Day 6- Why did I take them to the beach?

I took the girls to the beach yesterday.

I hate the beach. Hate. The. Beach. Don't get me wrong, I love the sun and being outside, however, I hate salt water, sand everywhere, and no shade. I hate being hot and sweaty with no reprieve. I hate that the sand gets a thousand degrees. I hate when the wind blows your hat off. I hate 70 year old men wearing, well, I'll spare you. Its just isn't right. I hate when my feet get wet and sand sticks to me. I hate sand in the car and in the car seats. I hate making 40 trips to the water with 4 buckets to get water for the sand castle/tossed sand salad. I hate carrying all the bags, coolers, chairs, and whatever else is needed for our sand fest. I hate taking 47 minutes to put sunscreen all over squirmy kids.

I like pictures of the beach. I like walking on the side walk/boardwalk next to the beach. I like a hotel room that opens up to the beach. I am even ok with a quick, very quick, stroll on the beach during the sunset with Sue. But I hate being on the beach.

My kids love the beach. Love. The. Beach. They love to run on it, lay on it, sit on it, build on it, and bury me on it. They love to throw sand, scoop sand, eat chips with sand on their hand. They also will not let one chip go to waste. If that chip falls on the sand, there is a 30 second rule, unless I am quick enough to stop it.They love to put sand in the beach bag and in the cooler. They love to put sand on the beach towel and stand on the beach chair and get sand all over it. And why would it be necessary to wipe your hands before grabbing the top of the water bottle? I mean, why not have some sand with that refreshing Aquafina? They think its fun to throw sand on me. They think its fun to pour all four buckets of water on the attempted sand castle before I tell them to pour. Casey even thinks that it is fun to pour water on her face. Yay!

I said all of that because yesterday, Sue started her conference and I was trying to figure out something to do with the kids. Then I had to do it. I opened my enormous mouth. "Girls, you wanna go to the beach?" I couldn't stop myself. It was like seeing something happening that you just cant stop. Even in the course of the sentence I had a discussion with my self in my head.

(disclaimer, I do not have multiple personalities regardless of what Sue says)

Me: what are you thinking?

Other me: think of the girls pretty smile as they laugh and play.

Me: you know it's really hot outside and it will be crowded, right?

Other me: Think of the fun playing with them.

Me: You know there's sand there, right? Like a lot of sand. You hate sand. Read the paragraph above.

Other me: yeah, I know, I was there when you wrote it, but, you get to do something with your kids today. There are people all over the world who would kill for a few minutes with their kids or loved ones. God has given you the opportunity to be with your kids everyday. Cherish it. Today you can take them and play with them, and dream with them, and imagine with them, carry them when they are tired of walking in the sand, wipe their hands and faces as they get sand all over them. You can make memories today, and no matter what ever happens, no one can take those memories away from you.

Me: you're right, lets go to the beach!

I took the girls to the beach yesterday. There is a beach in my car right now, but the girls loved it. I loved it. We even talked about God making it. Madelyn even posed the question, "Daddy, you think God ever comes down and walks on the beach?" I responded, "Honey, He was right there with us today."

I took the girls t the beach yesterday.

I think Sue wants to go tonight with the girls...lucky me!

Day 5- A history lesson in Tampa

Today we traveled from Orlando to Tampa. Before we left this morning we had to visit downtown disney. We also found a great gluten-free friendly place eat. Sue has her conference for the next few days while I play at the pool and the beach with the girls. Today after arriving here at the Doubletree hotel in Tampa, we went to the pool until our room was clean. Then we went out to dinner with Dr. Winters (one of Sue's partners at the office)and his wife. He grew up here in Tampa and wanted to take us to this authentic Cuban restaurant, so we went to The Columbian in Ybor city, a little village in Tampa. Here is a link to their website, www.columbiarestaurant.com. It was incredible. built in 1905 and with obvious Cuban Influence, it was beautiful. During dinner a show broke out that involved traditional dances from Cuba. It reminded me of something you would see in a movie, or something from Cuba (pun intended). It was cool. Madelyn and Casey loved it!

After dinner we drove around and heard stories of how Dr. Winters grew up. We also heard the story about how the hospital here in Tampa was the first hospital to amputate the wrong leg one a patient, prompting the common practice today of righting NO on the lego.

Anyhow, not a bad day today. Again, it is a blessing everyday that I get to be with Sue and the girls.

Day 4- Lazy!

