Event Planning in Florida Day 1-2

Leaving my husband behind at home is always hard but I’ve been so excited for our trip to Florida and Grandma’s surprise birthday party. Acalias did wonderful on our flight from West Virginia to Georgia and from Georgia to Florida. He draws a lot of attention by his 6-toothed smiles and wants to playfully interact with anyone around us.

We arrived to Florida on Wednesday evening. Immediately after departing the airplane we were greeted with the humid tropical air. Acalias and I walked through the Fort Lauderdale airport hearing the familiar native language of my father, Creole.

My dad’s flight arrived a few minutes after ours; we met up in one of the terminals and dad helped with my bags and car seat. Dad’s luggage was delayed so I fed Acalias while waiting and while dad chattered in Creole with everyone and anyone around us who spoke the language. I felt like I was in Haiti being so submersed in the foreign language.


After retrieving dad’s luggage we were finally on our way to our destination. My little sister Kura had flown in earlier that dad and was anxiously awaiting our arrival at our cousin’s house. The plan was for everyone but dad to stay away from Grandma. The first night Kura and I caught up with each other’s lives, the last time we spent a lot of time together was at our sibling camp trip in 2009. It's so refreshing to learn that my sister is doing so well in college and has some great goals that she is striving to accomplish.

The following day I woke up early to enjoy a long run in the beautiful weather. In Coral Springs Florida there is a paved pathway throughout the entire suburb, a rare commodity in West Virginia. The weather was so nice that I had a tan line of my watch and iPod after a 45 minute run.

Dad snuck away for a few hours so that we could purchase all the items needed for the party. He has a lot of family in Florida so he told grandma he had to visit a few people.

Acalias looked super cute in his summer outfit and flipflops.


Next I was happy to learn that all of the packages I had ordered for the party had arrived in a timely manner so we jumped into gear to prepare for grandma’s big day. My sister Kura was my right hand, thank goodness she was around to help especially since Acalias needed my attention as well.


Kura did most of the candy wrapping while I taped questions behind dinner plates. I planned to ask each guest to share a specific memory of grandma.


After preparing the bulk of our items for the party we went out for a stroll during sunset to relax.

Acalias enjoyed sticking out his little toes while swinging his feet. He babbled in happiness throughout our entire walk.