One Last Hoorah

We had two big trips planned for Summer 2009. One at the beginning, Vegas for Uncle Al's 21st birthday, and a second trip at the very end of the season, Palm Beach for Labor Day weekend. I must say the beach trip was pretty much the perfect getaway. All we did was relax! Those that know me, know most trips involve an itinerary and tons of activities. This trip, I told my Type-A personality it was time to chill, and that's exactly what we did.

We checked into the resort early Friday afternoon and were thrilled to discover our room was everything that we had hoped for, a spacious 2-bedroom, 2 bathroom suite complete with a kitchen and our very own washer & dryer! Instantly, we knew we were going to enjoy our stay!

The Living Room

Kitchen Master Bedroom

Master BathGuest RoomGuest BathOh, and The View from the Balcony We spent a lot of time on that balcony!

Some may think it's silly that we take trips to the beach when we basically live at the beach, but every area of Florida has different sand, different water, and a different vibe. It's fun to see how others live. In Palm Beach, the water is clearer than at home, and we had the added fun of snorkeling around a reef located just off shore. The water conditions made it a little tough to reach the reef on Saturday. Uncle Al actually swallowed a bit of water during his first attempt and ended up attracting the attention of the lifeguard and most of the beach goers. Luckily, there was no water rescue, and his second attempt was a success.Those of us that were a little less adventurous, stayed closer to shore where we could play in the waves and lounge on the beach.As usual, Baylor seemed to prefer playing with the toys on dry land, and Jax preferred to stay in the water away from the dirt (also known as sand). He's never been a fan of dirt, but tolerates it briefly when building sand castles.

With Baylor busy "building sand castles," and Jax off "snorkeling," the older boys spent some time tossing around the football. Although, eventually they did attract Baylor's attention. He wasn't going to miss out on any of the fun.

What started out as a game of "keep away" with Baylor running back & forth between Daddy and Uncle Al, quickly turned into catch with a very excited 15-month old. He so badly wants to be one of the guys!Very quickly, we realized that Baylor is the exact opposite of Jax when it comes to football skills. Jax has quite an arm, but Baylor can't throw worth a darn. HOWEVER, the boy can catch! I guess that will work out well when the boys start playing ball. Jax can be the quarterback, and Baylor can be a running back or a receiver.

After what seemed like a full 4-quarter SEC game, someone called a time-out. The point of the trip was to relax, after all!I'd say the strangest occurrence during the trip was when we stumbled upon a beached mermaid with lots of facial hair. Aunt Kelly couldn't resist posing with her/him. That's definitely not something you see everyday.Jax seemed equally puzzled, but never one to miss an opportunity, he thought it would be funny to pinch the mermaid's nose.Baylor is such a sweet kid! He seemed genuinely concerned for the mermaid. He sat there for the longest time, as though he was trying to figure out how to free this poor mermaid that looked strikingly similar to Uncle Al.

Unsure of how he could help, he leaned over and gave the mermaid a kiss to make it better.

Then, he grabbed part of the mermaid's shell bikini top and ran off. Maybe he's not as sweet as we thought!

We spent every day on the beach and every night at the pools. Yes, pools...plural. There was the infinity pool overlooking the beach. Plus, there was a second lagoon-style pool with a waterslide. I tell ya, we were living a rough life! Of course, it would have been sad if the pools at the resort weren't even as nice as the poolS at home in our neighborhood. I'd say they were comparable.

The trip was just about perfect. If I had to complain about something, it would be the sad outcome of the Georgia-Oklahoma State football game on Saturday. Had the Bulldogs been victorious, I think the weekend would have been perfection. Oh well. I guess life ain't perfect!