Weekend Fun with Stephanie

This was the view from our hotel room. We were on the 10th floor & what you're looking at is down town Miami. So beautiful!

 Doug had another conference here at the hotel so he brought the boys to be with me & Steph. We had some breakfast & then got ready for our day of relaxation & play by the pool. Oh, and what a pool it was. By far the biggest hotel swimming pool I have ever seen let alone swam in. Haha!

( This was only one side of the pool too.)

 We felt very posh being handed towels & having our lounge chairs covered & set up for us by the pool boys. :) We said over & over as the day went on that we felt like celebrity's & how easy it would be to get use to this. Haha!

 Soakin up the sun selfie! Steph was in heaven bathing in the sunshine & relaxing all cool by pool. Haha. We joked about the Will Smith song, "Welcome to Miami". She kept saying to me that she just couldn't believe we lived here. That this was home for us. I had to remind her that 'this' wasn't home. That 'this' was still quite the treat for me just as it was for her. But yes, we do live in a beautiful place where the sun shines year round & we do get to enjoy life by the pool & beach as often as we'd like. I just wish the Evans' lived here with us!

 Another nice thing the pool boys did was walk around offering us refreshing cups of lemon water. A perfect way to cool down. There was also a cute little gelato stand that we couldn't resist trying. 

Steph decided to wade around in the pool & I told her to go enjoy herself & that lil miss Olive would be just fine with her Aunt Rachel. And she was. She fell right to sleep on my chest which I guess she never does. It made me feel to good to know this sweet lil thing in comfy with me & knows she's safe.

 As Olive slept for quite a long time I realized that Steph took me seriously because she was gone for quite a while. Haha! I told Doug to go see if she was still swimming & he came back reporting, "Well....she's not really swimming, but more just floating there." Because I was holding a sleeping baby I made him take the camera to snap a shot of her so I could see. How awesome is this? She was THE only person in that ginormous pool just floating around. You almost can't even see her there.

It made me happy that she was so relaxed & so enjoying herself. Being a mom to a brand new baby no matter how many you've had is not easy. She needed this vacation very much!

We stayed down by the pool while Doug took the boys up to the room to attempt nap time. It didn't go so well which included the usual Shaw boy barfing episode. Yuck! Why do they have such horrible gag reflexes?! I felt really bad because Doug was dealing with that & I was in heaven pooside. He really is such an amazing dad & husband. Doug sent me this picture of Liam finally crashed out on the bed. And yes, that's a breadstick next to him. Haha!

 The hotel was good for two nights so Doug stayed the second night with the boys while Steph & I went back home. We had a fun Girls Night Out with my friends to get ready for.

 Dinner at Chili's with Dad is the best!

And then a little relaxing & some dancin in the hotel room before bed.

 These two crack me up! It made me happy to see that their night turned into a fun one with Dad regardless of the rough start in the afternoon. 

{Birthday Girls Night Out - PF Changs}

Laura was really sweet & planned a fun girls night out with some of my close girlfriends. We went to dinner at PF Changs. YUM! Seriously one of my absolute favorites. We ordered family style so it was great being able to taste some of everything.

 

 Me & Laura

 The girls. It was so fun having Steph here to meet the girls that she hears me mention in conversation & hang out with them.

After dinner we went back to Laura's house for some birthday dessert & to chit chat the night away.

 Rozannah made the most delicious chocolate cake. Mmmm so rich & yummy! I had a great night with my friends & am so grateful to have them in my life. And a huge thanks to my sissy Laura for making my evening such a special one. This 30 year old lady sure feels loved!

{Everglades - Airboat Ride}

Sunday we decided to play hooky from church & go enjoy the great outdoors. We went to Sawgrass Recreation for an Air Boat tour of the everglades.

We weren't sure how well Olive would do, but we gave it a go anyhow. The lame guide wouldn't let us push off the dock until she was wearing a life jacket. We didn't get a picture, but it's not hard to imagine a 2 month old trying to wear an awkwardly huge life vest the correct way. Dang state laws! She hated it & screamed, but you couldn't hear her at all because the air boats are so loud. Steph just nursed her & she calmed down. :) Oh the wonderful comfort a mothers bosom can bring. Haha!

The last few times we have gone to this park we haven't seen any alligators. :( So I was crossing my fingers that we would see some today since we had a visitor from far far away. Well sure enough we did. In fact, we saw three alligators. We got so close to them that they were touching the side of the boat. As I was taking pictures, I got a little squirmy as my nerves were rising. But I got some good shots!

