The Story of Suzanne & Frank: August 2012

Nicholas, Frank and I spent a week Hollywood Beach, Florida with a large contingency of the Smith clan - Nonnie, Auntie Colleen and Cousin Natalia. Overall the trip was great - lots of family time and fun in the sun. But parts of the week were a bit like a National Lampoon Vacation:

Nicholas started the week with a virus and ear infection, a full night of screaming/crying and a trip to the ER,
we all got sunburned the first day (except the kiddos),
Natalia had a mid-week fever and vomiting (but she stayed on the beach, little slugger!),
it was 105 degrees each day with sand hot as coals,
there was a leaky roof and window in the condo,
we rented a surrey style bike that broke halfway down the esplanade,
we missed a boat cruise by 3 minutes,
and of course all drove each other a little nuts.

But that's a family vacation, no? :-) Since Nicholas is the star of this show, I'll focus on his perspective: he was super happy to spend a week with both his parents, his Nonnie, his Auntie Coll-Coll and especially Natalia. It was his first time at the beach and he loved the waves - they were mesmerizing! He splashed about in the pool and lounged in the awesome inflatable toddler float that Nonnie brought for him. He didn't even seem to mind the sand, but was a bit concerned that it was sticking to his feet (several "uh-oh"s were uttered). And he seemed to enjoy our evening strolls along the boardwalk - he even got into the groove and did some stroller dancing whenever we passed live music. That's our happy little guy!

Here are some highlights of the trip!