Florida...Part 6 (Final Post)

So have you felt like you've been in Florida these last 5 days? Did you almost feel the sand between your toes, that hot Florida sun on your back???? We hope so! But, like all good things, our trip had to come to an end.......Here we are at the Fort Myers airport waiting on our plane (recall, we didn't have a "wait" on our outbound flight seeing how I almost missed the flight)!!! But more on that later...I thought you would enjoy these last few pictures we took. I always have to really think about getting Delaney out of the stroller for fear she won't go back in it. But, she hopped out and ran right over to..............this..................................
I know right, she really is the cutest thing EVER.........
I wanted to recap some fun things that happened on our trip so Delaney would have a record of her first trip to the beach. Here are some highlights:

• Have you been wondering how we (ok I) almost missed the flight? Well, here's why: The last time we flew (Texas--February) Delaney was still taking bottles and I took our own bottled water for her bottles (what?? you thought I gave her "tap" water?? surely not, this kid has NEVER had tap water!) Anyway, we got "stuck" at security while they "tested" the water---it was a MAJOR pain in the you know what! So, you would THINK I would have remembered that from February but nope, SURE DIDN'T!! Oh and no, she's not still taking bottles but she does like her juice--organic of course! I took EIGHT bottles with us and well, you can just imagine how long that took! Each cap had to be broken and the seal removed, EIGHT TIMES PEOPLE!!! So I was patient (while listening to the elderly man behind me telling security how it was "just" Old Spice and he couldn't believe they wouldn't just let him take it on the plane (the bottle was too big)....so, Angie offered to go ahead and take Delaney to our gate (I think it was gate 26)....I stayed behind (still listening to why he needed his Old Spice) and waited for the guy checking to make sure I didn't bring explosives in my kid's juice bottles.......FINALLY----I made it through the inspection!! Now it was off to my gate but wait, I'm getting a text......you know, the one that said "RUN, GATE CLOSING"....well who can run in sandals carrying a heavy diaper bag and purse, certainly not me! So I walked fast and when I squinted my eyes I see Angie with her hands waiving in the air giving me the "HURRY UP YOU IDIOT YOU'RE GOING TO MISS THE FLIGHT waive!!!" Ok so NO ONE is in line, NO ONE is still in the waiting area (just Angie with Delaney) and I realize "oh no, what the heck did I do with my boarding pass" so I drop the diaper bag AND the big, heavy purse and start searching for it when the airline employee looks at me and says "Don't worry about it---JUST GO"!!!!! I thought Angie was going to have a full fledge heart attack right there in gate 26! I will NEVER forget her saying "I didn't know what to do, should I stay or should I go" to which I replied "always go"!!! Now, most of you know who Kate Gosselin is and you know how she trusts VERY FEW people with her kids right??? Well, I may not be exactly like Kate Gosselin in many ways (specifically the fact I have 7 less kids than she does) but I have very few people who know my "systems" and who I trust to take care of Delaney....but, Angie is one of them. I just wanted to clarify how I could let my daughter get on a plane without me! ha Oh and don't worry, I wouldn't have been far behind them, there was another flight that left an hour later!!
• Ok, if you're still with us in reading this post then I will try to keep the rest of my bullet points short and sweet. Delaney did FABULOUS on the flight (and if you're wondering, yes, she did a #2 on the flight). If you'll recall, when we went to Texas a certain mom didn't know about the diaper changers that fold down above the toilets in the restroom but a certain mom did remember this time!
• Before going to Florida I made sure I scheduled a taxi that provided a car seat so I wouldn't have to take Delaney's (we weren't renting a car). What I did not know is that our "taxi" ended up being a blue limousine maybe from 1982!!! It was the funniest thing EVER!! I was SOOO mad at myself for not asking him to install the car seat in the middle (again I know that can't surprise you!) Delaney would not sleep ONE SECOND on the plane but as soon as we got in that "taxi" she went right to sleep......
