A SUPERb time

Dean and I just returned from a wonderful trip to South Florida to attend Super Bowl XLIV. Though the outcome was horrible (Saints won in case you are living under a rock), we had a great time in the sunshine with some of our favorite friends. The trip would not have happened at all without the extreme kindness of my mom who gave up her entire weekend and then some to stay with the boys. The best part was that she still had a smile on her face when we returned on Tuesday so the boys must not have completely pushed her over the edge!

This post would be 15 pages long if I went into full details of the trip, but here is a snapshot of the weekend:

• A winter storm came through central Indiana the afternoon/evening before our 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning flight, which caused us to panic that we never would even make it down to Florida. We ended up leaving our house around 3:45 a.m. and slip slided our way to the airport, seeing a car do a 360 on 465 and a semi trailer jackknife 100 yards in front of us. We were able to board our flight to Atlanta on time, but then had delays for de-icing due to "a lot of ice buildup on our plane." Yikes. We safely made it to Atlanta but had to sprint (literally) nearly 1 mile to our connecting gate. We arrived to have them tell us our seats had been given away...but then more seats magically became available (?) and we were able to slip breathlessly into our seats. The flight was a horrible one for me, lots of turbulence and I have never been more air sick in my life. We landed (finally) in Orlando where we went to pick up our rental (a white Chrysler Sebring convertible), Dean got in a fight with Espanol the car guy (not really but it was humerous to see their interaction) and then we picked up Cherrlynn and Ethan (who had flown in the night before from Austin, TX) and began our 3 hour journey to Hollywood, Florida...our home for the next few days.
• After checking into our hotel we began our "pub crawl" through Hollywood with Cherrylynn, Ethan, Kevin and Lisa Flinn, Jim and Marilynn Wernke, and Todd and Sandy Linville and also met up with Shad Fox (one of Dean's friends/neighbors since childhood). We stopped for nachos and beer at the first bar, then hit up a martini bar, and finally landed at the Iguana Pines. The last bar was hosting a party for Colts fans and there were at least 500+ fans in attendance. It was a dance club atmosphere and a lot of fun. When we left I asked one of the 5 police officers outside to help us get a cab, which he did and when asked if he hated nights like this or if it was fun to see all the drunk, happy people, he responded "Honestly? I have never seen so many white people here in my life." Nice.

• Game day began with sunny skies and excited fans everywhere. We all proudly sported our Colts gear and made our way to the stadium by about 12:30 p.m.
• We all had fun checking out the fan experience filled with interactives and live tapings of NFL today, etc. We met up with tons of friends from home and just really had a great day.
• We headed into the stadium around 4:30 p.m., about an hour and a half before kickoff. We went up to check out our seats and I immediately saw my brother down on the field!

• We snuck our way down to lower level seats and checked out the view from closer to the field.
• It was finally time for the game to begin and I had butterflies in my belly. Ethan and Cherrylynn switched seats with the couple next to us so the four of us were together. We had Jim Nantz behind us (not really, but he wouldn't stop giving a running commentary of the game, prompting Dean to inquire whether the person next to him was blind, thus necessitating the play by play!). Later in the first half Jim Nantz nearly knocked me out with his binoculars (though he claimed he "didn't see me there and didn't mean to graze my head." Um, I was in my SEAT and he smashed in my skull, so not sure how that was grazing, but bygones.) Needless to say, we were not fans of Jim.
• The pregame show was great. Queen Latifah sang America the Beautiful and Carrie Underwood the Star Spangled Banner. I love a good marching band and it was cool to see them spell out Saints and Colts on the field.

• Though the Saints fans clearly outnumbered the Colts fans, we were in a section filled with blue and had fun cheering as loud as we could...but not on offense. I had fun "flashing" my #29 jersey everytime Joe-Joe had a good run!
• The halftime show featured The Who. The staging and lights were impressive, but I am not a big fan of their music, so thought the show was kind of boring. And really long.
• The second half just pretty much blew from the get go. The onside kick to start off the half really seemed to take the wind out of the sails of all the Colts fans in the stadium and, unfortunately, the Colts team. It was so sad and a really dissapointing end to a terrific season.
• We made our way back to Hollywood to drown our sorrows in some pizza and then hit the sack. A fire alarm woke us up at 2 a.m. (to which Cherrlynn inquired "what kind of 12-year-old pulls the fire alarm?). We managed to get back to sleep and were suprised to see that the sun did in fact come up the next morning despite the Colts loss the night before.
• After a trip to South Beach (hated it) and then back to Hollywood for lunch with Kevin and Lisa, we took Cherrylynn and Ethan to the airport and then made our way up to Orlando. Stubborn as we are, Dean and I insisted on having the top down on the convertible, but had to have the heat cranking on our feet in order to not freeze to death as the sun was shining, but it was still only about 70 degrees and obviously windy in the car.
• Dean and I went out to dinner and headed to bed early Monday night. We had switched our flight to a nonstop flight the next morning as, once again, a storm system was coming through Indiana and we were concerned that we might not make it home.
• The flight home was uneventful...well except for the fact that the guy in front of me read the USA Today OUTLOUD to his wife and the guy next to me across the aisle threw up the entire flight (seriously, the entire flight, I think he went through 7 barf bags). We made it though and I was so excited to see my boys.

I told Dean that I was really grateful this weekend -- not only for the much needed time away with my husband -- but also the trip reminded me how much I need sunshine!! The boys have not been on their best behavior latey and my patience has been at an all time low. Winter in Indiana is a lonely season filled with clouds and cold temperatures. Prior to this weekend it had been weeks since I felt the sunshine on my face and I forgot how mood altering that can be. I am now setting my sights on spring and can't wait for the days of sunshine to get here so my boys and I can lose our 'tudes and get outside and play. Thanks for a great getaway Dean (and Mom). I love you!