Last day in South Beach Miami
Florida, Miami - Day 9
Today is our last full day in Miami which means it's also the last day of my traveling daddy daycare services (2024 Miami tour). Naturally the kids aren't the type to break a streak so when the opportunity came they beat the sunrise once again.
This time Sophie volunteered to get up with the sleep terrorists. My additional sleep was cut short when my wife accidentally stepped on the digital thermometer and it's casing, the latter shattered and made a loud noise that sounded like a plea for help. Together we put up a united front and establish some order and then round up the troops and headed out for our early breakfast. Lola sometimes falls into a mood rut which sees her whining about the littlest of things. This morning's little thing? We put Wesley in the stroller before she got in.
The cure to this problem was not reason but food. Stay in a place long enough and you start to form routines, daily protocols that help you start your day or get through it. I find this to be true even when traveling and 5 days here we've established a pretty persistent morning routine which always sees us end at the same bakery.
After breakfast we walked mom to the conference, rather than spend a full day there however Sophie opted to attend the session she really didn't want to miss in the morning and then join us to spend our last day together as a family. This meant daddy day care was gonna be light on services today. Seeing as the session was only an hour I decided to return to the Botanical Garden, Lola approved enthusiastically.
The garden opens at 9am however we are there around 8:40 yet the gate is open so we make our way in. Lola jets directly to the koi fish pond. Ever since she saw a lady pet the fish yesterday that's all she wants to do. So there she is trying to pet every single fish while Wesley admires all the colours in motion; me I'm just helping them live their best childhood while keeping them safe. After 10 minutes of this a woman I saw here yesterday walks by and wishes us a good morning, I think she works here. Moments later I see her coming back towards us with a little brown bag in her hand which she hands to me and asks “would you all like to feed the fish?”
I accept the offering and thank her profusely, when I announce the opportunity to Lola she is brimming with happiness so much it looks like sunshine is emanating from her smile and eyes. I open the bag carefully and get her to hold her hands out together so that I may pour the fish food. I give enough to fill her little hands, once full she rushes to her fish friends and starts handing out breakfast.
I ensure Wesley can participate meaningfully in this novel and unique experience while Lola just does what she does best, live life to the fullest. I dispensed and watched her discover a million ways to feed the fish.
Her first try was a full fist dump which caused quite a feeding frenzy but by the end she was distributing pellets to one fish at a time which made the supply last that much longer. Every time she'd finish her stash she'd jump up and exclaim “Encore!!!! Les poissons on beaucoup faim!”
She got to a point where she was targeting specific fish for the food delivery. That bag of food lasted us a good 30 minutes and when the last ration was exhausted she still wanted more but sadly more was not to be had.
I coaxed her into believing the fish had enough and we started to explore other areas of the garden. We ended up going out the north side and turned west. At the end of the path we were greeted by an incredibly stunning sculpture of a hand reaching out from the ground up towards the sky, a giant hand. It was stunning. Upon further inspection you could see the hand was formed by people. Turns out we had come across the Miami Holocaust Memorial.
Walking to the left I could see names upon names on what appeared to be black marble. The path led to a tunnel that brought us to the centre face to face with the hand and the chaos of people's of all walks of life trying to escape within it, statues of parents with perished children or other parents trying to hand their child to others higher up into the hand. To see this up close brought a lot of emotions up for me especially now that I have kids of my own I don’t even want to imagine. I silently thought to myself Sophie needs to see this. Such a stunning memorial.
We leave the memorial and head back to the convention centre to meet up with mommy. We tell her about our morning and the memorial and together we decide to head back there. We tried to get more food for Lola to give to the fish but alas we couldn't find any to buy. We then went back to the memorial and Sophie was just as floored as I was. I got more emotional this go round, visibly so that Lola asked why. Sophie did her best to explain but how do you paint a picture like this to a 3 year old.
With our hearts full we head back to the convention centre through the garden once more so that Sophie can say bye to a few colleagues before we head out to enjoy our last full day here together as a family.
While we are there we snap some final pics for mom with the kids including one that was in the conference area for ticket holders only. Sophie tried to get me in but the guards were having none of it so we went to the front to ask if I could just go in for a picture. A kind lady said she would escort us. The guards were on full alert today cause even with her they weren't budging, perhaps it was my drab attire?
After more back and forth they finally get that she was the front office and so let us in. We take pics for mom including one of us all together. Many attendees there throughout the days made comments about Sophie bringing her family with her, all positive and in some cases with regret that they themselves didn't do the same. I wondered why more wouldn't but alas having a good and willing partner is a necessary ingredient in the equation. Taking care of more than one kid in a strange city alone isn't for the faint of heart. While I've had a blast here with my kids I won't pretend it was easy or without issue. Anyway I digress.
Time to go explore more of south beach! The plan is to walk to south pointe via the boardwalk but before pit stop at the hotel. We cream the kids and stock up for the journey. Moments after starting Wesley falls asleep for yet another nap so I encourage Lola to take her nap an to my surprise she listens without protest.
