Well, I think you read it wrong.
I'm not happy that they're gone. They're gone AND I'm happy. Two different topics. Hehe.
Saying goodbye on Tuesday was probably the most emotional thing I've experienced in awhile. These goodbyes seriously never get easier. They just don't! But....
We had the time of our lives while they were here. So many memories were made and I got to bond with my nephew and get even closer to my sister. That is something to truly be happy about!!! So....instead of another sad, emotional post, this will be a post celebrating what we were able to do together and the fun that we had!!!
Saturday:
I picked them up from the airport and took a wrong turn off of the highway and ended up on the bridge on my way to St. Pete. Lol. I still have no idea how I did that. This could have been a huge annoyance; but I planned ahead and brought both of them food and we got to see an awesome sunset over the water on our way back to Tampa!!!
Sunday:
The weather was more perfect than I could have ever asked for. Seriously, the best day that we've had since March, I'm sure! We decided to go down to the Hyde Park market. We had so much fun!! We got an awesome Belgian Waffle...oh my gosh, sooo good! The lady that makes them is from Belgium and they are scrumptious. We decided to go over to the fountain and eat our waffle. I got to have some really special moments with Orlando there. He is in love with the "Ring around the Rosey" game and we played it together while we were sitting in the shade. Soooo much fun!!!
I got a Groupon to go check out the Sunken Gardens in St. Pete and we decided to go check it out. It was seriously so beautiful! Talking birds, awesome trees from around the world, ponds full of carp that we fed. It is such a relaxing place. I definitely look forward to going back again in the future. Even Orlando loved it. He thought the talking parrot in the entrance was the best thing ever. And he enjoyed feeding the fish as well.
After the Sunken Gardens I took my sister to experience one of my favorite little restaurants over here that Boise doesn't have: Panera Bread! She loved it and so did little man! Once we were filled up we headed over to Clearwater to check out Winter the dolphin. The Clearwater Marine Aquarium is so neat. It's an animal hospital first and a aquarium second. And it's free for military and up to 10 visitors. Orlando started testing his limits with me here and I had to start learning how to use my "mommy voice". Lol. Well, what resulted was him falling and getting a huge bump on his noggin that looked like a horn for the following few days. Lol. But we still had a super awesome time!!
Tuesday was a fun day. We decided to go check out this new park that just opened near downtown Tampa. It's a free little playground splash-pad that's only been open for a couple of months. Orlando had a blast. And who am I kidding, Chelsea and I did too!! Lando made a new mini-friend and got to chase a dog around. We also made a stop by my work so that I could show them my new office and let them meet a couple of my co-workers. We had a lot of fun this day. The weather was starting to heat up a little bit, but it was still nice outside.
Wednesday was our beach day. Even thought it's a little out of the way, my favorite place to beach is down in Sarasota. The beaches are just absolutely gorgeous and the water is clear! Usually I go to Lido Key, but this time we decided to go check out Siesta Key: America's #1 Beach! The day was absolutely perfect and there was actually WAVES! That NEVER happens at beaches here. Lol. However, what we did discover was that the waves were bringing in the jellyfish. HUNDREDS of them!! We couldn't even get in the water there were so many. But the day was so perfect and we still had an awesome time. It was actually pretty neat to see jellyfish up close. And we did find out that the tops don't sting you- just like Dory discovered in Finding Nemo.
Thursday:
Thursday was zoo day. We actually have a pretty good zoo here in Tampa and they give a good discount with military ID. Orlando loves the zoo, so we decided to check it out. The weather was definitely warming up on Thursday and we felt it out there at the zoo. Lando was on another level that day and was constantly getting disciplined. He finally fell asleep in his stroller and we decided to cool off a bit by walking through the little water fountains in the petting zoo area. We had a really nice time walking around and we did end up waking him up so that we could take him on the train ride through the park to see some of the African animals. He loved it. After the zoo we went to check out the notorious "Taco Bus" in East Tampa. This taco bus is soooo awesome! They even have a full vegetarian menu to choose from. It definitely lived up to the hype. So glad that I finally tried it out after hearing so much about it. We finished up the day walking around the mall and letting Lando play in the kiddie area. This was one of the most fun days we had!!
Orlando seriously had so much fun on this train ride. He is obsessed with trains, so to be able to put him on his own train ride to see the animals was fun.
This little kiddie area in the mall is really neat! The only problem is that the parents don't really monitor the kids that play in there and they let big kids run around with little kids. We weren't really too thrilled with that part of it. But Orlando had fun. That's what matters, right?
