Tampa Bay

Splashed by the big brothers

Climbing on Charlie

Justin's signature "Cannonflop"

John's Grand Entrance

He got their attention!!!

Zane and "Yohn!!!" back together again

Doin' the Robot

Doin' the Twist

The Worm

Fancy Dancin' with Daddy

Done.

So the Florida driving adventure continues...

We drove from Jacksonville to Tampa Bay on Wednesday to spend some time with the Von Bergens at their new house. This was the only tough part of driving that we did since Justin had a bathroom emergency right as we entered Orlando. If you can imagine, it was tough to find an exit that did not wind me through the intricate maze of Disney owned parking lots and he was screaming in the back, "Mom!!! I gotta go NOW!" I did not have a bottle in the car (nor did I have one of Thom's U-R-IN Controls with me) and I could not find a place to pull over where he could find a tree. I started yelling, he started crying, and it was a disaster.

Luckily, we found him a bathroom and then we made up. I apologized for being a monster mom and asked him to please try to give me some advanced warning in the future. We put on a movie and the rest of the drive went fairly well ... until my navigation system let me down ... again. We did circles and roundabouts in downtown Tampa for a while and eventually I found a spot where I could pull over and consult the old fashioned paper map.

When we finally made it to Polly's house, all of the pain was forgotten immediately as she and the kids ran out to give us hugs. It felt so nice to see those familiar faces and know that time and distance had not changed a thing. Zachary hugged me tight and while I could not get my fill of Zane before he ran off, he did chat with me for a minute and show me how well he can talk now. Jasmine rolled in armadillo poop (only at Polly's house can such a thing happen) and the kids ran to explore the house. Fourteen seconds after our arrival, all four were floating in the pool, I had a glass of wine in my hand, I was enjoying sun (I forgot about that magical feeling) and chatting with Polly.

When the Dads arrived (both had to work - can you imagine that?), the kids were so happy to see them. Annalise gave Charlie a hug that I thought would choke him and she wasn't ready to let go very soon. John surprised them with a cannonball in the pool and his good buddy Zane jumped right on his shoulders to wrestle him to the ground. I think that's little boy speak for "I missed you so much!"

We spent the entire afternoon and evening in the pool, dancing in the kitchen, and having a good old time. Polly certainly knows how to throw a party and you just can't beat an evening spent reconnecting with good friends. There's not much more to say about it but I think the smiles in the pictures tell the story better than I can anyway.