7 years ago, this place was made all the more special when Jeff proposed. After making the trip with me the year before, he knew it would be a great place, and certainly a memorable one, for us to start our new life together. He was so excited to propose that he did it in my parents' hotel room and in fact, I had dinner in the very spot where he asked me to be his wife Friday night.
Now this place has taken on a new meaning for me as Cooper experienced his first vacation. Cooper is the 4th generation of my family to vacation in St. Pete and the 3rd generation to stay at the beloved Bon-Aire. Last year, I was almost 7 months pregnant and couldn't grasp even having a 9 month old, yet here we are- a year later and with a baby in tow. What a trooper! We attempted to drive the 15 hour trip in one day, promising ourselves that if we had to stop, we would. Not only did we make it in one day, but Cooper slept all but about 3 hours of the trip and was only a little fussy the last 45 minutes. Our next concern was whether or not he'd sleep that night with all the hours in the car, but he did great. On the first day, Cooper had his first dip in the ocean and we all celebrated Kim and Gavino's wedding.
Venturing out in the "big water" with Pops.
Checking out the waves with YaYa.
During the mother/son, father/daughter dance at Kim and Gavino's wedding. Yes, my child is dancing with Uncle Kyle. He wanted to be with YaYa and when he saw that she was dancing with Uncle Kyle, all bets were off.
The major event for Jeff, Kyle, and my dad were being at the Tampa Bay Rays game last Monday night when Garza threw the no-hitter. Let me say now that I did not and still do not understand how important and amazing this event was (is?), but I am told by those that would know that this is a big deal. I am thrilled they were able to see is, and see it from great seats at that.
The rest of the week was spent being lazy by the pool, shopping at the outlet mall, enjoying walks to breakfast and trying different foods at dinner, and spending time with all the wonderful friends we've made during our 20 years at the Bon-Aire. These people are certainly the family we've chosen. None of us knew each other when we started vacationing there, but through time, bonds have formed. Kent and Alma, who stay next to my parents, surprised me at my college graduation and not only were the first to know about mine and Jeff's engagement after it happened, but were there to share in our special occasion. The Weed and Bennett families, who had lounge chairs next to ours at the pool, were some of the first to know of Cooper's arrival and have never ceased to be supportive of our family. The Angricks, whose son shared a mutual love of baseball with Kyle when we met them 16 or 17 years ago, are probably some of my parents' closest friends and have helped each other through life's challenges and changes. There are many, many people who have shared life's ups and downs with us in the past 20 years and we look forward to the many more years of fun and sun that we'll share with them.
The Owings' family sand castle for 2010.
Cooper being a good Catholic boy at Sea Hags.
This is definitely not the same sun that sets in Memphis.
Hanging out at the pool with our friends.
Can you tell we all needed to spend time together the last night? And this isn't even close to everyone!
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