids, and Matt's schedule has him off to NYC for the remainder of the the week. He joined me in line while I waited with the other non-status fliers at my airline after he spent three minutes in his status line at his airline. We parted ways at the trams for our respective concourses. It was odd to say good bye here since I usually stand with the kids in the window waving good bye.

In a turning of the table Matt was delayed due to rain for his 8AM while my flight was the last to get out at 7:50AM.  A short layover in Miami put me back home with just enough time to empty my suitcase to get back to our hometown to pick up the kids.

I think the kids missed me because neither one of them would let me out of their sight or stop from desiring my attention.  Both kids talked non stop and M was dancing while G tried to smother me with hugs.

It's good to be home.

Almost home with Daddy.

Showering With Strange Men

Matt had to be to a breakfast meeting at 7:00 so he was up and at 'em early. I had big plans today, too!  I was ticking another item off my birthday bucket list, spend a day at the spa.  I labored over the decision to spend the day at the spa. It is quite expensive to spend the whole day and I had an internal conversation with myself that is reminiscent or conversations Matt and I have before a big purchase - is it a one day thing that won't be remembered?  Could that money be spent on something long lasting, such as new bathtub tiles?  After what felt like weeks of deliberation I opted for a half day at the Mandara Spa at the WDW Dolphin resort.  Rain had set in for the day so I didn't mind spending the time inside.

I had a salt scrub, massage, and a facial. There's a decision one has to make when getting a massage - commando or no commando. There are pros and cons to both options.  The rationale for my decision was that I would most likely never see the masseuse again, so what the heck?

The salt scrub was interesting, painful and relaxing at the same time. The actual scrub was quite chafing, but my skin's reaction when he moved to a different area was quite soothing.  Then he told me I needed to rinse the salt off before starting the massage. He  walked over to the shower that was in the room and turned it on.  He stepped our of the room and said when he heard the shower curtain slide closed he would walk back into the room to set up the table for the massage. Continuing in the vein of I will never see this guy again, I showered with another man in the room that was not my husband.  He did graciously step out of the room when I finished in the shower so I could situate myself under the sheet for a massage.

Oh, a massage is sweet bliss.....

I have mixed reviews on the facial and on facials in general. I've only had one other facial before this one, but I have some questions: why does the esthetician want the client to be in the buff under a sheet?  She started out by massaging my feet, I thought facial = face.  Maybe she was using some reflexology to stimulate some pores in my face.  Anyway she was wrecking the amazing afterglow of my real massage.

She proceeded to apply and remove different gooey products to my face.  I think i fell asleep for a short bit because I seem to remember letting out a little snore that jolted me awake.  The most bizarre bit of the whole thing was at the end.  I was back to the a relaxed almost floating on air feel when she stood up and struck a bell over my face. This was not a pretty little chime, I think it was Big Ben's American cousin.  Slightly embarrassing and really jarring to the system.  She got the same look Opie got in the TSA line back at the airport.

After the cute valet retrieved my car I went over to Downtown Disney to see if there were any things my kids could not live without.  In between rain storms I grabbed some lunch.

There is a new service that parents can pay a lot of money for at one of the shops at Downtown Disney, and it entails gobs of makeup, glitter, hairspray, and fake hair to be applied to girls as young as three. Think Toddlers & Tiaras but more glitter. Personally I think the creator of this serve should be ashamed of themselves because the girls look horrendous. If the goal is to look like a princess at the end, I'm not sure which princess they are channeling because I don't remember Belle or Cinderella looking like they like to work at those places near the Sonic in Tampa.  That's just my opinionated opinion.

The rain was starting to bum me out, and Matt was only able to answer my texts at random times so I went back to the villa (I love saying that) to watch some TV and call the kids.  M always loves to talk!

The need for dinner came up again and I figured last night's dinner and a movie was a good option again. I dodged rain drops and saw Harry Potter for the second time.  I cried just as much this time as I did the first go around.

Again Matt finished up just as I did at the movie.  We had to pack our bags because tomorrow's wake up call was going to be a slap in the face.

O-Town Here We Come!

In the morning we moved hotels one last time. Our trip had come to the point where Matt had to finally start working. His O-Town start time was bumped up to 2:00 for a phone meeting so we set out a bit earlier than planned so no pool this morning.

Matt's company picked up the tab for our O-Town hotel, The Villas at Grand Cypress.  I have not stayed at a hotel this palatial in quite some time (I think the last time was with my dad at The Four Seasons in Chicago, ask me about it some time!). The staff could not have been nicer and the grounds any more manicured.  Some rain rolled in around lunchtime which put a damper on my pool plans, but a nap made me forget about the rain for a while. When the sun joined us again I hit the pool for a bit.