After the boat ride we went to the little animal zoo to check out some of the other gators. Gavin & Steph held a baby gator.

That night Gavin asked Steph to read him his bedtime stories. It sure was sweet to see his mom #2 reading to him & loving him like one of her own. They had a lot of fun together while she was here.

(I think he may be reading to her in this picture though.)

{Dania Beach}

Monday morning we dropped Gavin off to school & then headed for Dania Beach. It seemed like the perfect beach day because the sun was shining & it was warm. But once we got there it sure was windy. And it got progressively worse over the next couple hours. We still had a great time relaxing & taking in the beauty of the ocean. Steph even attempted to boogie board, but she got thrown around quite a bit. In fact when she was coming out of the water the life guard told her she was missing two things, a leash on the board & flippers. He said it's too dangerous out there to not have those. Ahh, so she figured. Haha!

Liam had a blast playing in the sand & digging holes. He loves to build castles & crush them like Wreck It Ralph. Olive spent the majority of the time in her carseat sleeping.

{Water Taxi & Rocco's Tacos} 

That evening Laura babysat the boys so that we could go on a Water Taxi Tour around the inter coastal. We have done the big tour boat before, but taking the water taxi was much more fun. And after 5pm it's only $13 for the evening. We had a great time oooing & aaaahing over all the HUGE mansions & HUGE yachts.

This house was my favorite. They man who owns it built it for his daughter that loves Harry Potter.

And this tower is the hot tub of another mansion. The hot tub is on the second level. This guy who if I remember correctly is the WasteManagement guy, owns the 6-8 properties along this home. One home alone is just the theater house. Cra cra!

Doug was in heaven spending time with lil miss Olive!

 Just some of the yachts tied up next to their mansions. Can you even imagine what it would be like to own of these?!?! I can't even imagine being on board one of them. Haha!

 

It was the perfect time to go as the huge boat show had just ended, but all the boats were still there lined up from the big production.

Our tour guide was telling us that one fellow came in from another country & purchased like four $40 million yachts. What?!

We had to get off at one of the stops to wait for it to come back because it would've been miserable to stay on with the wind? Anyhow, we went inside one of the hotels & got some hot chocolate & warm complimentary cookies. Woot woot! The ride back was really pretty with all the lights on the boats & homes. We were starving by the time we got back to the car so since we were near Las Olas Blvd we decided to eat at Rocco's Tacos.

Talk about nifty! This is made out of a nail gun. Doug thought it was pretty cool.

My favorite thing about Rocco's is the homemade guacamole that they prepare at your table to your liking.

YUM! I could have eaten this for my entire meal. :)

{Shopping & Dining}

Tuesday was our last day together & Steph wanted to do some shopping. So I got a babysitter for the boys as shopping would have been zero fun if they were there, and it was an official Girls Day Out. We went the Sawgrass Mills Mall & hit up Forever 21, Jack and Janie, Victoria Secret & shopped our hearts out. Until it was time for lunch that is.

(Me & miss Olive chillin while Steph tries things on)

Love her! Oh I had so much fun shopping around looking at all the girlie things. She is just a doll.

We went to the Grand Luxe because Steph & I both share a love for the Caramel Chicken entree & they have discontinued it at Cheesecake Factory. Boo! 

  

We were both so excited about having this for lunch. We are such dorks!

 It really was the best morning spending good time shopping with my BFF!

We picked up the boys in time to get them home for naps & quiet time. Olive took a long nap too which gave me & Steph to have some good quality chat time on the couch. Sitting there chatting away about anything & everything was more than I could ask for. We did lots of fun things while she was here, but it's moments like that that I cherish the most. 

After naps & before heading to the airport we had one more stop to make. You can't come to Fort Lauderdale & not go to Jaxon's Ice Cream Parlor. Thankfully it's right by the airport so it was the perfect way to end a 'sweet, sweet' trip! :)

Gavin of course had to have his turn getting his picture taken in the big sink. :)

 

We shared a brownie goblet because as you can see, it is HUGE!!!

 

Steph & Gavin pulling silly faces. "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!".

 Yep, it's bigger than Liam's face. Haha! But oh so delightful.

We tried to keep the conversation going so there wasn't any time to sit & think about the fact that she was leaving. I had to hold it together. And I did. But once we got her & Olive off on their way back home, I let it all out in the car. The poor boys were very concerned about their mama. Haha! Having Steph come for my birthday was beyond words. I cannot fully describe all that my mind was thinking or that my heart was feeling. Pure bliss.We had the best time & I am so grateful she came to hang with her dear ol bestie!