Beach Day

Alexis and mom woke up early. We didn't want to wake the rest of the crew, so we headed to the beach for a little mommy/daughter time. We walked in the waves, sat and talked on the chairs for a little bit and then ended up on the playground. It was such a peaceful morning with no one around, and it was so great to spend some one-on-one time.


When everyone woke, it was a little chilly for water, so we decided to head out for a brunch. We landed at Beverly's, which was a little local diner, which was fabulous. The kids even started chatting with some locals and told them they were Cubs fans.


We then headed back to the hotel and spent the rest of the day going between the beach, pool, and playground. The day before we had gone to the dollar store and bought all sorts of buckets and scoops, since we couldn't find cheap beach toys. The kids had a blast building sand castles and digging in the sand.


Mom took a quick break to run to the local CVS to pick up one of Alexis's medicine. We had called CVS before we left home, but they said it was too soon to refill the prescription, and we would need to find a CVS in Florida and transfer the script. So, I talked to the pharmacist. He told me that they did not carry that med and couldn't get it until Monday. So, I left, and called some CVS in the Orlando area, since that's where we would be by Monday. None of them carried it either, so I finally contacted the CVS near our place we were staying there. I talked to them, but when they tried to transfer it, they weren't able. They then informed me that since it was a narcotic, they sometimes weren't able to transfer those across state lines. So, I then had to call the neurologist on call and see if she could call in a new prescription to the CVS in Florida. After an hour and a half, it was finally figured out.


We went to a great dinner on the beach and watched the sunset. Then, we headed back to the hotel to go on a night hunt for sea shells. The kids had a blast using their flashlights to find sea shells.


We ended the night in front of a tv to watch the Cubs game. We let them watch for a while, but then I sent Alexis and Gavin to bed. Conner stayed with dad and Mimi to watch the Cubs game. When I made it to the room, I would hear Conner cheering every time the Cubs did something. The night ended amazing when the Cubs secured a spot in the World Series!

Taking Off

This morning we headed to the airport early to take off for our Make-A-Wish trip to Florida. They asked us to have Alexis dressed in her Make-A-Wish shirt, so we obliged. As soon as we got to the airport, we right away had some lady ask us where we were going, and we responded. She said that they had done their trip a few years ago and it was amazing. I immediately got tears in my eyes...couldn't believe that we were finally here. Finally where she was done with chemo and this trip that we have looked forward to for months to celebrate her being done and getting through what we did as a family.

The kids were pretty excited. Although both had been on a plane before, neither Conner nor Gavin remembered it, so they were excited to take off. They were fun to watch as their eyes widened as the plane took off the ground. The excitement in kids' eyes are worth everything!

We had no issues on the plane, landed safely in Florida, found our rental car, and headed a couple hours in the car to get to the gulf side.

We checked into the hotel and headed to the beach to enjoy a little time. The kid loved that there was a playground right on the beach as well as the hammocks. We played only a little bit before we headed inside to get ready for our photo shoot.

We then headed to meet the photographer for our beach photo shoot. We started in the light and then ended with a gorgeous sunset. The kids did great, and we were pretty excited about the results.

After the photo shoot, we met some friends for dinner and hung out a little bit. Then, we headed home and crashed. Great first day of vacation!