Now the reality that Matt was booked with work things sunk in around dinner time.  I was not sure what to do and the rain had returned.  Brilliant Matt suggested another movie at the theater at Downtown Disney.  This theater had just added some watch and dine seating that was perfect for a solo diner.  I watched Crazy, Stupid Love with Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling. OMG Ryan Gosling is hot. The line in the movie when he takes off his shirt it so true, he looks Photoshopped. The theater was just perfect. I had a first-class style seat and a waiter to bring me dinner and drinks.

I drove back to the villa just as Matt finished up for the night.

Birthday Bucket List (aka., Tampa, cont.)

On my last birthday I created a list of things I wanted to accomplish this year.  One activity I wanted to seek out was stand up paddling (SUP).  It was a stretch if I could complete this since our home is no where near a tropical location, which I deemed necessary to fully enjoy this.  I know a company in the big city near us offers stand up paddling but the location is not desirable like Florida.  A quick search on Trip Advisor noted two places in Tampa that offered this activity. Bright and early Sunday morning we made the drive to the beach for the two-hour lesson.

I had a blast!

My group had about ten people and it was super easy to learn. Much the same as riding a bike you need to get your bearings and figure out the whole balance thing. I only fell in Tampa Bay twice :)

The two hours went by fast and I certainly recommend it. My arms did not hurt as much as I thought they would.  My feet actually took the most punishment because I had them flexed the whole time to keep my balance on the board.  Seek out this activity, it's low impact but high reward - I was sweating buckets by the end!

We returned to the hotel in Tampa to wash the salt water away and check out to move to our second hotel of the weekend trio (there are more coming). We double backed near the stand up paddling beach and ended up in North Reding Beach at a Double Tree on the beach. When I say on the beach I mean on the beach. The view is what you think of when staying at beach.

The sun was shining brightly an we high tailed it down there. We rented a cabana for the afternoon and promptly rotated between napping and frolicking in the waves. The waves got pretty big by late in the afternoon so we figured something was brewing.  Until then we were thrilled to get some good FLA sunshine.

After a quick dinner we watched the sunset, got ice cream, and called it a night

Tampa

We are finally reaping the benefits of Matt's travel with two free nights at the Mariott Renaissance. This hotel is connected to a decent mall in Tampa. By the time we arrived Friday night we only had the energy to grab a quick dinner then get some sleep.

I guess we were tired because we didn't wake up until 10:30 on Saturday morning. We walked the mall to get Matt a few new shirts since his "resort casual" wardrobe is not quite up to snuff.  Then the clouds rolled in and began to rain.  Since most of the day was gone and the pool was out of the question we decided to see a movie. This is a rare event for us; it is so hard to justify the cost of a movie plus a babysitter for two kids that we typically rely on Netflix.  The movie choice could have gone two ways: perceived sappy love story for Crazy, Stupid Love with Steve Carell or Cowboys & Aliens with Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig. The times worked out for the latter and it was surprisingly a good movie.

Matt and I are big fans of the Trip Advisor website.  It provides reliable information for activities, hotels, and restaurants.  We've found some great restaurants using this app while traveling. The goal was to go for one non-kid friendly place for dinner and we fond a winner!

Osteria Natalina is situated in a strip mall next to a sushi place, and you would never see it driving by.  The name of the restaurant plays homage to the owner, Spartaco's mother in Italy.  There were about 15 tables in the whole place and a ton of carry out business.  It truly is a neighborhood gem.

Spartaco was running the dining room solo tonight because his other waiter was out. That didn't stop him from having great conversations with all the patrons. My mouth waters when I think about the shrimp and scallops.  Picture Homer Simpson drooling over donuts.  

On our drive back to the hotel we noticed an interesting placement of adult houses of indiscretion in what appeared to be normal retail corridor.  The main street had a Target, Home Depot, two strip clubs, and a Sonic.  A neon building with a woman's silhouette is not what I want to see while enjoying my cherry lime-aid.  Oh well, maybe they think it saves people some time on their errands.  Who am I to judge?

California - Day 6

All good things must come to an end, and I was so sad that California had to end.

Back to reality.

We got up bright and early to set off to the airport.  Since our late night the flight out to LA was tolerable with G, we hoped today's flight would be just the same.  It started off well.

Always be prepared

 Then he got bored.