With the kids asleep Sophie and I talk about her conference, what she learned, why it matters, and how she can apply it. We even discuss the possibility of her starting her own podcast which I think she would be wonderful at. Sophie has a natural ability to dive deep into a person through a series of thoughtful and curious questions that peel the layers back and go deep. The conversation ensures we don't see time past and to our surprise we reach south pointe in what felt like very little time.
We walk to the end of the pier and admire the views. Wesley has woken up from his nap by this time and I happily parade him around so that he can admire the vistas as well but also to show him off, what a cute kid. The wind here is pretty intense, so much so it creates a loud whistling sound that also wakes up Lola. We wrap things up and head back down the pier to explore the other side.
We are happy to discover a parc which Lola immediately jumps out of the stroller to go and explore. We park our stuff and play with the kids there. Here we meet a young couple with one child who ask how traveling and life with two kids is to which we emphatically say it's worth having two as the you miss so much on the first that it's worth to relive and appreciate it all so much more the second time around. This is welcomed news to them as they are newly pregnant with their second. They eventually go on about their day and we continue to enjoy our two little ones.
We try to incorporate Wesley in as many activities as possible, his favourite is definitely the swing like his big sister however lately she seems to have a growing affinity for climbing but she does have a healthy fear threshold that keeps her from taking unnecessary risks.
The park also sports a splash pad so Lola changes into her bathing suit while I strip down to my shorts. Sophie strips Wesley to his diaper and hands him to me so that we can run and frolic in the water together.
I struggle to get the water working at first but once I do we are off to the races. We run around getting sprayed from every direction. The water is a welcome treat and reprieve from the heat. Wesley indicates being done fairly quickly while Lola calls out to me to join her in jumping in the muddy puddles (clear water pooling by the drain).
The scenery on display is quite beautiful so we spend some time immortalizing these moments with a mini family photo shoot. Lola sometimes willingly participates and other times she requires coaxing.
Looking at the time we agree it's time to head back but not before grabbing some well deserved ice cream, Lola's suggestion. Sophie locates the nearest Hagen Dass and we walk a short 10 minutes to reward ourselves.
Once there we sample the entire stock, actually that's mostly Sophie. Lola goes with strawberry ice cream, I go with a cookie dough milkshake, and Sophie orders half the store. With our frozen trests in hand we begin our trek back. Moments after leaving a very dark set of clouds rolls in, you can feel the air shift and change and a few minutes more it starts to drizzle a bit.
In my mind I start analyzing our chances and with all my life's experiences I think “Well we might be able to make it back before it downpours.” Seconds after the thought enters my mind some dude in a golf cart is whizzing at top golf cart speeds behind us honking his horn. He pulls up beside us and yells “Get the fuck inside it's gonna blow!!!” All of a sudden I'm in an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie and shits about to get real. I turn the stroller back the way we came and start hoofing it with Sophie not too far behind with her ten layer ice cream cup in tow.
As we pull under the Hilton awnings and overhangs the entire sky bursts and gallons of water falls from the sky all at once drowning people before our eyes. I kid of course but it rained hard I saw a woman's perm retreat into utter defeat from the onslaught. We waited and within 10 minutes it was over and we were free to continue our journey home. We head back to the hotel to get changed and then head out to a Mexican restaurant for supper. There we discuss our favourite moments. Sophie's was Legoland. Mine was all the pure concentrated shots of family time. We come back to our room and prep the kids for bed as mom is going out with her colleagues once more.
Wesley is difficult to put down, mom usually gets him down without much of a fuss but not tonight. Since she's already late I offer to take over, she gladly accepts, says I love you and heads out to party. I struggle to keep him calm on me on the bed so I get up to walk around which calms him a bit. I then grab my phone and turn on my Lolabies playlist which is a series of songs I would sing to Lola when she struggled to sleep. Gently singing in his ear he eventually rests his tiny head on my chest. I head to bed and he proceeds to fall asleep on daddy. I haven't done a lot of this with him because having two affects the nighttime routine. I'm usually taking care of Lola. So being able to do this with Wesley on our final night here just feels deeply right and well deserved. A signal from my little boy that daddy is also good in his books to care for him come what may. I relish the moment and caress his tiny head and body. The transition to the crib is just as smooth. I then turn my attention to my little Lola. She's watching frozen on my tablet. We've had quite a lot of tantrums emerge from access to the tablet or the television which is why we really try to keep it to a minimum but we have been working on establishing it as a privilege and how to cope and deal with her emotions regarding unplugging. So tonight i lean in and tell her it's time for bed. I'll go get her toothbrush ready while she puts the tablet away and that's exactly what she did. She then whispered that I would sleep with her a bit so she can fall asleep. I gladly accepted and wouldn't have it any other way. Laying beside her she squeezes my arm tight and whispers “je t'aime à l'infini” and I split in two. How did I get so lucky to deserve Sophie and these two gems in the form of human beings. To think that I get to spend my life with them fulfils me for many lifetimes. What a perfect way to end this vacation. The depths of my love for my family seems to have no bounds, who knew love could be an infinite resource… probably most parents around the world.
Life is beautiful
October 30, 2024
