Mon Tues Wed in Miami

So since Jeff needed to attend the industry summit and interact indoors with clients from 7 am till 10 pm Mon through Wed, Douwe and I had the job of making the most of the Fontainebleau resort amenities. Tough stuff. Although Douwe asked each morning if we could stay in the room all day and watch Cat in the Hat or something, once he got out to the pool or beach, he had a blast. We spent most time at the kid's pool, and enjoyed the luxury of poolside food and drink service,
some time at the beach,
one morning at Miami children's museum and rest times for craft/nap/tv in the room.

Douwe also enjoyed meandering through the many passageways leading from pool to pool, and connecting the four towers. He made sure to hit as many elevator buttons as strangers would allow him to and always stopped at the interactive "where am I" resort map screen that would switch views if he touched the section. I think a good vacation for him would be just to visit a local hotel and walk around exploring for a few hours. He's more interested in sliding doors and hallways and elevators and resting spots than sunny Florida weather. We had a good time tagging along with Jeff for this part of the trip, and I thoroughly enjoyed the privilege of warm weather and break from cooking and other routine household chores. It was nice for us that the wedding and conference were on such close dates and locations to each other, the whole trip was a welcome break from our chilly March in Chicago.

75

Spent most of the sunshine hours today on Interstate 75, to get from Clearwater area to Miami Beach. Dropped off our car at the airport and then a very slow taxi ride to the beach. LIttle did we know that the area was swarming with Ultra Music Festival goers and they were partying hard whereever they could on this hot weekend afternoon.

When we checked into the hotel, Jeff and Douwe headed straight for the pool while I unpacked. Then I made my way down to the pool area and my first impression was: we are out of our element! There was a bouncer at the door from the lobby hallway to the pool, telling people to cover their bodies up when they came in, and then when I got outside the first pool area I saw was packed with model-type people dancing and shaking it to very loud music. I had stumbled upon the 21-and-over Wet Kitty Pool Party at Arkadia Pool and Lounge and I just stood there with my mouth open for a while, wondering how me and Douwe were going to do at this resort for the next three days. There were security people about every 10 feet and the women all had dark tans and skinny legs and big chests and waist length hair. The pool was probably half vodka and it was only 4 pm.

I eventually wound my way through the poolscape and found the kids pool that was tucked away behind one of the hotel towers, in the shade and very far away from the dance party. Much quieter and the women looked more normal shaped as I am used to seeing them in everyday life.

The whole pool area was huge and separated by different pools and cabana rooms and levels and it was pretty amazing to explore around. I guess it was all redone a couple years ago. . .it was very luxurious looking.

Coming through the lobby for dinner, we saw a huge line of people all dressed up waiting in line for something, and Jeff found out that was the entrance to a popular nightclub called LIV and supposedly 50 Cent was in the house. So, basically, I did not do my research before arriving at this FontaineBleau place. I forgot to pack my "socialite" clothes and size 0 figure.

But this is still the weekend, so I'm sure the next couple of days will have a very different feel around her.

Wedding on Honeymoon

So this is a first for us, going to a destination wedding with a beachfront ceremony. . The wedding was planned for the evening, so we spent the morning exploring the Clearwater area and playing at the playground of Sand Key county park, and the afternoon swimming with cousins at the pool. I also snuck away to take my turn on a bike, trying out the Pinellas rail/trail system a bit and exploring some residential streets in Dunedin. Douwe was in the pool for several hours, . . he is looking to be much more comfortable with water this pool season, eager to swim on his own with the vest and "muscles." He got to know the other kids, Chloe and Alex and Lily, much better this afternoon while they played in the pool.

My favorite part about the wedding ceremony was a young boy playing all the music: classical guitar.
I wish I had asked him how old he was, he was very talented for his age.

Douwe was coming out of a short nap, and he did not enjoy being in the full sun at that point, but his hat helped him get through it. The island was a very beautiful place to have a wedding ceremony, and the sun and breeze and waves were doing what you would want them to for a wedding, shining, and breezing and lightly crashing.

We had a delicious Caribbean-style dinner back at the pool deck, and my favorite part about the catering set up was the pineapple palm trees with the strawberry and cheese appetizers. The kids were delighted to find out that somebody said "go ahead and swim", so they spent most of the reception time having a blast in the pool while we pigged out on crab cakes and shrimp-on-sugar-cane-skewers and Jerk chicken. Yum. Sunset was gorgeous again. A beautiful setting and perfect weather, we enjoyed this weekend so very much.

Gulfside beaches

On Friday, after an breakfast visit to the Farmer's Market and a playground in downtown Dunedin, we took an excursion to Honeymoon Island State Park to catch a ferry boat ride for a few hours at Caladesi Island State Park beach. The ferry ride was barely begun when we were greeted by dolphins, and we saw lots of birds fishing under the trees. The weather was perfect for some playing in the sand.



In the evening, we were invited for dinner up to the Lanting's pad, and enjoyed the sunset from the balcony and some great key lime pie and gelato for dessert. We were able to meet my cousin Bryant's family for the first time, and meet the groom, Eric, and see Liz and Chloe for the first time in several years. We did not see our Colorado cousins very often when we were young, unless it was a large family gathering, so it was nice to spend this time with just Bill and Jan's family.

Florida west to east

Just returned from a six day vacation to Florida and it was perfect. We spent three days in the Clearwater Beach area for a cousin's wedding, and then spent three days in Miami Beach for Jeff's Symphony IRI summit.

Douwe is at the age when he loves experiencing various forms of transportation so traveling is a fun experience for him. We started in a taxi cab, then some moving walkways and escalators in the airport,
then the airplane, then an airport shuttle train, and then a "new car" (rental). We arrived in Dunedin Florida in early afternoon with enough time to do a little swimming before dinner in downtown Dunedin.
We found our relatives within a couple hours of check-in to our little studio room, and got a tour of the penthouse where they were staying, all of us at the Beso Del Sol resort. Very impressive. After dinner Douwe enjoyed his chocolate cone and everyone walking past on the sidewalk enjoyed the sight of him with a chocolate beard.

March wedding

My cousin Maggie married Aaron this weekend and it was a beautiful event. . I loved her purple colors in the dresses and flowers and stationery and decorations. It was fun to be in Michigan and see many members of her mom's family who I haven't seen for a long while. . Unfortunately my camera never made it out of my bag until just before we were leaving. .

Year of Family celebrations

This year will include several Lanting gatherings as four of the first cousins are getting married this year, one of which is my sister Abby! But before all of those weddings, we all gathered in late February to celebrate Grandma Lanting's life and look back over her nine decades through stories and photos. All of my dad's siblings were there and many of Grandma's grand children and great grand children. It was a very nice celebration.


These are Grandma's 10 children, along with some of her sons and daughters-in-law.


Many of first cousins, with some spouses, special friends and children


Great grand children