 Thankfully Matt was able to tame the beast for a bit.

Of course M was a doll the whole time.

Welcome home!

California - Day 5

Our last full day in California was calm and quiet, especially after blowing a ton of cash at Disneyland.  While perusing the TripAdvisor website I came across the Irvine Regional Park.  It was a bit of a drive but there was lure of a train ride and a small zoo.

I have to say this was a great day.

We took a train ride around the park.  The conductor did a great job sharing a bit of history of the park along with a bit of humor for the adults.

After the train we walked through the park up to the OC Zoo.  Along the way we saw that the park rented boats, bikes, and water bikes.

I think my Barbie had one of these in the 80's

Zoo is not quite right, it's more of a glorified petting zoo, but it was just enough for us on this day.  We saw a bald eagle, snakes, chickens, and even a burro.  At the back of the zoo the kids even got to brush goats.

The pièce de résistance was when M saw the horse rides.  She is in love with horses and could not get in line fast enough.  

We explored a bit more on our way back to the car and then went for a drive around the OC while G napped in the car.

FLA USA

Matt and I zipped down to Florida for the weekend. He has a work thing in Orlando (O-town) on Monday so we decided to make a weekend of it starting in Tampa. This is a kid-less weekend (yahoo!) to be filled with pools, fruity drinks, and no Phineas & Ferb or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The kids are hanging with Nana and Papa this weekend. Typically this is as positive for both kids, but I think M is a bit miffed that we are vacationing without her. She was pretty sassy yesterday when I dropped them off and mom said she was still a bit sassy last night. I wonder if she thinks since we are going to Florida that we will go to Disney World. To help get her out of her funk I called the house to see if she wanted me to read the next chapter of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. She gladly obliged and we spent the next 50 minutes on the phone together. I hope that was an olive branch.

When Matt started his traveling job last year he developed an allegiance with one of the big name airlines. This left a few thousand miles in my frequent flier account from the other big name airline. A little checking found that I had just enough miles for a free round trip ticket! The bummer is that I have to fly solo and switch big planes in Miami.

Ordinarily a plane switch would not be a big deal because Matt knows all there is to know about airport navigation. I follow along blissfully people watching all the way. Today was my big challenge.

I procured a taxi and got to the airport in plenty of time. I did not realize when getting in the security line that I chose the body scanner line. Now I understand why it was shorter than the rest. After assuming the position, I walked to the whipper snapper at the end of the aisle. With a terse look on his face he made eye contact with me but spoke no words. Being a relatively impatient person I gave Opie a half ass grin and the the little head nod that I will often use when trying to subtly let people know they are dorks. After what felt like eternity Opie got a secret message on his earpiece that told him I was good to go past the velvet TSA rope.

My flight was scheduled to take off fat 12:30 so I grabbed some lunch to take aboard. I made my way to the waaaaay back of the 777 and settled in for the ride to Miami. I planned which classes the kids would take from the park district. It was certainly a much quicker flight than to Cali! Once I landed in Miami I had to mosey a whole ten gates to get on to the 38 minute flight to Tampa.

Now I sit and wait for Matt's delayed flight. He started his day in LA so I expect him to be a smidge tired tonight. We will grab some dinner and bask in the FL humidity.

11

Eleven years ago today Holly and Matt became Mr. and Mrs!  We got married in our hometown and honeymooned in Florida.  From then life went into the fast lane!  In eleven years we've had a lot of laughs, driven a lot of miles, flown to many a city and country, and made some amazing memories. 

Here are just some of the highlights...

Bought a house in the ‘burbs

A super old photo!  Our house the day we bought it!  
It looks so much cuter now.

Had two kids

M

G

Finished Grad School

Traveled to Europe 3 times

Out back of Buckingham Palace

Schloss Neuschwanstein in Germany

 

Visited some pretty neat places in the good old USA

Golden Gate Bridge

The Bean in Chi-Town

The Bay Bridge

The Arch in The Lou (btw - the best hotel view, ever!)

Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, CA

Grauman's Chinese Theatre in LA

Matt went from a traveling job, to a desk job, and back to his love of a traveling job (love the frequent flier miles!)

Skyping with Daddy

Saw a few concerts

Coldplay!

Rascal Flatts

The Subdudes

Did a few renovations to the house

Gleaming new floors

There were some things that didn’t quite pan out

Buying a vacation home (still on the list!)

Adding a second story or moving to a bigger house (darn economy)

Holly taking a leave from work to stay home with the kids (Oh, well)

I can’t wait to see what happens next!