You ever go on vacation and are so busy you just want a day to do nothing? Well, that was our day. We got up and made breakfast here in the condo and then ventured out for a walk to see the grounds of the resort. It is a very nice place with 5 outdoor pools that include 2 lazy rivers, a few slides, and a couple child areas. There is also a playground, a miniature golf course, a beach volleyball pit, shuffleboard, private cabanas, and a few picnic areas to grill. There are 8 hotel towers that circle a huge pond. It was funny to see all of the pushy time-share sales representatives giving tours and being so delightful. Funny thing is, once they looked at us, it was as if they knew we ditched our tour and have zero interest in buying anything. You would think we caused the stock market to crash and stole their cheese too. Anyhow, it is a beautiful resort.

Not much to report today though. We went to the pool around 10 and stayed there until 3:30. Sue and emma Kate were back and forth from the room a few times to feed. There was another parent who did not care to go back to her room to breast feed her baby. Yup, right there in the kiddy area. Um, can I get you a blanket or anything? We went back to the room and ordered pizza for dinner. We searched for some gluten-free places but we did not really see anything. Thanks to some twitter and facebook friends, we found a place! After dinner we went back to the pool and had the entire kid area to ourself! Now the kids are in bed and we will start to pack a little. Tomorrow we head to Tampa for 4 days.

It has been great to get away and be with the family. Tonight as I was putting Madelyn to bed I asked her what has been her favorite part of the trip so far. She said she loved the pool and the Magic kingdom, and being with her family. She said she did not love the magic kingdom, or the pool, or anything more than God. "I love God the most and more than anything," were her exact words. I'm speechless. Madelyn started talking to Sue tonight about asking Jesus to take away her sins, but that she wanted to wait because she is afraid to go under water. How precious! I'm so grateful for the time with my 4 girls!

Day 3 of vacation...The Real Magic Kingdom, Please stand up, please stand up...

I woke to the smell of coffee and Emma Kate cooing next to me on the bed. Sounds of laughter and giggling coming from the living room. Madelyn and Casey were eating cereal and watching cartoons. I looked at the clock and knew we needed to get going if we were going to get to Disney early. Long story short...after a two trips to the Disney ticket counter here at the resort, a phone call to cancel my lost credit card, then finding the credit card while on the phone with my bank, and finally catching the bus and the ferry, we arrived at the magic kingdom. Sue and I were so excited to surprise the girls. I think we were expecting a 9 yr old girl reaction to Justin Beiber, however, we got a different reaction. Madelyn was immediately scared of the fired works which wouldn't go off until late that night, and Casey wanted to go back and go to the lazy river. After a few short minutes, and some detailed explanation of the day by Sue, the girls were excited.

We started off riding the Tea cups and Dumbo. We then met up with our friends Ryan and Martha, and their two sons. We had a blast on It's a small world after all. We watched the parade, had dinner with Tigger & Pooh and friends, waited in line to see the princesses, rode the magic carpets and then came back to the resort. There were long lines, lots of walking, and lots of smiles. The girls loved it! It was amazing to be with Sue and the girls today. Nothing in the world is better. Now that the girls being in bed, and the late night pizza has been delivered, it feels like a regular night...Sue and I together hanging out. Sue is cuddled up in a blanket, asleep of course. The world is right and I am a happy man! Happier than ever! God is too good to me.

I think they wrongly named it The Magic Kingdom. I mean, is it really that magical to have people run into you, cut you off, not watch where they are going, and run into the stroller? Would it be that magical for a 5 foot 8 inch orange (its not really red) haired man go nuts on someone for not watching where they walked? I didn't, but it was real, real close! I am not a believer in magic, but I think the real Magic Kingdom is the one where people who enter are the ones who accept the free sacrifice and payments by Jesus for our sins. We do not deserve entrance, yet we receive it at no cast to us. The payment was paid by Jesus on the cross! As believers in Jesus, we belong to the Kingdom of God and will one day be in the heavenly city for all of eternity. That is when our real dreams will come true. To be able to spend eternity in heaven is an amazing thought! If we get so excited about going to a man made place, even with all of it's beauty, why do we not get excited about heaven, the real Magic Kingdom?

I do not intend for any of this post to discredit how much fun Disney is, or even how much fun we had today, simply to compare. It was priceless to see the smile on my girls faces as they met the princesses, or rode up and down on dumbo, or spun around really fast (see flip video tomorrow). My girls are worth it, and so are you and I! That is why Jesus died, to offer you and I abundant and eternal life!

