Tanned, healthy and relaxed

* It's been yet another big gap in my posting to the blog, but after our first five days in Aruba I had very limited computer access and I wasn't able to upload pictures so I figured I'd wait to post until we returned home.

* We had a wonderful and relaxing trip spending the first five days at a hotel and then we moved to my parent's place.

* Eammon had to return home and to work after 10 days away but Maisie and I were able to spend a full two weeks with my parents and oh what fun Maisie had with her Grandparents.

* Maisie was a little social butterfly on the beach making friends with everyone.

* Chasing birds was great fun for Maisie but then Bob taught her how to feed them. Each day he brought down extra bread and waited for Maisie and she looked forward to sitting with him and feeding the birds.

* Maisie loved being buried in the sand up to her neck and how she could sit there like that...well ewww.

* She also loved being buried over and over and over again, exhausting every adult involved in the burying process.

* Maisie did have her favorite people on the beach and Alan, Carl & Sandy ranked right up there as each day one or more of them would bring her a special treat of either a mini bag of M&Ms or a mini chocolate bar. She wasn't happy to see them go home six days before her because even though she was given treats from many other people nothing was as good as chocolate!!

* The woman who worked at the towel station collected pull tabs as part of a fund raiser and Maisie loved going for a walk with Sandy and putting all of her collected pull tabs in the container.

* Maisie wasn't one to sit still for very long, running, jumping, playing in the sand and water, going back and forth to the showers, socializing and getting snacks from all her friends on the beach and of course, chasing the birds and the iguanas. One of her other daily favorite activities was to play peek-a-boo with my Dad and his hat which was very cute.

* Maisie loved finding shells and coral and one find in particular was quite interesting. Click here to see the piccie of one of her best finds and be prepared for a good laugh.

* Over and over again Maisie would lay on the chaise with my Mother pretending to sleep or relax only to snuggle for a minute before bouncing up to be on the move again.

* Maisie also showed off her athleticism when she played volleyball with Javier. She looked forward to the daily volleyball game ending so that she could get her turn.

* In Aruba my parents gave Maisie a camera and the girl just loves it. She so funny though, within minutes of receiving the camera she had it all figured out. She loves taking pictures but then she has even more fun deleting them so none of her piccies to post but trust me she got some good and interesting ones.

* Maisie loved to ask everyone their name and surprisingly she remembered all of them.

* One of the funniest moments of our trip happened when we boarded the plane in Aruba. We pre-boarded and the Captain was right at the door when we entered. He said hi to Maisie and asked her name, which she told him and then she asked his name. He told her that he was the Captain and that he was going to fly the plane. He then asked her if she would like to go in and see the cockpit. To which she replied, "no thank you, I've seen it before." I guess after being on nearly 30 flights and having many of the Captains making her the same offer, she figures been-there-done-that. All I could do was shrug my shoulders and follow Maisie to find our seats.

* Maisie then managed to impress the woman sitting next to her in the isle seat when she told her that the bumps we were feeling was called turbulence.

* Friday we left my parent's place just after nap time and didn't arrive home until the wee hours of Saturday morning and Maisie did amazingly well on the flights. She didn't sleep at all during the flight from Aruba to Charlotte nor did she sleep during our layover. I kept asking her if she wanted to lay down and sleep but she told me that once we were on the plane going home she would sleep. Sure enough, as soon as we were in the air out of Charlotte she fell asleep and didn't wake until I lifted her to carry her off the plane.

* I hadn't opened any mail since I first got sick back the end of October so you can probably imagine the obscene amounts of mail that I needed to sort through, especially since it's the holiday season with all the extras that come. Today was mail sorting day and it was so fun to see all the Christmas and holiday cards especially the ones that included pictures. Thank you to everyone who sent cards, they were the only envelopes that I actually opened today as I figure all those hospital bills can wait.

* Once again I'm a loser and never got around to making, let alone sending cards. Each year I think I'll get it done early and something happens or I just don't get to it in time and then boom, it's Thanksgiving and then we're in Aruba...oops too late again. Yep, one of those things I'll put on my list to do next year and hopefully I'll do better than I've done in the past as I can't do any worse.

* I was already behind in reading email and blog posts from when I was sick. Then add on my limited computer time and access whilst away for three weeks and well, I'm now hundreds of emails and thousands of blog posts behind and may never catch up. If you emailed something important and you're waiting for a reply, please email again and I will respond.

* So tanned, healthy and relaxed. This vacation was sooooo needed after the November that we had. I had some rough days the beginning of our vacation and had a bit of setback the day we moved from the hotel to my parent's place but after that I had steady improvement. I'm not 100% yet but being away and not having hospital pallor any longer sure makes me look and feel a lot better.

Wishing everyone a Happy Hanukkah, and an early Merry Christmas. Have fun, be safe and be healthy.