We are back from our vacation! We had such a wonderful time in beautiful Florida. We stayed at the gorgeous Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa, and had a nice room with a huge balcony overlooking the Atlantic ocean. It was so peaceful to sleep with the balcany doors open at night and hear the waves.... most importantly, though, was how incredible my son was on the trip. From the very beginning, he was a trooper! When we got on the first airplane, he got a bit scared but settled down in his chair in no time, and we had a great flight. I was amazed at how well behaved he was! Then we landed in Newark, and had to get on another plane to Fort Lauderdale within 40 minutes. He loved the airport, and liked the bigger plane, too. Thank goodness, I have to say, for our portable DVD player and Mighty Machines - that kept him occupied for well over 30 minutes.
When we arrived in Fort Lauderdale, we rented a car with a car seat, and thankfully, the car rental people installed the seat for us. Christos had no problem in the car at all. We arrived at our beautiful resort and Christos was in awe at all the waterfalls... and then the swimming pools! There was a great big infinity pool overlooking the ocean and underneath, a huge lagoon style pool. We walked to the beach right away, and his face - it was priceless. The first time he saw the vast ocean - he was just starting and smiling. And then he sat in the sand as the water came up to him. He was having a blast! I took a lot of pictures, which I"ll put up as soon as I download them. We ate at Nikki Marina that night. Christos did not love sitting down eating at restaurants everyday, so that was our only little struggle, getting him to eat! Feeding him lunch in our hotel room before his nap time worked out best for all of us.
In the mornings, we'd wake up and head straight for the ocean. The Westin has a great kids club, and at the beach they set up this huge play area for kids, a huge sand circle and inside, all the water toys you can imagine! Pails, shovels, buckets, rakes, tables, chairs, umbrella's... Christos loved playing there and I'd pick him up and run with him into the water. It was awesome being in the ocean with him, looking at the boats in the distance, just enjoying the waves and the water. And he thought the taste was funny, too!
We also swam in the pool, and he loved the waterfalls and just people watching.
At night, we did shop. Shopping on this trip to Florida was different then my other trips to Florida because I did not shop a lot - hey, I'm pregnant after all - but I did manage to buy a nice outfit from Mimi Maternity for my sister's engagement party and a few more tops and some stuff for Christos and my new baby boy. Did you know J.Crew had a kid's section! It was great!
We went to my favourite shopping mall ever, the Bal Harbour Shops, which is all the high end stores you can imagine - Chanel, Versace, Valentino, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Cartier -flagged by Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue - and I did score a new pair of Chanel sunglasses. (Glasses and purses, that's my thing) and we ate at my favourite Italian restaurant, Carpaccio's. YUM!
My mom and sister were a great help on this trip - I couldn't have done it without them! Christos loves them so much. Oh, I also went to Target for the first time ever and it was cool. I even (GASP!) bought 2 maternity shirts from the Liz Lange line there. And of course, more toys for Christos. Oh yeah, we also bought 2 new small suitcases there since we did so much shopping!
Overall, the trip was fantastic, the perfect number of days for a 2 year old to be travelling, and just enough time away to come back refreshed (but tired!) and thankful that we live in Canada. Seriously, this is my first time coming back from Florida where I feel so thankful for where I live. Don't get me wrong - if I had 40 million in the bank, I probably would move to south Florida - but since I don't - I'm so glad to call Canada home. It's safe here. I don't have to worry about our health care or about my child(ren) going to the local store and getting caught in the line of fire of some gang fight. (Okay, maybe I should say I'm thankful I live in Ottawa, not Toronto!) Anyway, glad to be home, Christos was so happy to his daddy and his house and all his familiar things. He did great. Great memories and a million pictures to last a lifetime.. pictures will be posted soon!\
Oh yeah, and we saw Denis Rodman at our hotel a few times, too. Always a celebrity to be seen down there!
When we arrived in Fort Lauderdale, we rented a car with a car seat, and thankfully, the car rental people installed the seat for us. Christos had no problem in the car at all. We arrived at our beautiful resort and Christos was in awe at all the waterfalls... and then the swimming pools! There was a great big infinity pool overlooking the ocean and underneath, a huge lagoon style pool. We walked to the beach right away, and his face - it was priceless. The first time he saw the vast ocean - he was just starting and smiling. And then he sat in the sand as the water came up to him. He was having a blast! I took a lot of pictures, which I"ll put up as soon as I download them. We ate at Nikki Marina that night. Christos did not love sitting down eating at restaurants everyday, so that was our only little struggle, getting him to eat! Feeding him lunch in our hotel room before his nap time worked out best for all of us.
In the mornings, we'd wake up and head straight for the ocean. The Westin has a great kids club, and at the beach they set up this huge play area for kids, a huge sand circle and inside, all the water toys you can imagine! Pails, shovels, buckets, rakes, tables, chairs, umbrella's... Christos loved playing there and I'd pick him up and run with him into the water. It was awesome being in the ocean with him, looking at the boats in the distance, just enjoying the waves and the water. And he thought the taste was funny, too!
We also swam in the pool, and he loved the waterfalls and just people watching.
At night, we did shop. Shopping on this trip to Florida was different then my other trips to Florida because I did not shop a lot - hey, I'm pregnant after all - but I did manage to buy a nice outfit from Mimi Maternity for my sister's engagement party and a few more tops and some stuff for Christos and my new baby boy. Did you know J.Crew had a kid's section! It was great!
We went to my favourite shopping mall ever, the Bal Harbour Shops, which is all the high end stores you can imagine - Chanel, Versace, Valentino, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Cartier -flagged by Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue - and I did score a new pair of Chanel sunglasses. (Glasses and purses, that's my thing) and we ate at my favourite Italian restaurant, Carpaccio's. YUM!
My mom and sister were a great help on this trip - I couldn't have done it without them! Christos loves them so much. Oh, I also went to Target for the first time ever and it was cool. I even (GASP!) bought 2 maternity shirts from the Liz Lange line there. And of course, more toys for Christos. Oh yeah, we also bought 2 new small suitcases there since we did so much shopping!
Overall, the trip was fantastic, the perfect number of days for a 2 year old to be travelling, and just enough time away to come back refreshed (but tired!) and thankful that we live in Canada. Seriously, this is my first time coming back from Florida where I feel so thankful for where I live. Don't get me wrong - if I had 40 million in the bank, I probably would move to south Florida - but since I don't - I'm so glad to call Canada home. It's safe here. I don't have to worry about our health care or about my child(ren) going to the local store and getting caught in the line of fire of some gang fight. (Okay, maybe I should say I'm thankful I live in Ottawa, not Toronto!) Anyway, glad to be home, Christos was so happy to his daddy and his house and all his familiar things. He did great. Great memories and a million pictures to last a lifetime.. pictures will be posted soon!\
Oh yeah, and we saw Denis Rodman at our hotel a few times, too. Always a celebrity to be seen down there!
Comments
I LOVE Target! All of their stuff is so great there!
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