In Summary

I made a decision to leave the laptop and tablet at home when we packed for our Miami trip last week. Travel light: Advice from many a seasoned tourist that I took to heart this time. My phone would keep me sufficiently connected, and it did to a point, but alas, I did not use it to capture glimpses of my days away.  Here's my attempt to do so now:

1. Birthday beach-side dinner with people I love
2. Good-luck-kissing a sea cucumber and miles of walking the length of Key Biscayne
3. Gelato scoops with peaks as tall as a mountain--strawberry and coconut
4. Crying in the middle of the night--shoot, it's the stomach bug--but not my kiddo (yet)
5. Windy day on the beach to make sand castles, read, laugh with my sons, basically all of the things I dream of doing when I am not on vacation.
6. Road-trip to get more people that I love all together in one place--cousins and smiles bring me unending joy.
7. Crying in the middle of the night--this time, the bug got my sister, so I took the baby--I remembered the joys and pains of rocking an unsettled little one. My tiny niece and me, we bonded.
8. Last night in Paradise, we were determined to enjoy it. Outdoor patio dinner, toy store, and gelato mountain tops. 
9. Last night, cont'd, and this time the bug got my kiddo. What a trooper, but...who...is...next?
10. Home when the bug got me. Thank God for my own bed.

The stomach virus threatened to ruin the trip, but I can't ignore that spring break provided much fun in the sun. We wore flip-flops, hunted Easter eggs, ate delicious food, and celebrated time with some of my favorite people. I finished a book, too, that I will remember forever. My suitcase was lighter without the weight of extra devices, but my heart was full every day of this trip.