Bliss.....then getting back to Reality!

It's been REALLY hard to get going this week! Really hard!

Last weekend was WONDERFUL. It was much needed! Mama and I took Ashley to her Prep Op Regionals in Tampa, FL. We stayed in Treasure Island which is right next to St. Petersburg. The weather was amazing. It was not over-crowded. We had the best time! When we originally planned the trip, my big plans were that we would fly and David would keep Carsyn because there was NO WAY that she would ride 8 hours and I didn't have a CLUE how she would react to a plan. Okay, okay...I'm just not that brave yet! Anyway, a few weekends ago, we went to the state competition in Huntsville. That was my first night away from Carsyn. I knew then that there was a possibility that my plans would be changing. Actually, I was positive of it! I knew that I would be miserable during the whole trip if I didn't have her with me, so I decided I would be brave and we were going for it! To all of our surprise, she did great!!!! We had one little mad spell and a frosty from Wendy's solved that! I know that Ashley thought that we were the most boring people EVER because if Carsyn was asleep in the truck, we didn't talk...we wouldn't DARE take a chance at waking her up and facing the possibility of her throwing one of those horrible fits! I say all of that to say that I am SO glad that I took her! She was the hit of the show everywhere we went and she is always so much fun and, well, Ashley just loves her! She was so sweet and so good with her!

Ashley had a good meet...not her best. She had a little head cold and that never good for a gymnast
:( Throws off your balance so badly! We had no idea when she would compete when we made reservations, so we had to make them for the whole weekend to be sure. Fortunately, she ended up competing on Friday so we had all weekend to play!!! And play we did!

Saturday morning, we went down to play on the beach. A couple of things were different than the beaches that we were used to! Sea shells were everywhere! The sand was so much easier to walk on because of this AND we didn't even have to have any toys! Finding seashells served as great entertainment for Carsyn and Ashley. Also, it seemed like we had to walk a mile out to the water from the time we first hit the sand! It was forever away!

Carsyn LOVES the water! Really...I'm not just making myself think that because I want her to. She doesn't care if it is hot or cold, in her mouth or in her eyes...she just wants to be in it! She enjoyed the water at the beach and had a blast in the pool! One night we used the pool as a way of wearing her out so she would sleep good (she was a little out of her element all weekend and wasn't sleeping very good at night).

I have always wanted to go parasailing. David and I are both pretty adventurous, but I have never been able to talk him into going. He has this strange fear that when they are bringing you back in, your feet will hit the water and you will drown. Weird, I know. So, while we were on the beach, I said, "Hey, Ashley, have you ever been parasailing?" She said, "No, what's that?" I pointed to the boat out in the water and the yellow parachute in the air and explained that's what it was. "Oh...I didn't know people were in there" she said. Yes! She's clueless! Just what I needed :) She agreed and I was ecstatic!!! It didn't hit her until the next morning when we started out what she was doing! It was so awesome! It is so peaceful and serene once you get to the top! Quite amazing to look at God's creation from that viewpoint! Maybe now that I have been, I can convince David that we are not going to drown and he will go with me sometime.

After we parasailed, we looked around John's Pass Boardwalk and decided that after the not-so-good-experience that we had the night before at a "more fancy" resturant, we would be back that night to eat at one of the more casual resturants where we could eat outside :) John's Pass is a great way to spend an evening...or morning...or whole day! They have everything that you could imagine right there.

Talk about being kicked back and relaxed while eating!

The whole trip was just simple bliss. It was so refreshing. I mean, I got like 5 uninterrupted showers! No time limit! That was amazing! Getting back to reality this week has been pretty difficult. It's Friday and I might be almost back in gear. Still not unpacked but I'll get there. Sometime.

There's so much that I couldn't get in this post...I'll have to come back with little stories soon :)

Lauren