Travelling with the Toppall's: Wrap-up

I feel like I've only focused on the few bad things that occurred (me with no bed and Sam getting everyone sick), I guess that is because the great times were so plentiful and it is even hard to summarize how wonderful our trip was.

On Monday, 11/22, my sister Lori, her husband Ben, Jeff and I went kayaking in the morning.  It was a really cool adventure and getting to kayak right near a dolphin coming up out of the water was awesome and a visual that will be with me for a long time.  Meanwhile, Dad & Rita took Ian & Sam to the zoo and they had a spectacular time. 

All of our dinners were prepared by Ben.  Lori and Ben came up with a fabulous kid-friendly, gluten-free-friendly menu for the whole week.  Ben is an amazing cook and I can totally see why my sister is in love with him.  We love Ben!  In addition, Ben took on making our Thanksgiving dinner and I loved every bite.  He completely outdid himself.  Lori and Ben pretty much moved their whole kitchen into one of the condos and went to town making a gourmet Thanksgiving meal worthy for Royalty.  Yum-O!

We had visitors too during our time in FL.  My friend Amanda (I've known since I was 5), has a little girl named Samantha too (3 months younger than my Sam) and we were able to see her on two different occasions.  This was a treat that I don't usually get.

My mom and Jim made the drive to Cocoa Beach on two occasions (Tuesday and again for Thanksgiving) and it was wonderful getting to spend time with them.

On Friday, after checking out of the resort, we met up with good friends of ours from Gaithersburg, MD.  They had just flown in and were taking a Disney cruise the next day.  We spent a few hours at Downtown Disney and the kids had a fun time hanging out at T-Rex Cafe for lunch.

Getting to celebrate Hanukkah with my family is something that rarely occurs.  Since Hanukkah came so early this year, we were able to do a family celebration the night before the holiday officially started.  It is definitely more fun opening presents in front of everyone rather than hearing about it over the phone.

SOME OBSERVATIONS:


Ian and Nana dancing to the music waiting for lunch.

 *No matter how much time it has been since my dad and stepmom has seen the kids in person, they can pick up like no time has been lost.  It was really wonderful to see Ian and Sam instantly latch on to their Nana and Papa.  Of course, this makes me want to live closer to them year-round.  I can only imagine how close they'd be if we saw them regularly.

*It is never too early in the day to start drinking fruity alcoholic drinks when you are staying at an all-inclusive and not responsible for watching kids.

*We stayed at nice hotel in Cancun. I was really impressed with the housekeeping staff each morning combing the beach and removing any seaweed that washed upon the sand overnight.

*Sam never seemed to fully grasp my sister's name (Aunt Lori) and resorted to calling her either "Mom" or "Uncle Ben".  When Sam stayed with my sister and Ben for the weekend, and she was calling Lori "Mom", Sam then referred to me as "Real Mom".

*A wii and cable tv is not necessary to entertain the kids and show them a good time.  When the kids stayed with my mom and Jim for a few days, they didn't even miss it.  Good old fashioned parenting was in prime action.

My final thoughts -- it was a wonderful trip and I thank my Dad and Rita very much for bringing us all together.  I love my family and treasure all the time I get to spend with them, even if it is from the sofa bed.  :)  And you know Ian had a good time when we are boarding the plane to come home and he said to me, "Can we do this again next year?"