• When we got to our condo, we immediately met a lady (and later her husband) who owned one of the condos. They sort of "adopted us" and told us way too much about them, their kids and anything else we wanted (or didn't) want to know! I like talking to taxi drivers and "locals" to find all the best spots to eat!
• We had a 2 bedroom condo (Delaney and I shared) and our room always seemed really HOT! So we called maintenance and told them we didn't think air was coming out of the vent.....it was!
• We came back one day and the t.v. in our bedroom was on. Now, I've heard of a timer shutting off a t.v. but I've never heard of one turning on a t.v.!!! It was a little creepy.....
• Then, one day, I came inside from the balcony to check on Delaney (she was taking a FOUR hour nap) and standing outside the bedroom door I heard the t.v. was on! I was thinking "not again".....when she woke up from her nap, guess what was in her crib!!??!?! Yep, housekeeping left the remote on my bed which was in arm's reach of her crib. She was watching an old western!!!
• Something I wanted to document is that our pool (we didn't last long in the baby pool it was too "babyish") was the kind where it started off at 0 feet and got deeper and deeper. Delaney would walk right into it with no fear whatsoever!! She would walk until her face went under water. It was crazy. So this fearless child of mine quickly became the proud owner of a floaty. We had to find a way to contain her. One mom asked if Delaney was a second child when I told her she is fearless (apparently it's more common for a subsequent child to behave this way!) She was all smiles in the pool and as usual every said "what a happy baby, is she always this happy, is she always smiling so much, oh my goodness look at all of those teeth"---I hear this all the time from people. She really is an attention seeker!
• We ate breakfast every morning at the resort, came in for lunch, and then ate dinner out every night. So, it really wasn't that big of a deal that on our last day there we discovered our oven didn't work!!!
• Ok so maybe I've peeked your interest on how Delaney did on the flight home.....well let's just say NOTHING like she did on the way there. I guess I should have known from experience she will NOT sleep on a plane...and, she didn't! She was SO squirmy I felt like the flight was seriously returning from Australia!!! I could not wait for that bird to land! Oh and yes, she needed another diaper change (but luckily just a #1 this time). I grabbed a diaper, grabbed the wipes and her changing pad. When I laid her down on the changer she got a hold of the new diaper and threw it in the sink. Which would have been fine had there not been standing water in it! So, I had a momentary panic attack and thought "now what do I do"???? So, I pulled her pants back on her (please scroll up if you forgot what color they were) and ran back to our aisle for a quick diaper change IN MY SEAT!! We went the whole week without incident but on the flight home a certain squirmy baby kept wanting "up and down up and down" and if you've ever been on a plane you know there's not much room for this. So at one point we decided to put our purses and diaper bag stowed above us (which by the way, I have NEVER stowed my carry on bags above me and wouldn't you know the first time I do, I lose something----more on that in a minute) anyway, Delaney kept sitting on the floor between my feet and at one point, came up with a long scratch on her forehead from the metal trim work on the seat in front of us. I wanted to get on the intercom and page "excuse me but is there a pediatric plastic surgeon on the flight by chance"????? Luckily, it is almost gone (and luckily she has long bangs that covered it up!)
• And sadly, a couple of days after we got home, I discovered I left my changing pad on the plane. I think in my panic of getting her changed quickly since she wasn't wearing a diaper, I just threw it up where the diaper bag was stowed and it fell out during landing. So, for the last week I have been stalking ebay to replace it! And yes, I know perfectly well, I can go to Buy Buy Baby and buy one but "it won't match"!!! I will be calling Juicy Couture as soon as they open tomorrow morning (which by the way is 9:00 a.m.)!!!! I may even set my alarm clock----oh, who am I kidding!!!
• I hate to admit this (in writing too) but taking Delaney to Florida was a real "eye opener" for me. I completely underestimated how much she would enjoy it (if you can't tell from all of the pictures). She is such a "go with the flow" baby and is SO adaptable!!! Paris here we come!!!!!
• And lastly, as you can imagine, within less than an hour of our plane landing, ALL of Delaney's grandparents visited! She really is like a 2 foot tall celebrity!!!!