Vacation March 2011-Day 2

The day started off painful. I ended up sleeping on the hotel's pullout sofa bed. My back still feels like a pretzel. The day seemed to worsen as I left to go get starbuck's, and I stood and waited for the elevator. And waited. And waited. And waited. I was furious! Come on! I was thinking of other people holding the doors open on another floor for their elderly Grandfather or a wandering child. Do these people not know I desperately need to get some caffeine before I snap? Oh, wait...I forgot to push the button. Nice. And guess what? The elevator was on my floor. Hilarious. As I made the coffee run, I stopped by McDonalds to get some breakfast for us. The ladyworking the drive through had a graphic hoodie on that said, "Welcome to sonic..America's drive thru." Seriously?

It was nice to see Sherah for the night and morning...but on we must go. More traveling! As we left for Orlando the trip was only 162 miles from where we stayed. It took a lot longer than I thought. As we left, it was like a magnetic force that kept pulling on me. We inched along, and as we did, the pull got stronger, and stronger. We went for miles and it felt like the magnetic pull in the middle of the island. Watch Lost for explanation. Then I saw it.. the force that was so powerful....The University of Florida...next exit. I looked at Sue, who was on the phone, with the eyes of a kid in need of a new leg just to walk. She smiled and condoned. We pulled off the exit and slowly approached Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Otherwise known as the swamp. It was really cool. We were able to walk right in and go right down to field level. There was a gate open to the field and I was tempted to go onto the field, but didn't. I mean, legends such as Emmitt Smith and Tim Tebow warred and battled on that field. Anyway...enough of the drawn out stuff...we stopped and saw the Swamp. I attached a few pics. Pretty cool.

We checked in today at the Bonnet Creek resort by Wyndham. Awesome place. Our condo has two bedrooms and two baths, living room, dining room, and full kitchen. We went to the pool and the lazy river this afternoon, and the girls loved it. Emma Kate just kinda looked around wondering what all the fuss was about. I couldn't pull Madelyn and Casey out of the water, but Sue and I were like Chris Farley in that SNL skit where they are in the diner and he says, "leave me alone, I'm starving." So we went to eat at a cool little Italian Place. The staff thought we had the cutest and most beautiful girls, which we do. They even came and took pictures. I thought to myself, "Wow, this is a great staff." Eh, as we were leaving and in the parking lot, the lady who took the pics came running out and wanting to sell me packages of the pictures. One was really cute, so Sue gave me the eyes like I gave her earlier today. So we are the proud owners of a framed 5x7, 2 wallets, and a souvenir key chain of Casey grabbing two handfuls of her pasta and smiling.

After a short trip to Publix, and a visit from security because we called in a noise complaint, the girls are fast asleep with no clue that tomorrow we are taking them to the magic kingdom. Not to be out done by Mickey, Sue read the first three chapters of the book of Esther to the girls before bed time. It was sweet. I cant wait until tomorrow night as we explain to them how God brought Esther to the kingdom for a very specific reason, and that God's kingdom is way more awesome than the magic one.

Spring Vacation 2011

We left for Florida today for a week of vacation and are really excited to get away and spend some isolated time with the girls. We left this morning at 8 AM and, true to form, we stopped twice before Atlanta. Breakfast and the potty are extremely important, right? The girls have no idea that we are going to spend a day or two at Disney world, and are sure to be urprised when we get there. The trip was long and the girls were sooooooooooo loud in the car, and since I can handle stress so well....

We have 4 total surprises for the girls, 2 we gave them today. We stopped in Macon, Ga to see our friend and the girls former babysitter, Amy! The girls had a blast and we were able to catch up. Tonight, Aunt Sherah drove over from Pensacola to spend the evening with us. Although her and Sue ditched us after dinner and went shopping.....

We are staying in Lake City, Fl tonight and are leaving for Orlando tomorrow morning. We will be there for 3 nights, then go to Tampa for 4 nights. Sue has a conference to attend, and I will be hanging with the girls. I'm thinking we will head for Clearwater Beach! Sue informed me today that as a part of her conference, there is a chance we could throw out the first pitch at a Yankees pre-season game as a part of a fund-raiser. We have no clue what the required fund is, but if I have the opportunity, I will represent the Orioles and give Jeter & Arod some chin music!

Sue has been working hard and so much, we are really looking forward to just getting away and relaxing. We are enjoying time with Sherah right now. What a great reminder that family is the most important thing, whether on vacation or not. Madelyn has taken time to thank us for "the best vacation ever" throughout the day. It makes me laugh because she says it at everything. For example, we went through McDonalds drive through and bought her eggs and bacon. She replied, "Daddy, I love you, this is the best vacation ever." I laughed but also cherished her pure and sincere little heart. I thought to myself, Madelyn, just wait until we get on the ferry to go to the magic kingdom.

Well, for those interested, I will be blogging a little throughout our vacation, as well as tweeting.