Just what the doctor ordered!

Three months ago when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, my life as I knew disappeared and was replaced with days & weeks of Dr. Appointments, hospital visits, and just plain confusion. So, when Mike was asked to fly out here to Tampa to do a boat inspection for an upcoming lawsuit, we both knew it would be a FAMILY trip. Less than a week later, we’re here at our very, very, very favorite hotel, The Don Cesar, on St. Pete Beach. Technically, we opted for the Don’s sister hotel, The Beach House Suites, ¼ mile down the road – or beach from the famous Pink Hotel. The Hotel is beautiful, but the rooms are just that – rooms. The Beach House Suites are one or two bedroom condo type units. Much easier with two little boys, plus the hotel shares amenities so it’s like having the best of both worlds, Yesterday morning we left the house at 5:45 and drove to Providence and flew to Tampa Airport, via a short stop in Philly, arriving shortly after noon. It’s been four years since we’ve been here at the Don, and after the stress of the last three months, it was amazingly refreshing to catch our first glimpse of the Beautiful Historical Hotel. After checking in, we headed out for a quick lunch, then stopped at the grocery store for some breakfast and dinner food, along with drinks and snacks. Back at the hotel, I suggested that Mike take the boys out to the pool and/or beach while I unpacked both the groceries and the suitcases. It’s a system that works well, and efficiently. Within an hour we were all unpacked and I was able to catch up with the rest of them as they sat around in the hottub. Since they we’re ready to come out of the pool area yet, I got a rare chance to just sit on our balcony and read. No kids. No interruptions, No stress!

We had a lite dinner, then the boys & Mike spent some time playing with paper airplanes while I started a puzzle. Harry, thankfully, was asleep by 7:30 and Skip by 8! By nine we were all in bed, tired from our early wake-up call I suppose. We fell asleep to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach…