FSMS Conference 2013

Last week was the FSMS Annual Conference in St. Pete Beach, FL.  We were unsure we would be able to go this year due to our financial circumstances - my car needed unexpected repairs, our air conditioner quit working at home and the garage door broke all within a couple weeks.  Fortunately, we were able to sell several items, Justin did a lot of Auto CAD work from home and with the blessing of his new job we were able to go.

I had never been to St. Pete Beach before and although there wasn't a lot of things to do outside of the hotel within a reasonable driving distance, we spent most of the time at the hotel.  But, the place that we stayed, the Tradewinds Island Grand Resort, was fantastic!  There were four pools, paddle boats, mini golf, a kid's only club, a Beef o Brady's restaurant and a Pizza Hut Express.  On the beach, there was also a massive three story water slide that Kate loved - she wanted to go down it again and again despite her initial hesitation.  All of the activities were free to hotel guests and we even got a 20% discount at the restaurants!

I owe my parent's a huge "thank you" for once again going with us.  Since Justin is tied up most of the time with conference activities, it's wonderful for me to get to spend some extra time with both the kids and my parents.

 Walking around the resort, checking things out.  Kate couldn't wait to get to the pool!

Wednesday we spent the afternoon at the pool and then ate at the hotel that night.  It was so nice having affordable meal options at the hotel.  Thursday, we spent the morning at the beach.  Each night after 5:00pm, the hotel offered the option of reserving cabanas for the following day - one per room  for free!  We spent every day at the beach and the kids loved it.  I wasn't sure how Mason was going to do since he didn't like the beach back in June, but he loved just floating in the ocean in his raft.  As long as Mason was floating and Kate was building sandcastles they were as happy as could be.

The view:

Have you ever seen such a beautiful sandcastle?  I think the feathers make it extra special.

 The slide:

I wish daddy could have been able to go with Kate, but thankfully her granddaddy took her over and over.  I went twice with Kate, but both times I nearly lost the bottom of my bathing suit so I quit trying.
 

 Granddaddy discovered a kid's pool that was completely covered - what a neat idea!  It worked out perfectly for us because Kate had gotten too much sun one day at the beach so it was wonderful that I didn't have to worry about her staying in the shade.  Whew!

When we weren't at the beach or the pool, we spent some time exploring everything at the hotel. 

 Kate wanted her picture taken with the giraffe.

 And the shark.

 Paddle Boats!
It looks much easier to operate one of these things than it actually is, but we still had a lot of fun and got a good workout.  At one point when Gigi and I had gotten the boat stuck in the wrong direction, Kate let out a huge sigh and said "we're never going to get off this thing!".

Playing mini golf.

Like most summer afternoons in Florida, the rain would come and stay for a few hours, so Thursday afternoon we loaded up the car and went shopping at the Ellenton Outlets.

 Kate has a strange obsession with taking her pictures with the mannequins so I have a share a couple - so odd!  She asks me to take her picture with "the girls".

Saturday morning bright and early, I had the wild idea to try to get a couple pictures of the kids at the beach.  I really didn't want to because I thought it would be disastrous (and it was), but I knew if I didn't at least try I would regret it.  When I left the hotel room, Kate was in a terrible mood but Mason was happy.  My goal was to get a couple pictures of him if nothing else, but he quickly changed his mind once we got on the beach. I started with a few of Kate since she was cooperating and I got some good ones!

Then I tried to get a picture of both of the them and this was the only decent one:

Next, I tried to get Mason just by himself, but he cried and cried and cried....typical Mason fashion.  Poor guy.

 I thought he would stop crying if he was sitting something, but that just hurt his feelings even more.

And the photo session ended with both of them crying...

Oh well!  Better luck next time.

Saturday night was the FSMS Banquet.  The kids had a night alone with my parents and I went with Justin to the dinner.  There was a guest speaker from Gatorland who did a great job - until he called my name to assist him.  I had been watching a couple other audience members go up to hold different animals - a gator, a tarantula, a blue tongued lizard, a skink and a iguana lizard.  But when he called my name along with another women, I had a sinking feeling we were going to be handed a snake.  He asked us to stand facing the audience, with our backs to him, and as soon as I saw him drape that massive boa constrictor over that women's shoulders, my reaction was to say "No, No, No".  I'm usually a good sport and I probably could have held a small snake, but that boa scared me to death.  Afterwards, we were allowed to hold a baby alligator and a medium sized alligator - which I didn't mind. 

Needless to say our vacation flew by and I'm already looking forward to next year!