The Taco Bus....seriously amazing! No wonder it gets raved about. And I just found out that there is one on my side of town. Woo hoo!!
Friday:
Friday was actually meant to be another beach day. We decided to go to the beach on base. Well, we quickly realized that this isn't really a beach to get in the water in. Lol. The water was murky and muddy and just really not that pleasant. But we still had fun. Orlando chased some birds and had fun in the sun. We went and saw Craig at work and then made a Target/Whole Foods run for food for lunch at church the next day.
Lando having fun chasing the birds. I'm sure they hated it, but he was giggling his face off!!
Sister love!! I had such a great time with this lady!! I can't even explain...
Saturday:
I actually forgot to take any pictures this day. We spent the morning at church and then we had a fun fellowship lunch at one of my friend's houses. Great food and great fun!! The late afternoon was spent napping, which felt wonderful after such a busy week. Thank God for the Sabbath and the rest that we're able to get that we miss out on a lot during the week. One relaxing day was much needed!!
Sunday:
Sunday was pool day with friends from church. They live in this awesome subdivision with a beautiful pool and invited us to spend the day out there with them. It was another beautiful day. Orlando had a great time in the kiddie area. Until he slipped and fell and bumped his head. Then he was kinda done. Lol. Craig treated us to dinner at one of our favorite places: Sweet Tomatoes. Chelsea fell in love with it last time she was here and was asking about it as soon as she arrived for this visit, so I knew that we had to go eventually. Orlando was being so hilarious at dinner that night. He is seriously such a goofball. It was definitely another relaxing day full of love and laughs!!
Monday:
We knew this was our last full day together and we wanted to make it a good one! I think both of our hearts were heavy all day because we knew the next day would be goodbye, but we were trying not to think about it. We decided to spend another day down in Sarasota at the beach. There is no beach in Idaho, so Chelsea wanted to make sure that she got another trip down before she left. Plus, we wanted to go again with no jellyfish ruining our stay. I did some Google searches on jellyfish and found that the influx of them we'd experienced on Wednesday were gone and that we should have clear waters!! We could not have asked for a better day. It was the perfect temperature, perfect amount of wind, and just enough overcast. The water was great as well! We did spot a few jellyfish, but only a handful. Not enough to keep us out of the water. Chelsea had fun collecting shells for some projects that she has in mind and Lando had a great time digging up sand and filling his bucket. This was a wonderful way to end a great trip!!! Craig was sweet enough to treat us to Chinese for dinner when we got home as well. Once we got home and the packing started, my heart was truly hurting. I knew the next day was going to be so difficult. It's weird because Orlando must have known that he needed to get those last special moments in because he was having so much fun with spending little moments with me. We giggled together and played together and just had a blast!!! He even had some fun moments with Uncle Craig. But the night had to eventually end and I gave my sister a hug goodnight knowing that the next morning would be a difficult one. I cried myself to sleep....
Tuesday:
The morning started early because I had to go to work right after dropping them off at the airport (what was I thinking doing that!). I got ready and helped my sister load up the car. We let Orlando sleep as long as possible and then once he was ready got on our way. I wanted to do anything but drive to that airport. Visions of keeping them hostage were going through my mind (Hehe); but I knew that the trip was over and I had to send them off. Orlando missed his dad and life had to continue on as normal. I helped them get checked in and then saw them up to their gate. As soon as we walked up to it, I started crying. I had some last minute cuddles with Orlando and had to tear him away from myself to put him back in his stroller. Then it was time to hug my sis (I'm getting teary as I relive this moment). I didn't want to let her go. Ugh.... hurts my heart saying goodbye!! I waited for them to board the shuttle to take them to the gates and as soon as it departed, I turned to the elevator. I was bawling like a baby. My sister never looked back while they were waiting for the shuttle. I'm not even sure she knew that I stood there that whole time. But I just had to look at them as long as I could. My whole drive to work I kept wishing that I would've hugged both of them for just a few seconds longer. But seriously....any length of time wouldn't have been enough. I struggled through the day, randomly crying and trying to focus. Coming home that night was the hardest. Having to take the carseat out, put away his toys, put the bedding in the wash....so many memories were there and the tears were just flowing. I am so blessed to have people I love so much in my life! I thank God for love. Love is wonderful and love hurts when you have to say goodbye. But it's definitely more "see you later" than "goodbye"; it just doesn't feel like it in the moment.
