Well, in due Angela time (as in LATE.  By about two weeks.), I thought I’d share about our family vacation to Florida.  Hubby and I took the boys to St. Pete’s Beach.  Because I am too detailed when writing, this will be a two-part blog post.  So, today…part 1.

Let’s go back to the last weekend of June…it was Fairfax USA Days.  The boys participated  in the Youth Kickball Tournament Friday night.  On Saturday, we watched the parade.  The kids had fun at the carnival.

And.  Then Hubby and I, along with our team “Walford Warriors”, joined in on the festivities and entered in the Adult Kickball Tournament.

First, let me say, that I LOVE kickball.  Seriously.  This tournament only gave us a STRONG desire to sign up for more of these tournaments.  Because folks…it was FUN.  (Forget that we only played one game.)  In our defense, the team who beat us 1-0 in extra innings, as in three extra innings, went on to play in the championship.  I feel like we could safely say we placed third in this tournament.  Or something like that.

On a funny note, I asked the team if they’d be interested in me signing our team up for more kickball tournaments.  To which they all said, “YES!”  So, I said I’d look into Florida teams since Patrick and I were taking the boys on vacation there the next day.  Then, Aaron (my assistant kickball coach) felt rather impressed that after just one game, we had now become a “Traveling Kickball Team”.  Hey.  When you’ve got the talent like we’ve got, there’s no sense in wasting it.

But this post isn’t just about kickball.  It’s about our vacation, too.

So, with the festivities of Fairfax USA Days over, I packed for four.  (Yes. That would be for ALL of us.)  (Don’t even ask why I have to pack for four people.  I’m ok with it.  Because at least everyone will have enough clean underwear.  And everyone will have clothes that look nice for when we go out to eat.)

On Sunday morning, I gave the boys vacation snacks and little surprises for the trip.

After packing and with bags loaded, we were ready!  We drove to the airport.

I should tell you…I was a little worried about the suitcase that I had packed with Hubby’s few items and my few too many items.  (We had an incident back in April when we flew to Las Vegas and had to pay overcharges because of our suitcase being too heavy…according to Allegiant’s qualifications.)

I knew the boys’ suitcase was under the 40 lb. limit (37 lbs. to be exact) because I had weighed it.  But then, it came down to crunch time and with Hubby announcing the time (every five minutes), I hurried and packed the rest of our stuff…fearful of what it weighed.  But with time ticking, I didn’t have time to rationalize it all.  So, in went our clothes.  As in, a lot of my clothes.  And then, my blow dryer, flat iron, make-up, and shower stuff (which I’m sure, that stuff weighs 24 pounds alone.  See.  The cards are stacked against me.)  (And, don’t try telling me to ‘not pack a hair dryer because hotels have them for you’.  No.  I proved that theory wrong.  Because when we got to our resort, I decided to try their little dinker of a hair dryer.  And it stopped after two minutes.  I thought I might have overheated it or maybe needed to reset it again.  Nope.  It stopped and didn’t come back on.  Glad I brought my ten-pound hair dryer with me.)

We got to the check-in counter.  Patrick heaved our suitcase up onto the scale.  62 pounds.  Oh, my.  What do I even say to that??  And then, this happened.

The tag…HEAVY.

I didn’t know whether to cry or scream.  Because I know how much that little HEAVY tag costs…$50.  One way.

Then, I felt like the skies parted and angels sang.  Because the kind man at the counter said, “I didn’t see anything.  When you return, Florida will see it and charge you.  But I saw nothing.”  Oh.  I felt like I had won the lottery!

We checked in our luggage and then waited.

My three favorite boys and I…love them!

Boarding the plane!

This was Maxim’s first time on a plane.  Nate will remind you that he’s flown before (when he was five months old to California with us).  So, basically it was like both of them flying for the first time.

We flew Allegiant Air from Cedar Rapids to St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport.  It’s only about a two and a half hour flight…perfect…not too long, not too short.

Once we had boarded the plane, I probably should tell you that in typical “going on vacation” manner, we were breaking into the snacks before the plane even left the runway.

I was digging into my huge bag purse (according to Allegiant Air) for the peanut butter M&M’s, Slim Jims (at Maxim’s request), Planters nuts, gummy Lifesavers…just to name a few.  It reminded me of how my family took vacations when I was growing up.  (In 3rd grade, my grandparents, Mom, my brother Ben, and I drove to Florida.  We were digging into the brownies and cookies before we were even five miles south of leaving town.)

Maxim enjoying some fancy airplane food…chips and salsa.

Nate sat with Daddy on the way down.  Yes, chips and salsa for Nate, too!

After a great flight, we picked up our rental car (or as Maxim called it…our wrinkle car) and headed for our resort.  We stayed at the Tradewinds Resort located right on St. Pete’s Beach. This place was great and very family-oriented. I highly recommend it with all of the activities they offer for children and the beach location.

Now, with this post being longer than E.V.E.R., I’ll leave you with a cliff hanger…Da Dum.  Da Dum.  Da Dum.  Yes.  We saw a shark.  In the water.  Four feet FROM Patrick.  But that story will be saved for Part 2.

In the meantime, if you know of any kickball tournaments coming up, please post in the comments.  Because I have a team that will ROCK IT.

And.  If you have any “packing light” tips, please share.  Because I could use all of the advice you have to offer.  Hubby would probably agree.  And I know Allegiant Airlines would agree.