Our little family made it to Florida this past week and we were delighted to be there! You might remember we were in Anna Maria, Florida last year? It's been a long time since we've lived in Eastern Canada and I think we've actually done pretty well embracing the cold. But when we were faced with yet another storm in Toronto right before our trip, we were just as happy to get out of there and fly south for a week.
This wasn't actually OUR house, but it was one similar one close by. I somehow never got a decent picture of it all week.
For a newborn and a toddler, our flight went surprisingly well and we were welcomed with warm breezes at the airport. And after another drive, we met up with friends from childhood and university at the beach house we rented, located practically right on the Gulf. Call us crazy but we all decided to forgo sleep for a week and fill a large house with sixteen (count 'em) bodies. But it's been years and years of being all together, and now we all live so far apart these days (from Alberta to Newfoundland) so it's definitely worth it. There really is nothing like being with old friends!!
The house was big and beautiful and colourful. And actually, aside from sharing our bedroom with our toddler and newborn, it didn't really feel that crammed in the house. (Gabriel slept in a pillow fort in our closet and Magdalene slept in a crib in our bathroom which means we had to climb over the toilet to use our shower). Every day was a bit of an obstacle course!
Steve's AMAZING ribs!! Can't wait to get that recipe.
There were toys strewn all of the house, and towels hanging from every post or hook and outcropping. We cooked meals for a camp crowd and the table was always a bustle with wiggly hungry children climbing into chairs, and on parents' laps. There was the incessant pitter-patter of feet and whispers of children pretending to be asleep. There were shouts of empty threats, crying, giggles, shrieks of delight and an endless stream of questions: "Stephanie? Why your baby sleeping? Stephanie? Why your baby wearing shoes? Stephanie? why you holding your baby?" You know, the usual toddler prattle. Magdalene was definitely a hit this week. Five year old Hudson exclaimed at the airport as we were leaving. "My best friend in Baby Magdalene." (I'm pretty sure that's not really true, but it was very sweet all the same). Any time she was awake, the kids all surrounded her in her little bouncy chair, eager to entertain her and wanting to hold her. I even heard three-year-old Mason hopping around the house singing about Magdalene the other morning. :)
We filled our days with trips back and forth to the beach in front of the house, and jaunts down to the warm pool right outside. We were in and out of our bathing suits before they ever got dry. And when nighttime came and all the kids were tucked in their beds asleep, if we didn't fall into bed ourselves, the mamas and papas got a chance to go hang out in the hot tub for some adult time before one of the babies inevitably needed to be fed or put back to sleep. It seemed that every night is a gong show for someone and when we convened in the kitchen in the morning to insert coffee into our bodies via IV drip, we swapped nighttime battle stories and wore bags under our eyes like badges of honor. But there is something to knowing that despite our lack of sleep and the craziness of nighttime (or daytime as the case may be) that we were in it together for the week, the good and the bad. And really, we were sort of in Paradise, so aside from the nights that we only got a total of four hours of sleep (and I was seriously wondering if this trip might be a very bad idea), it was mostly amazing.
Before you go thinking that this is it for the photos, hold tight! More on the way!
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