The Start of the Hot and Humid Week

I forget how long it takes to travel just across the country in the U.S. We left Troy's parents house around 8:30 am and arrived in Tampa at midnight (9 pm Phoenix time). That is a lot of hours of domestic traveling. The kids were exhausted and went to sleep right away which was a huge relief since we were all in one hotel room. 

Saku's first flight in his own seat. Though he did end up spending a good amount of time on our laps. 

After Saku told the captain "good landing", the captain gave him a set of wings. 

We had one day in Tampa before our cruise would take off. True to Florida's August weather, we experienced their rain right away and walked through  a three inch puddle when we went to check out Aino's wedding dress. 

Saku is showing his lack of cooperation when it comes to pictures. But otherwise an awesome picture. Tatu and Paula were shopping and therefore missing in the "family" picture. 

My beautiful sisters. 

One day my kids will look at the camera and smile, right?

The main event in Tampa was a visit to the Tampa Bay Aquarium. We figured that it was a good place for the kids and adults to enjoy themselves. 

We broke the "no food or drink" rule and had a rest moment with some juice boxes. 

Little did we know that we would get to see these kind of fish even closer  when we would go snorkeling later in the week.

Our miss E is a daredevil. She is totally into things that give her an adrenaline rush. So she was in heaven at the aquarium's huge splash pad. We were bad citizens and let her play there even though she didn't have a swimming diaper, which was required. I just couldn't deny her.

She was obviously soaking wet afterwards and not happy when I told her that we were done. She had to stripped to her diaper and ended up getting a new shirt from Gap since we were going to the Cheesecake Factory right after and I didn't think they would really like a naked little girl there. 

Our first day of vacation was a success. We ate delicious Cheesecake Factory food, which was a celebration of Aino's birthday. We tried out the hotel's swimming pool, but the water was little chilly and there were too many mosquitos. I also ate about 1/2 pound of Finnish candy, but that was no surprise after I hadn't had any for six months.