Miami!

Surprise! Ryan and I went to Miami!

For those that didn't know our little plans, Ryan had a conference in Miami scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. After a lot of hesitation, I decided that I'd tag along and leave the kiddos at home with Grandpa and Grandma. Ryan and I left on Monday and arrived safely in Miami, got our rental car and headed to Coconut Grove to stay at the Sonesta. It was a very snazzy hotel, within walking distance of their little touristy shopping area.

Monday night we walked around and found a new restaurant that had just opened their doors and offered their menu for half price. Score! The food was good (not great) but considering what it would have cost, we were pretty content! Since I wasn't feeling very well we headed back to our room and called it an early night. Turns out I was feeling the beginnings of a very serious head cold! I was up all night because I couldn't breath and my throat was on fire- my night that was supposed to be full of peaceful restful slumber was one of the worst nights of the year! Figures.

Tuesday Ryan went to his conference and I took it easy in our room. At the prompting of nearly everyone on the planet, I had started to read Twilight on the plane and really got into it, so I spent a good chunk of the morning just reading in bed, trying not to think of the pains in my head. For lunch I told myself, I'm in Miami! I have to get out of this room!, and put on my walking shoes. I walked to the little touristy area, found a cafe with a table in the shade on the street, and ordered a nice lunch and read my book some more. ;-) Sadly, I noticed my lunch didn't have much taste, due to the major congestion and therefore lack of taste. But it was soooo relaxing, just being able to sit around and read! I have to admit, I definitely felt like there was a huge chunk of my brain that was going duurrrrrr because it's used to being constantly occupied solely on my children. Without having them with me meant this part of my brain didn't know what to think about!

the view of biscayne bay from our hotel room

I walked through a few shops before heading back to our room to get ready for our early dinner. We had dinner scheduled at 5:30 so that we could see the sun set, and before that we grabbed a drink with Ryan's friend at the conference and her family. At our dinner restaurant, we got the VIP treatment for some reason, all because I asked the concierge where we should dine that evening. She made the reservation for us, and they wound up giving us a free appetizer and a free dessert! We were overlooking the bay at sunset, it was very beautiful and Ryan said some of the best food he's ever tasted. I ordered the cheapest thing I could find (lobster bisque) because I knew I wouldn't be able to taste it. :-( We brought dessert home and I tasted that and ate it for breakfast!

in front of the hotel on our way to dinner

Wednesday was a lot of the same, except I'd slept better since I'd acquired some Tylenol PM. I had another relaxing lunch while Ryan finished his conference, then we checked out of the room and drove up to South Beach (which was actually north from where we were). We had just enough time to walk along the beach and admire the gorgeous water before we had to leave for the airport. I finished my book on the plane home, and nearly died during decent because my ear plugged up and I thought my ear drum was going to explode. Flying with a head cold is a BAD idea; the doctor told me today it puts you at a much higher risk of turning an ordinary cold into an infection of some sort. So I'm on antibiotics now, waiting for them to kick in!

south beach

We heard the kids did fantastic, despite their runny noses and probably the same variety of head cold I had- though they both checked out fine at the pediatrician this morning. I'm sad the vacation wasn't what we'd hoped it would be but I was very grateful for the chance to relax a little!