A Weekend in Tampa

This weekend, we headed cross-state to Tampa. We were so lucky to be able to celebrate my father-in-law's 76th and stepmother-in-law's 75th birthdays, one right after the other.

We also have friends that live in the area, so we decided that we would spend Friday night with them and then head to the in-laws'.

D and D were the perfect hosts. They introduced us to this heavenly beverage: Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka. They mixed it with lemonade to create a very special Arnold Palmer.



Turtle met some new buddies: Caesar and Daisy Duke, two gorgeous Italian Cane Corsos. Or moose. Whichever term you feel more comfortable with. :)

At first, he was nervous. After all, Caesar and he are the same height when standing. A marked difference from the pugs.



However, after a couple of slobbery kisses, he and big C worked out a deal:

Listen, dog, I'm going to stand here and look cute...



And then I will steal a tortilla chip...



...And then I will give it to you! They will NEVER suspect. Ha ha!



This is the portable "high chair" I got from Target for about $10. It folds up into a compact little pouch and is great for strapping wee ones to regular dining chairs. Honest. It's not a torture device of any kind.



The view from D's deck. While there we saw a real live gator and two manatees. Awesome.



We stayed up SUPER late, chatting and catching up. DH went with D's DH to Ybor City to pick up sangria and cigarillos and so D and I had tons of girl time. We brought with us some filets and salmon and ended up grilling at like 10pm. We were so tired, but the food was phenomenal, and the company even better.

D's DH kept telling us that he is an early riser, and that he would be making homemade waffles at 5:30 - anyone who wasn't up would be getting Eggos. Ha! We didn't hear a peep out of the upstairs until 7 or so. We had amazing belgian waffles and spent the morning just playing with Turtle and the dogs.

Turtle with his new buddies.



Then it was off to my in-laws. Turtle found a photo album of himself and some of his cousins and spent tons of time flipping through it.





After lunch and a little visit, we took Turtle back to the hotel for a little nap before we headed back to meet Dad and D for dinner at Sam Seltzer's. We don't have one of those here and it was really quite good.

Obviously, any place with big cow statues out front gets my two thumbs up.



Turtle had a bit of a rough time - it was a long dinner, and he was cutting two teeth. I had to get my Napoleon to go (yes, I have a Napoleon problem) and waited outside with him. Poor guy was exhausted.

In the morning, we all met for breakfast and headed out to the Lowery Zoo. Unfortunately, we drove into one hell of a storm. The lightning was closer than any I've ever seen. We waited in the parking lot for a few, and thought it was clearing up a little, we decided to shift gears and check out the Tampa Aquarium instead. At least it was inside in the event the rain came back.

Getting ready to go in.





Whoa, Dad. Check out those fishies!



This alligator was just chilling, plotting the demise of hapless tourists. You could see his plans in his eyes.



Some cute little turtles, in honor of my main man.



Dad and D.



The stingrays, showing off.



Turtle was absolutely mesmerized by the tanks.



He was so cute - he kept trying to grab the fish.



Here, fishy, fishy.



This little guy had gorgeous blue eyes. Just like Turtle. The two of them had quite the stare-down.



Turtle and Pop Pop. So cute together.



Hanging in the snail shell.



Checking out the coral.



This was so cool: the tank took up the entire wall.





Awesome jellyfish.





Turtle with his daddy and grandparents.



At Grandma's birthday dinner.



Getting his bedtime story from Daddy.



We had such a fantastic time and hope to see everyone again soon!