Oh...EVERYTHING.

The generic: That was the best vacation EVER!

The details, short version: Watching my babies press their excited little faces up against the airplane windows was awesome. They didn't move, and watching their faces as the plane took off and we sped down the runway....their big eyes when we left ground....one child calling out to another to see if they see the same thing they do...OH, oh God it was so good. I was so excited I almost cried for them.

We had a pit stop in Philly, and then off to FL.

They could smell FL when we got off the plane. OH MY GOD. Do you know how good warm delicious sunshine smells? It smells like the beach, the ocean, the sunshine, the all time best things ever created. LOVED IT.

Tradewinds Resort is a FANTASTIC family resort. Our room was on the 2nd floor and if you went out the front you faced 2 pools, the kids club, tennis courts. If you went out the back, you faced another 2 pools, sauna, hot tubs, beach with the huge slide and the glorious ocean. COME ON! Talk about being in the middle of paradise.

The white sandy beaches were just the best. The gulf of Mexico is the best. I actually feel close to that ocean, isn't that silly? How can one feel "close" to an ocean. It's my 3rd time seeing the Gulf of Mexico since having a miscarriage while in Mexico, and that ocean holds all of me. It took all of my rage and pain and anger and dispair and forgave me for raging at it.

We found shells, BEAUTIFUL shells. The kids also threw some sponges in that they found and HOLY CRAP do those badboys stink as they die. YUCK. I don't know if you've ever smelled a starfish that was dying, but it is the smell of dying, rotting fish and it's awful. We didn't bring the sponges home. :) Those stayed there.

The FOOD at the resort wasn't fantastic. Of course, they have 15 restaurants there and we ate at TWO of them- the one had the most fantastic plate of nachos ever, but everything else was so-so. the other- UGH! The bar food was INCREDIBLE but anything other than barfood fell very short of ...good. We ate out at Crabby Bill's one night, and that was yummy.

The kids club ROCKED, and they LOVED our babies!!!! Cullen always says that people say how awesome our kids are but it was so fun to hear it myself. The staff told other staff about them and how well behaved and fun they are. Sat night is movie night, where they bring out the big screen to the pool and people can hang in the pool and watch the movie. The featured movie was Dispicable Me. I'm not a movie girl, so I hung inside reading horrible teenage angst on my nook, but for a little while there, it was my four sweet babies and hot husband in the pool watching. Other people did come hang out after awhile. How FUN is that!

I'd totally go in January again- I really like it when it's slow and there's not a ton of kids or people around. It was perfect. The weather hoovered around 70. My sweeties have sun all over their faces, but it was never unbearable. OH...CJ and Josh did the bungee trampoline too. That was SO much fun to watch them bounce up into space. They were too scared to try doing flips or anything, but both wanted to go on it again and then would have felt safe enough. Cuties.

We also hit the Pier in St Petersburg. It's going to be torn down, so I'm glad we got to see it. It's not an overly big deal- it's a Pier, and at the end it has a big building that has some REALLY cute shops in it, an aquarium upstairs and food places. The coolest was all the pelicans that hung out there. They were everywhere. It sounded...amazing when one came and landed about 2 feet from us...a HUGE whooshing noise as it landed. I wanted to touch it. :D Cullen scared it away first though. They are awesome. The sea birds in general were cool. We saw geckos and hawks and cora..coraman...I can't think of anything cept salamanders but I'm talking about black duck/goose like birds that dive. Corama...darn. I'll think of it later. Maybe my birdnerd friend will save me here. :)
Anyways- it hurt to leave there today. I'm not over it yet. I don't know if I'll ever be over it. :)

My Shannon is on facebook now. YAY! Another way to stay in touch. What a cool world.
More later. SO much more still.