At home we like to say that our bed is really Baxter’s bed and he just lets us sleep in it. It would appear that Arabella has assumed that role at the beach. We woke up this morning with Arabella sleeping soundly between us… nestled happily among the pillows and blankets of our king size bed… the hotel’s signature turtle stuffed animal and a flamingo ballerina from my parents within reach. Baxter would have killed us.
Once we all got moving we made our way down to breakfast in the lobby where we enjoyed bacon, eggs, pancakes and muffins from the buffet. Arabella was still half asleep but ate a little fruit.
We finally got to the pool around noon. DD, MJ and Jarmon took Arabella into the water while I hung out on a beach chair. It took less than 30 minutes of baking in the sun for me to get hot enough to make the hassle of getting into the pool worth it. Getting to and into the pool on one foot was a bit of a challenge, but the doctor said it was OK so I had of course plotted a way to make it work. Thanks to the recommendation of an old coworker/friend who also had a broken foot this summer I ordered a low profile medical shoe to wear around the pool, so my boot wouldn’t get destroyed by water and sunscreen. I used my crutches to hobble over to the pool, then hopped down the stairs on one foot. Once I was in the water I was good. I still (frustratingly) couldn’t put weight on my foot in the water, but as it turns out holding a toddler on one foot in the water is MUCH easier than on dry land (where it’s virtually impossible). I was so happy in the water I never made it back to the Elin Hilderbrand book I had been looking forward to for months that I left sitting on my beach chair.
Arabella loves the water this year. It made us feel a little guilty about not getting her to a swim class yet, but it really just wasn’t possible this summer. She was especially fond of the baby floatation device we bought last year (that she hated at the time). She was also in toy heaven with the endless flow of beach goods purchased and transported here by my parents and given to her every five minutes on the dot.
After some pool time, MJ took Arabella to get a banana and some ice cream for lunch while DD, Jarmon and I stayed at the pool. Arabella started to get fussy sometime after five so we headed up to the room. I of course turned off the TV to try and get Arabella to take a nap— and within minutes Jarmon had it back on. I was about to yell some snarky comparison about the importance of his daughter’s sleep versus a football game— but then I realized Arabella was sound asleep (on our bed, of course) despite the roar of Sunday football in the background. Thank goodness I looked around the corner before speaking and narrowly avoided sticking my boot in my mouth.
Jarmon was in a rush to leave to watch the Steelers game but I made him bath Arabella before he left and also get her ready for dinner. We dropped him off at Primanti’s on the beach before DD, MJ, Arabella and I continued on to dinner. We tried to go to Aruba Beach Cafe, but the parking situation wasn’t ideal. (We usually Uber there, but rented a car this year for obvious reasons). Parking there required- at the very least- one person to drop everyone else off then park the car a few blocks (or more) away and walk back to the restaurant. I obviously wasn’t in a position to do this, so after circling a few times we decided to dine at Shooters instead.
Parking at Shooters was MUCH easier and we had a delightful meal. We got a great table outside and the server quickly brought Arabella a coloring book and crayons. And best yet? They let us keep our stroller by the table instead of making us leave it outside like restaurants in Chicago require. We ordered a calamari appetizer, which Arabella loved. She ate the tentacled pieces that DD broke apart for her and also the rings that I cut apart for her. She wasn’t really into the flatbread she was supposed to be sharing with MJ, but devoured her French fries and chugged almost two kid cups full of milk.
We wanted to stop for supplies on the way home, but it was almost 11p and a bit late to be doing so. Supplies for the room would have to wait. When we got back to the hotel we hung out in the lobby until jarmon got back from watching the Steelers “game”— I use quotes because it wasn’t much of one. It was so bad that I have a photo of him with his terrible towel in some pretty exotic places (Moorea, Bora Bora and Panama to name a few), but somehow didn’t get one in Florida. At some point in the lobby, Arabella got her second wind. While other kids whose parents had kept them up pat their bedtime on vacation screamed and cried in protest, ours was running around the lobby jumping on furniture giggling and smiling from ear to ear. She clearly thought she was the lobby entertainment for the night.
We finally made our way upstairs sometime after midnight. Arabella still wasn’t tired. We didn’t even effort the crib tonight. She seemed a little confused when we turned off the lights and continued to jump up and down on the bed for quite some time. At about 1am she finally settled in between us. I’d like to think she fell asleep first, but I’d be lying if I said I knew.
Trina Orlando 