The Vacation of All Vacations - The End

We flew home, it was late, no one slept well, our hotel room was filthy, no one slept well again, we got up and drove home.

The Vacation of All Vacations - The Middle

Now that we had arrived on the island, all we could do is look back and laugh. As all tropical vacations do, the week flew by. There were 2 things that surprised everyone on this trip 1 - Grace was quite the swimmer at the kiddie wading pool and 2 - who knew Everett would be a fan of reggae music.

After everyone had eaten and rested, we made our way to the kiddie pool. It was Grace who shocked us all when she got down on her belly and started swimming around like she was some pro. Kicking her legs like she knew what she was doing.

Geared towards families and children, there was never a shortage of things to do or see. We went to the beach, played in the sand, went swimming almost every day, played on the water

slides,

and of course daddy had to take everyone. Not a hit, but maybe next time. Went to every restaurant and went to the various Sesame Street functions.

We met a few of the Sesame Street characters and Everett was enthralled by Elmo.

Avery picked up a few new words like 'cookie' and 'za' (pizza) and wouldn't go anywhere without her sunglasses.

Everett ate nothing but chicken nuggets and pizza for the entire week and seemed to enjoy himself as he danced in his seat to the reggae beat.

It only rained the 1 day but we managed to keep ourselves amused.

While we were there we also celebrated Auntie Shannns birthday, I think she turned 29 again. We had an adults only birthday dinner topped off with a surprise birthday cake and serenade by the restaurant staff.

Despite the fact that it was slightly more hectic than normal, it was well worth the effort to take this trip. And even though they are too young to even remember, we will and we can tell them just how much fun they had, and that's what makes life so much more memorable.

The Vacation of All Vacations - The Beginning

Where do I begin. Well as everyone may already know, we have just returned from our Beaches Turks & Caicos week-long vacation with the kids. The island was beautiful, the weather fantastic (well except for that 1 day of Tropical Storm Olga), the resort phenomenal. What more can I say. Except for well it almost didn't happen. As every Simpson vacation seems to go, there is always something that happens to make our vacation memorable. And there are couple this time.
First Jason was expected to join us on our vacation, and he did, but at the last minute. He scheduled a meeting on Friday (our departure day) and was unable to get out of it. Grandpa Howatt, myself and the kids left earlier in the day to avoid any unpleasant weather conditions and Jason was going to drive down after his meeting. Before we left he had arranged himself a seat on a chartered flight that left Sudbury around 5:00 pm. Because this was a stand-by situation there was a possibility that he would not get a seat. And then the call came. 'There's something wrong with the plane' he says 'their going to try to get another one, but if not I will have to drive down.' 'I'll call ya back' By the time 8:00 pm rolled around, I finally remembered Jason had still not arrived and decided to give him a call. Luckily he was on his way to the hotel from the airport. Crisis averted for now.
Since our flight was scheduled to depart @ 6:30 am, being Howatts, we all got up at 3:30 AM, to prepare for our flight. As we arrived anxiously at the airport at Terminal 1 for our United flight to Charolotte, NC we did not expect was about to happen next. After waiting in line for approximately 45 minutes, it was FINALLY our turn. As the UNITED representative studied our tickets he began to have a perplexed look on his face. As he nervously handed back the tickets to me, I was caught off guard with what he was about to tell me. 'Ma'am, you're at the wrong terminal. This flight is with US AIRWAYS, not UNITED. You have to go to Terminal 3 to catch this flight.'
As a ran my hand down my face and closed my eyes, I knew what that meant. Although I had never stepped foot in Terminal 3, I knew it was way far away.
'You'll have to take to MONORAIL to get over there.'
Mother**&^%$#@ I thought, as there were children present. 'Are we going to make this flight?'
As he furrowed his brow and sucked in his breath 'It's going to be tight.'
Son-of-a-*&$@!
So began our sprint to Terminal 3. By this time no one wanted to say anything to me. Probably afraid I might physically implode on the spot. When we made it to the US Airways counter it was 5:45 am. A glimmer of hope had begun to return. But then we hit the US customs and Immigration line. Mother*&$@!. By the time we made it out of that line it was 6:00 am. My glimmer was returning. Then we hit the Security line. Mother*&%$@!.
We were literally the last people to get on. But we had made it. Now that is a Christmas miracle.

Happy 60th Birthday Grandpa Howatt!!!

Over the weekend Auntie Shannon & I hosted a 60th birthday bash for Grandpa Howatt. We had arranged for a lovely gathering at Verdicchio's on Saturday night with family & friends. Including Auntie Marilyn from New Brunswick, The Howatts from B-town, Robert & Dawna and Auntie Shannon of course. The weekend started out with everyone waking up on Saturday morning with a lawn full of frogs. It turns out The Graham clan had arragned for a birthday wish for Grandpa that he was not expecting.

After the soiree, we headed back to Grandpa's for more fun-filled frivolity. As the drinks began to flow, more quickly for some than others, we received a video from Kelly that almost made everyone pee their pants, including myself.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time out of their busy schedules to help us celebrate one of the most important people in our lives.

I hope everyone had a wonderful time as I know we certainly did.