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!
