Dear Addie,
The planning is complete and the day has finally arrived...it's vacation time! Baby, you should know that your mommy and daddy are a healthy balance of ying and yang in just about every situation. Having said that, we had a 50/50 chance of pure awesomeness for our OTOD on our spring break getaway!
Ready, set, go. Let's do this!
Not wanting to gamble on what could be some unforeseen sensory issues on a plane, we agreed to vacation somewhere within driving distance. Lucky for us, Menzo's are experienced road trippers so the range of possibilities was pretty good. Really anything sub 15 hours & we were good to go!
Addie your dad is a complete rock star of positivity in any situation!
I desperately want to be that way, but am entirely consumed with "what if's" all the time. Let's just say, I'm working on it.
One of my fears (besides sharks) is you screaming in the hotel and security showing up at our door. Side note: Yes this has happened and even though the security guard understood and felt bad when he realized what was going on, the feeling has been forever etched into my being.
I too prefer predictability when introducing you to new, out of the norm things. But when venturing to a new place, all predictability gets thrown out the window! Always remember at the end of the day, we both just want the very best for everyone in our family and love you very much. One team, one dream forever and always.
So back to our adventure, Marco Island, FL look out because here we come!!!
We pulled up to a beautiful resort, that much to our surprise was flooded with families and tons (I mean tons) of kids! My thinking starts shifting a bit too, maybe this is going to be just fine after all.
Once we were all settled in, we wasted no time in getting our toes in the sand!
Addie, you love the beach! Fact!
Nothing else seemed to matter when you were happily splashing and kicking in the water! Daddy being the uber smart man he is had suggested the gulf side of FL vs. the Atlantic side because of the low tide and waves being easy to manage for you.
We spent the next week bouncing between ocean water fun and a number of different pools! Only leaving 50% of the time for me worrying about y'all becoming a shark's tasty appetizer. I told you I have anxiety right?!? Good news everyone had fun and no one became an ocean delicacy. #winning!
You learned a few new words this week- "ocean" or "ocean quick" rather having extreme emphasis on the "quick" because you wanted to be there now! "Seagull & pelican" are also after referring to them as ducks for a few days. Then there was you repeating "stand up." We may or may not have had to say this to you a time or two during some rebellious moments when you thought the death drop was going to help you get your way about something.
A few days into the trip we realized it was long overdue and there was no better time then now...
Your long locks had officially suffered the wrath of salt water, chlorine and sun, in addition to you rivaling Rapunzel you were well beyond due for a hair cut! So like any parents who aren't professional hair stylist would do, dad headed straight to cvs for some scissors.
With your hair braided, and dad ready to chop - I had my camera in hand, you quickly showed us you weren't going at this without a fight!
Dad used some snipping ninja skills and not gonna lie I almost cried when your braid was officially gone. I said "almost" because we were then starring at an uneven mess of locks on your head! We followed you around for the next 30-40 mins trying to "even it out".
Ha.
It got shorter, and shorter and shorter...we called uncle on the whole process, threw it in the tiniest ponytail I've ever seen on you and took you straight to the beach. It was well deserved visit for you after mom and dad played salon.
Feeling wonderfully sun kissed, by day 5 you were ready to get back to everything you knew and loved. You were torn with wanting to be in the ocean or finding that balance of your everyday life that you had begun to miss. We knew you'd probably had enough when you swam out to the ocean hammock and snuggled up into my lap for a good 30 mins. No playing, no screaming, you just wanted me to hold you. I happily obliged. I enjoyed every second of it, but it was clear you'd had enough of this adventure and were ready to head home. Luckily, it was time, and so we did.
Well my dear, we made it through our 2017 family vacation with very minimal melt downs, not making the menu of any hungry ocean creatures and everyone all in all had a great time!
Sun, sand, smiles = success!
Great job baby girl!
Love,
Mom
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