Florida Fun

We just returned from visiting Bill's Grandmother Hughes (and lots of other Hughes) in Pompano Beach, FL (just north of Fort Lauderdale) for the past 10 days. This has become an annual tradition which we thoroughly enjoy. This year had a few surprises, however:

1- We are now familiar with the Broward General Hospital Emergency Room, where we spent the better part of New Year's Eve with Tori. She came down with the croup, which I find highly ironic because I've always heard "cool night air" to be the quick fix for croup. Florida doesn't have cool night air.* It's hot and humid. So, she didn't find much relief when we walked around the island in the middle of the night and it was 76 degrees. Thankfully, the doctors were super friendly and helpful-- She got a dose of steriods and rebounded quickly. Throughout the whole ordeal, she never stopped smiling... The doctor even said "that's the happiest croup baby I've ever seen."

Tori in her hospital crib, playing with the monitor attached to her toe
(and no, I didn't take a camera to the hospital-- it's from my cell phone. Pretty impressive for a cell phone camera, eh?)

2- As referenced by the asterisk above, the weather was a little strange this year. The cold front that blew through the entire country around the first of the year hit Florida as well. One morning we woke up to find the temperature on the front porch was 37 degrees. (and of course this happened 2 days after the croup, so we couldn't even make good use of the cold air!) Thankfully, I subscribe to the "better safe than sorry" mode of packing and threw in a couple of long-sleeved shirts for each of us-- they got a lot of wear. And all our cute little summer outfits that usually are the mainstay of our Florida trips never made it out of the suitcase.

Jack, Amalia, and Lexy playing outside in the cold....
(notice Lexy in her lightweight jacket while the other two don heavy coats)

3- GPa joined us in FL this year! (This one wasn't so much of a surprise, but a change from previous visits) The girls so enjoyed having GPa around, and I sure enjoyed the extra set of hands always willing to help with the girls. In fact, Tori and GPa were bunk buddies!!! For some reason, she slept best in his bed in his room. And he gladly let her join him, which meant GREAT sleep for me! :) Thanks GPa!

A nice breezy day at the beach

We had a great time celebrating birthdays, too... Uncle Critt turned the big 6-0 this year and had lots of fun in doing so.... (or maybe we had fun at his expense???)

60 pink flamingos were planted in his front lawn on his birthday morning....

And the "Hairy Fairy" came to serenade him at his birthday party that night!

A great time was had by all, but it is sure nice to be back in our own beds!
If you're interested in seeing more pictures of our trip,
click here.