A beach mini break

We haven't taken a weekend away to simply hang out at the beach. We usually go to museums, zoos, or events when go on any type of vacation. Until this weekend, that is. The kids "uncle" Nik flew from Denver to Ft. Lauderdale for a conference and we were able to meet him there. We stayed in a hotel with beach access and three pools. It had a one bedroom suite with a jetted tub and a kitchen. The kids spent half the day at the beach and half in the pool. One of the pools had a tiki bar, perfect for celebration Cinco de Mayo!

Our room faced the river. It was a great view of many yachts and large boats in the water. The immediate area had gorgeous mansions overlooking the river or the ocean. Gabriel was fascinted by the dead creatures he found. He was positive that if he threw the puffer fish and cucumber back in the ocean, they would come back to life. I was thankful he thought of that because I was concerned we would come home with rotting fish. We had a few "autistic" moments as we call them. The kids had free snowcones in the afternoon. Later, Gabriel wanted another one and ran back to the hotel lobby. He screamed, "I want a snowcone." When no one paid attention to him and he didn't believe me, he yelled even louder. It was amusing to watch a front desk employee scramble for words. She then said, "I can't make a snowcone. But, here, have a maraca and Happy Cinco de Mayo." We still have the maraca. The boys jumped in the jetted tub in the bedroom. They were laughing and having a good time. We noticed all too late that they were laughing because the water was FLOWING onto the floor. It took quite a while and many towels to soak up the majority of the water. Thankfully we had a washer and dryer in our unit to dry the towels and reapply to the watery mess. Alexander swam the length of the pool several times. He was very proud of himself. Gabriel made friends with two girls and they played for a long time.

Lately, Lane and Gabriel have not been getting along. They annoy each other. I'm not worried that it's a long term issue. I think it happens to anyone you live with and siblings are no exception to that rule. After their fun day at the beach, it was really nice to see the two of them enjoy a movie together. All in all, it was a great weekend away for us. We need to have another simple weekend like this again.