The Trip

Carries' sun burned face. Sitting quietly waiting on the dolphin show.



















Waiting!

Watching the dolphins

Every morning we would go down to the lobby so Carrie could sit at the counter with the aquarium and watch the fish and other creatures swim.

Thursday was another day spent in the sun and the pool. Too much sun for Carrie. Her face is reddened and her scalp is sun burnt. She went to sleep in the car before she got back to the motel. We carried her upstairs and put her to bed; she slept for 3 hours, woke up and looked like a zombie. She was unable to focus and wouldn't talk to any of us. She vomited and I went on alert. After a while she laid back down and went back to sleep and slept till 8AM Friday morning. I was worried about her and kept a close vigil but she awoke bright and happy.

We went to The Aquarium before we headed home. It is a mini Sea World where dolphins are trained, sea lions are shown, giant turtles, sharks and a lot of other sea creatures are on display. Carrie enjoyed this new experience. She screamed and laughed when the dolphins would leap out of the water. She watched closely as they were cleaned, petted and fed.

The boys enjoyed this also. At least it was something we could do for a couple of hours or all day if we wished much unlike the go cart rides or the other short time / expensive activities offered there. Typical tourist town!

At one time when families went to the beach, that's exactly what they did. Today the kids don't want to stay on the beach. They have to be entertained with all the "tourist" trades there. I'm still amazed that we drove 6 hrs. and the next day the boys went to a water park while the ocean was in plain view! Ted wanted to rent a go cart, a wave rider, a para sailing experience and it was a constant "no" to him and at 16 he would stomp around and pout. He's 16! OMG, even Carrie behaves better. I've already told him we wouldn't do another beach trip. A beach trip was exactly what I expected it to be. Stay on the beach or at the pool.

I'm wondering today if he looked at this as a fun vacation. He gets angry but gets over it in 5 minutes. I couldn't let his behavior go unchecked and had to call him on it. He needs to learn to get his feelings under control and he also needs to learn to appreciate what is done for him.

Carrie was easier to deal with. She didn't argue or demand a thing. She was happy to be in the water with other children.

On the way home she sat quietly in her car seat and only spoke when she wanted something to drink or eat. She is very easy to be around; not demanding or whiny. I took her directly to her house. She missed her mommy and kept telling me she wanted to see her.

Me? I was so happy to be home and out of a motel room that was shared with two teen boys and a 3yr. old.

I have to say, the boys didn't complain about the food or the living arrangements and that was a good thing. Everything that was packed in the cooler was consumed. We actually only ate out two times the whole trip and they didn't complain.

School starts mid August. Peak season for vacations will be over and all the little kiddies will be back in school and that's when I like to take a vacation!