A 9:45 a.m. flight is perfect but you have to be ready earlier then you think. Sue arrived as Mich and I were running around doing all sorts of last minute packing and getting ready. Both of the boys were still asleep, I put her in charge of getting them dressed in the pre-selected outfits. We got the bags and us loaded into the car and we were off, there is rush hour traffic at that time of day so we were feeling like we could be late. It all worked out, we arrived about 59 minutes prior to departure time, curbside checked most of our stuff, made it through security in plenty of time. We got on the plane and ended up waiting on the tarmat for about 40 minutes until it was our turn to take off. The boys were amazing, we fed them breakfast on the plane, Zack fell asleep right after we were in the air and Sam played with the really great sticker book he got from Jacob (thanks Julie). There was turbulence on the way down, you know the kind were people make the same noises they do when they are on carnival rides. The boys and I loved it and Mich hated it. We were on the ground only slightly later then the published time, I think that's the new way airlines claim to be on time. Just tack on an extra hour into the "flying" time and then miraculously reduce the in air time.
Mich and Isaac waited for the bags while Sam and I went to pick up the rental car. There was no line and we got the keys in a flash. Meanwhile Mich had gotten the bags and was digging around trying to find quarters to get a cart out of the machine. We got a cart, loaded the stuff and went to our car. Exited the airport and followed the simple directions that I had printed off the Don Cesar website.
Arrival at the Don was dreamy, young men in uniform surrounded our substandard minivan to open all the door, and retrieve our bags. We were early to check in but they took my cell phone number to call when the room was ready and gave us a giant stack of kids eat free coupons. We then headed down to lunch. We were seated on a deck just off the beach, Sam was dying to look for shells so we let him go onto the beach and he was thrilled to discover that he was at a shell finders paradise. We didn't even get our food when we got the call that our room was ready. We went down to the desk to officially register. We were given keys and boy the boys were given fischer price toys! They were so excited. A bellman followed us to or tiny room and offered to show us around and get ice. We declined both and quickly changed into our swimsuits. We went on the beach, in the pool and the hot tub (or hot pool as Sam calls it). At around 6 we decided that we would go buy some water wings for the boys to help us feel better about them not drowning and to help them swim. While we were out we got beach toys and a snack for the boys. While we were out shopping Robyn called to say they were in the rental car and on their way. We were very excited to see them! They got checked into their room and we went and had a late dinner. It was so great to see the Green-Moran clan again. The most amazing one was Toby of course, he is so big compared to the when we saw him last and he runs. After dinner we all went to bed.
The next morning we had breakfast and then found a spot on the beach. The boys loved playing in the sand, Harris loves to swim in the ocean and Sam got to work on the world's largest shell collection. We were back and forth from the beach to the pool. Sam loved the water wings and could easily make it across the pool in them. Isaac inherited the pair that Harris rejected and he was doing a pretty good job of swimming too. Toby fell asleep and took the fist of many naps on a lounge chair. Isaac thought nothing of rolling around in the sand and was soon covered from head to toe, it stuck especially well to the sunscreen. Isaac was seeming tired so I took him up the room to give him a bath and get him to take a nap. I had finished the bath and we were very calmly reading books, he was nearly sleeping, when Mich and Sam returned. She insisted that the boys needed to eat so we ordered room service. After they ate I got Zack to fall asleep fairly quickly while Mich and Sam showered. I took a quick shower and Sam and I went downstairs to look in the shops so that we wouldn't wake his brother. Sam bought Mich and I rings, he picked them out special for us. Mine is like a little crystal ball for my ring finger. We were meeting at 6:00 to go to dinner and one of Robyn and Cindy favorite places, Sea Critters with E's clan. It was great to meet the super cute and chunky Charlie and nice to meet his moms as well. After dinner we went to a park where the boys enjoyed burning off steam. After dinner we went back to the hotel and went to bed.
Saturday we woke up late, or late for us and by the time we were up and out the Green-Moran's had eaten breakfast and gotten us all a great spot by the pool. Basically, the day went the same as Friday with the exception that we actually ate lunch. Oh, and I didn't mention all of the frozen drinks we were consuming. I was drinking pina colada's, yum, Sam was having a strawberry drink and Mich and Robyn kept switching around. Sam befriended a girl twice his age named Jessica, they swam, hot pooled and played ping pong together. I took Isaac to the room for a nap around 3, he finally fell asleep at at 3:30 and slept for three hours. I took a shower, read the paper and watched two wedding take place outside our window. Mich and Sam came up and got cleaned up and we met and went to dinner in the hotel. After dinner we went for ice cream. After that we let the boys run off their sugar highs in the long halls, letting them run up and down them many time. We wandered up to the lobby to see the pianist and saxophone player while our boys wrestled on one of the couches in the lobby. We went down the hall to look at the beautiful fish tanks that look through to the patrons in the upscale restaurant. After that we called it a day.
Sunday we woke up and Sam remembered to say happy Mother's day without either of us reminding him. He is such a sweet boy! We managed to make it downstairs to join the Green-Moran's at breakfast, of course they were finished before us. The day went basically the same, more beach, pool, Jessica, frozen drinks, shells, hot pool etc... The only difference was that Isaac took his nap poolside along with Toby and Harris. So cute, three sleeping boys in a row. We ate at our lounge chairs, which was fun. We ventured out for dinner at ate Luna Cafe, a recommendation from the concierge, she called ahead for us. The food was great but they were ill equipped to deal with kids. They only had two highchairs, neither had working straps, cause Isaac to climb out as whim. It took a while for the food to come but it ended up fine in the end. After dinner we went back to the hotel and got into bed.
Monday came and we had to pack to leave. I got us an late check out at 1:00 p.m. We woke up, packed, ate snacks in the room for breakfast and headed to the pool. Sam was excited to see Jessica and we wanted to make the most of our final day. We came back to the room at 12:15, in just enough time to shower and get out of the room. We were all hungry and Mich and I decided to try to find the Cuban place that we were supposed to go for lunch on Saturday and never made it. All I can say is yum, yum and yum. We had such a great meal, all of us were happy. We then went to the airport, curbside checked our bags, returned the rental, went through security, got to the gate to find that our 4:45 p.m. flight was going to be delayed at least 2 hours. Thank goodness Tampa airport has a play area. I better say that again, thank goodness Tampa has a play area. The boys played for about and hour and a half then we went to get some dinner. After we ate we went back to the play area for another 45 minutes. We took our two sweaty boys went to our gate got on the plane. Isaac was so tired we fell asleep soon after I strapped him into his carseat. Sam and I played with his sticker book and he fell asleep too. That left Mich and I to watch the very dumb but slightly amusing, Big Momma movie.
Dad was at the airport waiting for us, there was no traffic on the way home, Sally was waiting at the door to greet us. We all dove into bed as soon as we could.
