St. Pete Beach, FL 2010

If you guessed Florida, last week, you were right! We took our first vacation as a family of 6 to St. Pete Beach in Florida along the Gulf of Mexico. If we had forseen how much Goldie would adore the beach we wouldn't have put this off for so long. The water was a warm and beautiful, with no signs of the oil spill. I really hope they are spared, and someone gets that thing stopped!

It is amazing how 3 kids, ranging in age from 3 to 11, can be completely occupied for hours with nothing more than a small pail and shovel. And really, Goldie was the one who monopolized that toy. The older two found endless entertainment playing in the waves. So, this meant my husband and I could sit in one spot and actually have a conversation using complete sentences. Imagine! We were even able to talk to other adults that we met on the beach. Their children gravitated to us, so they had no choice. (The same thing happens at home with the neighbor kids. Before Hank was born, my husband once had someone tell him they saw "his son" playing outside. He had to break the news that the boy wasn't ours.)

The hardest part of our trip was getting through the airports. Tampa International gets a big thumbs up from me for being very family friendly! They put us through a seperate security line for families. Then, Southwest Airlines let us all preboard with Goldie. (in Pittsburgh only my husband was allowed to board with her, leaving me to struggle with the baby and stroller myself)

Then, the day before we came home reality reared its ugly head. I received two calls on my cell, on from my doctor and one from Goldie's speech therapy provider. I returned the call to my doctor, but decided to wait until we got home to deal with the other one. There's something that just isn't right about being put on hold while you're at the beach. The receptionist was so not impressed when I told her where we were.

Of course, it wouldn't be a vacation if we didn't bring home a virus. 5 of us are stuffy and hacking. Goldie has an ear infection and was refusing to drink or eat popsicles. Why does she do this? I really don't get it, because she was still eating.

I'm sure we were quite a sight in the parking lot at Target. Goldie strapped in her carseat with me trying to force her to drink a blue Icee. I once noticed a mom and dad trying to make their son eat Jello in a restaurant (they were getting kinda loud) and thought "how ridiculous, its not even good for you." That little extra chromosome has caused me to eat a lot of words.