Tampa Bay Adventures

Hans & Jeff Shark @ aquarium

Val's beads Me & Val

Wow...Ok this one will be long. We had so many...."adventures" in Tampa this weekend. Let me start with:

Friday January 25, 2008

SO we take the girls to breakfast and then to school. We come home and get our stuff to head to the airport here in Jackson, Mississipi we get there, get in line to check in at Southwest Airlines, Hold on a a little back story......Hans had to purchase our tickets seperately b/c I needed to come back before him.....so both of our tickets had his name on them...you would think that would be easy to fix but I must have looked dangerous b/c I stood in line for 30 minutes with the guy on hold with the airlines...meanwhile Hans is in the very long, single file security line... finally they get me fixed up and we get to the security check point. I never wear a belt in the airport less to have to take off... well I forgot and started to head through and got pulled out b/c I buzzed....so I'm checked then finally I'm good to go...we got to our gate and they were calling our group....SW is usually like a cattle call and you get first come first serve well now they have groups and numbers within that group for instance Hans was group B # 56 I was group C # 1 (b/c I had to wait to get my boarding pass...) well his boarding pass was invalid so they had to go fix him while I get on the plane ...one of the last ones...alll the double seats were taken everyone was either on the aisle or the window totally full plane....so I sit in between these 2 ladies and wait for Hans to get on the plane I'm getting extremely nervous at this point...finally he runs onto the plane & they close the door. We do not sit together.... :( I sit in between these...I'll call them chunky ladies who proceed to blow the air right on me the entire trip...oh and it's 30 degrees outside and raining so I'm already cold......so we land in Houston....transfer to Tampa goes smoothly b/c I checked in with the desk and made them double check our stuff...they fix Hans again...and we are good..... again last of group B we get on, evryone in aisle and window seats except oh wait I see one row .....the last row empty....I sit at the window Hans is in the aisle..."ladies and gentlemen we have a full flight could you please make room for those passengers boarding"...whatever ...so as I move to the middle of the row I say outloud well we need a skinny chic over here.... the flight attendant says oh yes this last row is the smallest seat in the entire plane, and I said yes and here is the largest man on the plane...next thing you know here comes this national guard guy who wants in to sit at our window....so here is Melody in the middle of the smallest row of seats in between 2 large men....for a 2 & 1/2 hour flight....great flight attendents though!!! Finally in Tampas we see our friends ( Jeff works for the same company as Hans but in Columbia MO, Val is his girlfriend we went to Curacao with them and we went to the Aggie Mizzou football game this past Nov) so they are getting a shuttle to our hotel so we go with them.....wow this one is crazy....Herbie our driver runs into a concrete barrier in the middle of the freeway just outside of the airport... tire blows...the one under Hans & I....now here we are stuck in the 2 lane freeway with construction and 6:00 traffic thank goodness a policeman ( quite cute one) stops to direct traffic so no one runs into the back of us....after 30 minutes a new shuttle comes we transfer our bags, and are off agian to the hotel. Get there check in dinner at Shell's restraunt it was fantastic! By the way I should probably tell you that Val lived in Tampa for 5 years so she is our tour guide. for the weekend.....Wow what a day.....

so now for Saturday January 26, 2008 Gasparilla is a pirate festivel with a story that I don't know enough about to share. Gasparilla is like Mardi Gras ( but not as naughty) you get beads thrown from floats but everything is pirate themed...we stood and yelled at the parade people all day..... you would think this would not be exhausting but after we got back to the hotel it was time for a nap!!! Then we ate a VERY expensive dinner at Shula's steakhouse. Don Shula the Miamai footbal guy....did I mention the cost.....ALOT!!!!

Sunday January 27, 2008 the guys meetings start at 8 so Val and I decide to visit the Florida Aquarium...It was AWESOME!!!! I think I want to change to marine biology.......then again maybe not...did you know penguins can shoot their poop up to 4 feet? and they go every few minutes...? ANYWAY...we get back to the hotel and get ready to go back to this open air mall next to where the FL Aquarium was...we eat at Bennigans and then go sit outside at this bar that had live music...those guys were great.....very good times were had by all.....this brings us to Today

Monday January 28, 2008

maybe I should mention my parents and my neice Brittany drove over from Texas to girlsit for KT & EM ....So I'm sleeping and the phone rings its 5:15 my time in FL and 4:15 central time..it's my dad...Em has been throwing up since 2 o'clock in the morning...can I get an earlier flight? After calling SW airlines....I am already scheduled on the first flight out at 10:35 am...so my dad decides to stay at home with Em and take KT to school. So, I make sure I am on the front row of this flight..witha very pregnant flight attendant who does not want to be at work...but we get in arly to Houston... so my layover was only an hour...next flight to Jackson the greatest fligt attendant guy!!! soooo funny....get in to Jackson at 1:50 pm and hurry downstairs to baggage claim so I can get home so my parents can leave and I can get KT from school at 3:15...I pull into the driveway at 2:50...exactly an hour and the drive from the airport was only20 of those 60 minutes!!!!!...SO Em woke up from her nap at 2:30 feeling MUCH better..that's the good news the bad news some construction crew had broken our main water pipe... no running water...after 12 hours of my 8 year old throwing up in the toilet!!!! We now have running water at 5:30 pm.....SO here I am......so glad to be home...and waiting for Hans to come home Wednesday.

Well Katie need to do something on the computer so I better sign off for now.. See you tomorrow school again....

Monday ~67 degrees ~Mississippi