Vacation Update

Warning up front: no new pictures. Most of the pics I've taken have been on my smaller camera and I thought I brought the attachment to upload pics, but I can't find it where I thought I packed it (I'm hoping that means it is sitting on the counter at home). So no pictures tonight . . . you might have to wait for the weekend for those. . .

I wanted to update on our vacation thus far, mainly so that I can remember this down the road:

Monday:
We spent the day getting acclimated with our hotel/condo complex (we're staying in a 2 bedroom condo at a Hilton compound). There is an AWESOME outlet mall less than 5 minutes from our hotel. So we decided to venture over there after lunch for a bit to check it out (plus I needed to get a new pair of sunglasses since I had dropped my sunglasses in the parking lot and scraped the crap out of them). Oh my GAWD . . . the Kate Spade store there is the largest I have ever been to!! And everything was 50% off!! But I was good and resisted the urge to buy anything (but the week is still young). And they had a Ann Taylor LOFT outlet!!! I've never seen one of those before and I really wish I didn't have 2 cranky babies with me because I could have done some REAL damage in that store (I did score my sunglasses there, though). We found some good deals for B&K, including a super cute, coordinating outfit ensemble for our big 4th of July party.

After shopping & nap time we went down to the pool for a bit and let B&K hang in their floatie boat things, but the water was FREEZING!! They handled it like champs though and really enjoyed the water. We went on a little drive for dinner and ended up eating at this awesome place called Drunken Jack's. Tim & his family have gone there many times since he was a little dude and it was really neat to take B&K there. And we got the royal treatment. Long story, but they called us for our table (after a 5 - 10 minute wait) and then something happened with our table so we had to wait another 5 - 10 minutes with 2 squirmy kids (we had found a cool spot at the bar area while we waited the first time, but came upstairs when our beeper went off). So the hostess lady saw us waiting around and offered to give us a basket of their KICK ASS super yummy hush puppies and honey butter. Yeah, lets just say B&K both ate their body weights in the hush puppies for dinner. They were so good! We also scored a really nice table right by the water so B&K could look out and watch the boats & goats and such. Very very cool.

Tuesday:
We lounged around a bit in the morning. I should note that Tim has been very dedicated this week and gone running on the beach every day. After B&K's morning nap we went to a shopping & restaurant area called The Beach. Very fun. We ate lunch at Senor Frogs and they had $2 Long Island Iced Teas. Oh my gosh . . . that is one time we REALLY wish B&K could drive (ha!). But we controlled ourselves and did the responsible thing by having 2 (and then walking them off). :-) We walked around and shopped a bit and then it was back to the hotel for another much needed nap for the little ones. Tim & I went to hang by the pool when B&K slept . . . you see, we scored a first floor room and it is right next to the pool so our monitor will reach just fine and we are a minute away from B&K if they need anything. So we caught a little sun and then brought B&K down to join us when they woke up. We went to the bigger hotel pool which has a sandy bottom kids pool -- and it gets direct sunlight all day so it was much warmer than the smaller pool by our side of the hotel we brought B&K to the day before. Then we went down to the beach for a bit. Kendyll LOVED it, Bennett was a bit timid, but came around after a while. After pool/beach fun we got cleaned up and then made dinner and ate in our room.

Today:
Today has been a bit of weird one. Started out good . . . ate breakfast on the balcony. B&K went down for their nap early. When they woke up we got dressed to head down to the pool & such. We started at the beach this time and in typical toddler fashion Bennett loved it more today than Kendyll did (they are all about switching up their preferences on a daily basis). We then hit the pool and hung out for a bit. At one point Bennett was sitting in the kiddie/shallow pool and went reaching for something -- he ended up face first (then turned) underwater. Tim was sitting right next to him and caught him in a split second. We were waiting for his scream, but he was totally fine. However, the day ended up going downhill from there.

Both kids ate really well at lunch and then it was nap time. But no one wanted to nap. Actually we're used to Kendyll fighting naps at home, but this time it was Bennett screaming. My paranoid motherly side was worried he was dry drowning from his stint underwater. So I kept going in to check on him only to find him sitting up again. Like 3 times. Now while I'm SUPER excited for his progress and doing something new, it has really been a bit of a pain today! Eventually he slept (and Tim & I went down to the pool for some sun . . . I am determined to at least look like I've been on vacation). But the naptime was short and B-man was sitting up in his PNP screaming again when I came in to get him. We headed out to do a bit of shopping (gotta find those awesome t-shirts like last year's vacation!) and then we headed to a seafood buffet for dinner. Now let me tell you -- we pride ourselves on having well behaved children, especially when we eat out at restaurants. And there have been a few times where we've thought B&K weren't on their best behavior while eating dinner, only to be told by strangers leaving around us that they didn't even realize there were children sitting at our table. Well tonight was THE WORST dining out experience ever. I think it was a combination of being super tired, not pooping all day (and still haven't) and just overall not feeling well. But they were not into anything tonight. And they took a LONG time to go to sleep tonight (after being put to bed early). Again twice I found B-man sitting up in his PNP. After a little mommy - B-man pep talk he finally went down (as did Kendy). Fingers crossed that it isn't a LONG night. I was just telling Tim that Lauren & I have been waiting for this to happen . . . when Kendyll started to crawl & sit up & pull up it would interfere with her sleep, especially at naptime -- big time. Guess Bennett has decided to let it interfere with his sleep on vacation. Fun times!

Ok this has turned into a longer post than I expected and Tim just went off to make me my 2nd cocktail since I started this. Tomorrow we're hoping to catch a few more rays and do a bit more shopping. We'll be on the road all day Friday (we're going to try to do the whole trip in one day so we have the weekend to recuperate), so I'll try to give a short update (and maybe a few pictures) tomorrow night.