I should have written this last night when I was feeling more inspired... but I was so tired I just couldn't. It has been an interesting few weeks. After the Christmas season came to a close, we focussed on getting back to school and enjoying our winter before we headed off on our annual vacation to Florida. I look forward to this vacation the most and every year, once we get back home, I begin looking forward to next year's trip. We have made the most precious memories on our Florida trips... Alex rolled over for the first time, Jean took her first steps, Grace came up with some funny little sayings, and they all learned to swim in the warm waters of Florida pools. There are so many memories.
This year, well, it was certainly a different kind of vacation. The day before we left I felt terrible. I was coming down with a really bad cold and stayed bundled up on the couch the whole day. Thankfully I had used the week before to pack so I really didn't have much to do and I knew I couldn't do anything anyways. We left the next day and I felt even worse but tried my best to tell myself it would go away. Boy was I wrong. I ended up going to the Emergency Department in Port Charlotte, Fla. the morning after we arrived. Thankfully my parents-in-law took me and it didn't take very long to be diagnosed with strep throat. All I needed was some medication and I was on my way. Feeling much better by the next day, we headed off to St. Pete Beach to stay for 5 days at a little resort we discovered a few years ago. We had a wonderful time enjoying the weather and having fun with our good friends and their baby twins. I feel so thankful we had that time together because our vacation was going to take a turn for the worse.
My thoughts and feeling on what happened next might take me a few posts on my blog. I feel changed from the whole experience - it shook us to the core.
We returned from our paradise vacation at St. Pete's hoping to continue enjoying ourselves at Ian's parent's home in Port Charlotte. We absolutely love it there and hope to someday own our own home in Maple Leaf Estates where many Canadians own their winter homes. It was a very warm day when we got there so we quickly headed to the pool. When we returned to the house, we got a phone call that Ian's cousin, Andrew, in Squamish, B.C., had an accident and was flown to a Vancouver hospital. We were upset but our thoughts stayed positive. The next phone call was devastating - Andrew had died from his injuries. We were all upset and the poor kids didn't understand what was going on. The next few days were filled with more phone calls, booking flights, making arrangements... we tried our best to allow the kids to enjoy their last few days in Florida but it was difficult. Ian's parents left on the Monday for Vancouver. We flew out on the Wednesday for home and had booked flights from Ottawa to Vancouver for the following day.
Thankfully we had a great first week in Florida - the weather was the best we've had in our 6 years travelling there. We thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful pools at the resort, enjoyed the beach, enjoyed our company of good friends and little babies and most of all, enjoyed Grace, Alex and Jean. I will always treasure that week and feel happy we made the most of it.
When can I start planning next year's trip?
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