Travelling daddy day care grand opening
Florida, Miami - Day 6
Today was the grand unveiling of my portable daddy day care services. Sophie's real estate conference starts today which means the kiddos and I were on our own to get into or out of trouble… probably a bit of both.
To start the day for this momentous occasion Wesley felt it would be best to wake up before dawns crack did. Lola hunkered down and tried to weather the storm but alas she got a taste of her own medicine and succumbed to the sirens wake up call. Sophie was still down to sleep so I set Lola up with my tablet for some good ol' fashion Sunday morning cartoons, strapped Wesley to my chest and headed out on an errand to get more baby butt wipes.
The Walgreens we frequent is a skip and a hop to the beach so before going in we detoured to catch the morning sun pierce the sky in the horizon over the water. It was a beautiful sight to see and the gusty fresh cool wind kept both of us in a perfect zen state the entire time. After witnessing what is likely the best that Miami has to offer we resumed our mission. At the Walgreens the clerk who served us was ensnared in Wesley's charm trap and said to me that when he grew up and has a family of his own he hoped he'd be as good as I was insinuating that Wesley's calm and chill demeanor was my doing… it isn't. I took the compliment nonetheless and made my way back to our 70’s looking Miami Vice hotel where a lot of action likely happened and we will never know about it.
When we entered the ex-cocaine party room I saw Sophie lying down next to Lola who was still freeze framed by the magic of on demand television. I told Sophie about the sunrise moment Wesley and I shared and the perfection that was the weather waiting for us outside and that was all she needed to kick all our asses into high gear so we could enjoy this early morning gift Wesley forced on us. Our first stop out the door each morning is a coffee IV drip for Sophie, thankfully the coffee shop is right beside the beach so off we went without the stroller cause it doesn't get along with sand.
Sophie opted to try the coffee shop beside Starbucks today in the hopes that lower prices awaited, spoiler alert they weren't. Everything in this area is overpriced either cause the cost of living in this area is extremely high or they are just taking advantage of the tourists, we haven't figured out which one yet. At least the croissant she got was loaded with half a jar of Nutella which Lola thoroughly enjoyed.
After everyone got their fix we headed to the beach, our hotel kindly provides us with two lounge chairs on the beach each day so we decided to take them up on that offer. At this point Wesley fell asleep on me in the baby bra so I happily laid down on a chair and let the sound of the waves and the wind caress us while Sophie and Lola went seashell hunting.
Lola isn't very selective when it comes to what qualifies as a good seashell to pick up, Thai is an age and experience kid of thing, so every little thing she found she relocated to her pocket and Mom was right there beside her helping her fill her boots.
Lying there in that chair I entered a state of zen-iness and faded into the ether of mindfulness where I saw all the useless thoughts that await me upon my return to real life.
Eventually Wesley started rustling which always ends with a howl which is our signal to get him the fuck out of the baby bra. At this point Lola came back to show us all the seashells she had accumulated in her pocket, there was a lot… I mean when she walked it sounded like a seashell graveyard rolling around in there.
It was around this time that Sophie's coffee meter read empty so off we went to refill that tank this time she opted for Starbucks. I had managed to strap Wesley back in the baby bra but facing forward and while Sophie went in to execute operation “wake up some more” I stayed outside with the kiddos as Lola was terrorizing birds again.
Once they all flew away she decided she wanted to go see mom and just started walking towards the first coffee shop we went too without me. I asked her to stay close to me but her daddy filter was already on.
Lola is in prime test boundaries mode and the latest shenanigans revolve around her running away from us. So there I was with a baby strapped to my chest chasing another not so small baby. She naturally thought it was a game but my tone and expression ensured that misunderstanding would not persist. I then proceeded to bring her to her mother mumbling under my breath.
By this point we really needed to head back to the hotel so that Sophie could get ready which is what we did. Then we headed off together as a family to the conference centre which is also within walking distance, you'd think Sophie planned it this way.
Once there it didn’t take her long for her to bump into some of her colleagues which made me feel like she was in good hands and it was time to activate daddy in charge mode which was easy with Lola as she had fallen asleep in the stroller.
Wesley however was out and about, he's a pretty social baby so he was making friends quickly by smiling at everyone around him. After our tiny extrovert was done making friends I tied that little guy forward facing in front of me and off we went for a little ballad toward the boardwalk.
Given my sore and raw skin situation south of the border I wanted to limit walking as much as possible so my first order of business was to get back to the hotel to apply more cream to the affected areas.
I must say this boardwalk is quite impressive and long, I can see why so many people enjoy running or biking along it. During this little jaunt Lola woke up and was in a great mood, good news for daddy day care. On the way back I hit the Walgreens once more to grab more supplies but more importantly beach accessories for the kiddos. Once back at our home base I let the kids roam free within so that they may play and play they did.
There is an off little room with a solitary mirror hanging in it that has nothing else in it other than the door to the bathroom. Well for some reason they adore playing in there and especially with themselves in the mirror. It's as though they think they are on a play date with themselves. So I let them frolic and play while I tended to my wounds.
Once I was repaired it was time to cream up, suit up and ship out. It sounds fast the way I say it above but believe me doing all that for 3 people and 2 of them are children is not fast at all. Nonetheless we were out the door and off to the beach in some time. I grabbed two chairs again and let Lola play in the sand with her new beach toys while Wesley, you guessed it, slept on me some more.
At some point Lola wanted to see the water, to my dismay the waves were pretty aggressive especially when you consider the size of a toddler in comparison. I impressed upon Lola the importance of not going to close especially since I also had Wesley strapped to me. I showed her how to let the waves crash and chase her.
She did really well following her old man's guidance. When Wesley woke up she wanted to show him the water as well, I indulged her request. He wasn't as thrilled as she was to welcome the salty cool water on his skin. I let them play a bit more in the sand and then packed everyone and everything up to head back to the hotel.
After we arrived I ran a bath and washed Lola first, followed by Wesley. The poor little guy was still affected by a mild fever so I gave him some meds. Once we were all cleaned, medicated, and pyjama-ed it was back out for a stroll for food. I just grabbed the first quick thing I could find which was mexican food. I fed them both, set her up on the tablet while input Wesley to bed followed by her shortly afterward.
It was a zero incident day with two happy kids tucked in and sleeping. I'd say an overwhelming success for the travelling daddy day care. Hit me up if you're interested in my services.
Life is beautiful
October 27, 2024
