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Our little Drew is one well-traveled little rat! We woke up at 5 am on July 5th to wake Drew up, get dressed, pack the car, pick up grandma, and then get our big behinds to the airport. It doesn't seem like a lot, but with kids it always seems to take forever. I do have some comic relief here folks. I packed one bag for Drew and me. I was nervous it would be overweight or over the 50 lb limit. The check-in lady at the counter threw it up on the scale, and we all held our breath. It was 49.5 lbs! Praise the Lord!! I could have just river danced my way to the security checkpoint. Then the evil, evil witch reaches in her back pocket, and whips out her measuring tape!!! She measured the circumference, length, and height. She then snarled, "It's oversized! You'll have to pay!!" The hag then types in her computer for 4 or 5 minutes, while the line grows and grows behind us. I think we weren't the only ones holding our breath! Finally, the shrew charges me 40 extra bucks on top of having to check 2 bags which was another 30....so why is Air Tran so cheap??? We've flown with that bag to China twice and no one ever bats an eye.
Anyways, the flight went fine. Drew slept half of it and didn't complain at all. He loves taking off and landing, which I'm sure everyone reading this loves too! However, I do have to mention the flight attendants were a little rough. Mom counted 7 times that they asked us to place Drew in his seat and buckle him in. There were a few times during the flight where the fasten seat belt sign would come on, and immediately all three would miraculously appear and demand his butt in the seat. Having Drew sit without arching/wiggling is very tricky. It kind of reminds me of forcing a cat in a bag. By the end of the flight, we had the people across from us rolling their eyes when the flight attendants would start drilling us. Drew got a laugh out of it, so it's all good in the long run.
We arrived in Tampa, collected our bags, and then went to obtain our rental minivan. Everything went fine until Kristin tried to install the carseat. Needless to say, it wasn't pretty. Grandma flagged down two Hertz employees and we finally got it in. I guess the back straps had gotten loose on the flight and weren't in the right holes.
Our next step was to drive from Tampa to St.Petersburg then to Treasure Island. Mom printed out directions and Hertz also had a GPS in the van. Wouldn't you know we still got lost!! Well we eventually arrived but had time to kill because check-in wasn't until 4 pm. We had lunch at IHOPs and shopped for groceries at Publix. We were delighted to discover at Publix they have their own baggers and they also will load up your groceries in your car for you! It was awesome! What's also interesting is that Publix and a lot of the newer buildings are up on stilts. Treasure Island is really a large sandbar, so I guess they must have had some serious flooding issues in the past. Anyways, it was neat that we got to park our car under the grocery store in the shade instead of out in the hot sun.
We checked in yesterday at 4 pm and we are very pleased with our accommodations. We are staying at the Sunset Vistas on Treasure Island. Check out their website. It's only 3 years old and has a cafe serving all three meals, pool, jacuzzi, parking, and it's right on the gulf. Our suite has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, two tvs, kitchen, washer/dryer, and a living area with a dining room table. We have a large balcony overlooking the gulf too. A++.
As for the rest of our first day, we went swimming from 7:30-9 pm. We had to wait until the sun was setting with our Yankee/Vampire skin. Then we put Drew in the new pottery barn carrier we bought (it's great Erin!) and we walked in the surf during the sunset. No it was not romantic! I was with my mother! Drew got a kick out of a big wave that soaked my mother and her white capris. Finally, we all went back up to our room and snored our brains out.
Check out my previous blog; I just wrote it.
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I'm so glad you're blogging. I thought I would take a chance and check. It's great to read of your adventures and Drew's updates. Glad to hear you arrived safely and all are doing well. It sounds like Drew is tolerating his Dr. visit/meds okay so far. That's great. I checked out Treasure Island's website. Not a bad place! Hopefully you will get to enjoy it. Say "hi" for me and give Drew a kiss. I look forward to your next posting.
Laurie