Lessons Learned and Lotto Odds

Well, we are back from Miami! It was a wonderful visit with my folks at their beautiful home! I have to say; my Mom and Dad are two of the coolest most “Hip and With It” people that I know! They live in the coolest area, surrounded by great restaurants and architecture AND their building is so high tech, that Nick and I had to get fingerprinted in order to even gain access to their unit! We had to have our fingerprint scanned to even get in the elevator! Mom and Dad were very gracious and watched the kids so Nick and I could go grab dinner or lunch or jump on the metro to grab a coffee and stroll around. And it was great fun being able to bring the kids to the Seaquarium and the Beach and so much more. A HUGE “Thank You” to them! Here are some tidbits from the trip…..

 Kate is a fish. She LOVED swimming. She loved it so much that she would OD on swimming in the pool, and therefore unfortunately most swimming experiences ended with a meltdown – but then she would just go upstairs to the condo and nap like there was no tomorrow, exhausted by sun, water, wind and whining - so it worked out ok! ☺

 Liam is not so much a fish. He would love the water at first, but would get chilly pretty easily and would rather snuggle in a towel in the sunshine. He also was not a fan of the ocean waves (plus it was pretty chilly water), while Kate wanted to jump in the waves and was really brave!

 In a cruel twist of fate, the child who LOVES the water and sun must be slathered in SPF 4 Million lest she burn to a crisp while the child who would prefer to be in the cabana with a beverage seems to have Nick’s much more “tannable” skin. Go figure.

 Along similar sun matters, the sun gods convened and made the decision to add insult to injury when it comes to the sun and me. As you know, I am what they call “fair skinned”. Translation: practically translucent if not for my freckles. I have never been one who could get a really great tan – though I can get some subtle “color” if I take it slow and build it up in increments. As a teen this was the bane of my existence as my best friend could lay out in a neon bikini, slathered in baby oil and look like a California Dream Girl while I looked more like I had had all the blood drained out of my body and, had I dared to put baby oil on in the sun – would not be here to type this blog as I would have spontaneously combusted on the trifold plastic lawn chair in the backyard in 1992.

I DIGRESS. I was talking about how the sun gods decided to further punish me for reasons unknown. It seems that my RA drugs (that nasty methotrexate) CAN cause photosensitivity. Well, of COURSE in me it DOES cause it. It is not just that I burn more easily. I get blisters. Big ones. All over my body wherever sunlight has hit. And even without getting a sunburn. It actually is quite vampire-like, where I go in the sun and my skin cries out “noooooo!!!!” and blisters form.
(Ok so there is some slight artistic license there) Hence, while in Florida on our first vacation in who knows how long, I - who despite being pale really DO love the sunshine and take proper precautions so I can enjoy my time in the rays – looked like I had a disease. Well, a whole other one on top of the one that I actually already DO have! ☺ So on my arms, chest, face I have these unattractive, but at least flesh colored, bumps. OH WELL. They will go away. Though I will admit my vanity took hold and I seriously considered heading to the salon in Miami to go get a new haircut that included bangs just to cover my blistered forehead. I joke with Nick about how when we said “in sickness and in health” we did not expect me to be creaky and bumpy at age 31. Maybe in 50 years……

 In the world of “what are the odds????” - Guess who sat DIRECTLY in front of us on the trip back from Miami to Minneapolis? You guessed it, THE DEMON TODDLER!!!!! I guess that is what I get for blogging about it for the world to read. They sat in the row in front of us and the little man did not disappoint! He was in tip-top tantrum form, so Nick got to get a dose of it this time! Only THIS time his Mom was sitting with him and I slipped her a lollipop and the little guy was silent after that! C’mon, parents!!!! BRIBERY!!!! There are circumstances where it is perfectly acceptable – such as in crowded pressurized tubes for instance. Also at wedding ceremonies where your children are present and various other crowded events. I recommend NOT bribing to avoid tantrums in long Target and Grocery store lines because it acts as a signal to the managerial staff to please open more than one lane for every 20 shoppers and to perhaps staff them with people who know the difference between a cucumber and a zucchini so they can ring them in properly.

Once again – tangent.


 So finally, we left gorgeous, warm, blister inducing Miami to return – in the month of April - to Minneapolis where we landed in the middle of…..a snow shower. And today it is a balmy 26 degrees Fahrenheit, without the wind-chill. Awesome. My see-thru skin could not be happier. And my vanity thanks the opportunity to wear turtlenecks and hats to cover up my “sunkissed” blister body! ☺

Here are some pics….my posts may slow up here for a while. My Ever After Gowns event is the weekend of the 14th and I am SOOOOOO busy!!! I cannot wait to tell you all about it because it has grown so much and is going to be an amazing event!


Here are a couple of pics of the kids at the beach....there were major riptides that day so we opted out of going in the water and instead stopped by while we were in South Beach. The pic of Liam is him just hating the beach. :) Too cute!!!!!