Memories by the Beach

We haven't had a pleasant winter in Chicago,

and had Marriott credit card points to burn, so...

HELLO, FORT LAUDERDALE!

We took a million more pictures that I won't bore you with on this blog. (I'll make a photo book and bore you with that in person). How could I choose what to share here? I thought about how we will remember this vacation. We'll remember the laughs. The new inside jokes. Hearing the waves at night. How Mila grinned from ear-to-ear the whole 30 minutes she jumped on the water trampoline. The way Willow strutted her wobbly legs down the hall with one arm cocked and the other swinging wildly. We made some treasured family memories over the week. Here are a few:

Our Samsung camera has a "wink feature",

supposedly it will recognize a wink

 and takes the picture a second after. 

The problem is agreeing on

 who is going to be the winker. 

We end up with someone pulling a Pop-eye in every shot. 

The pool was the main draw 

as both girls loved being in the water. 

Willow was a total daredevil

and gave us near heart attacks

 and plenty of exercise 

from constantly running after her.

Mila wanted to learn chess on the

giant chess board. 

She really took to it!

Here she is in the lobby 

playing with a couple of 

Italian boys on our last day. 

Willow's favorite was the beach.

She sat and played in the sand

so sweetly. 

Her other favorite?

Mom's phone. 

How can we say no to that face 

when she asks to watch "Pee-Bee"

(aka Pee-Wee's Playhouse) 

for the thousandth time?

Each day the hotel set out 

complimentary snacks by the pool.

Mila really looked forward to 

walking up to the carts and helping herself.

It pays to ask...

we were upgraded to 

Ocean View for no extra charge

and it made all the difference.  

Amazing sunrises too. 

Mila cracked us up on this trip.

She started saying "Whatevs" and calling both of us "Bro".

It's hard not to laugh.

Mila really, really, really wanted 

to order an ice cream sundae

 from room service,

just like Kevin did in Home Alone 2.

We made her dreams come true:

I handed her the phone and she asked for

strawberry ice cream

 with Oreos and sprinkles.

We really enjoyed taking the water taxi

where we saw celebrity homes and boats

 practically the size of cruise ships (I'm looking at you, Spielberg).

It was a beautiful ride with lots to see...

Including this HUGE iguana!

Putting Willow to bed was one of the only negative

 memories made...she stayed up later than Mila. Every. Single. Night. 

We taught her to "show us your teeth"

over the trip...

it sort of comes out as a cute smile, right?

One of our best meals was at 

Rocco's Tacos on Las Olas Blvd.

MQ looooved those chips.

Mila took quite a few photos 

including this picture of us

enjoying happy hour at the hotel.

Half-off drinks and apps? Done.

Thanks for the memories, Fort Lauderdale.

Later, bro!