That's how we roll...

We just got back from a FANTASTIC family vacation to South Beach. My brother, Jim, lives down there and is the Manager of Guest Relations at a swanky boutique hotel right on the beach. A visit to him was long overdue. Shortly upon landing, we learned that we would be staying in one of the penthouose rooms, and were anxiously awaiting seeing our digs for the week. We were not disappointed!! Our room was separate from the rest of the hotel, with our own large private balcony and a great ocean view. We were treated like royalty all week by my brother and the entire hotel staff. Jim even arranged for friends to babysit Ryan 2 nights of our visit, so we could have adult dinners out - One noight we took Jim and his girlfriend Kim out, and one night Tim and I had a date night! We layed by the pool, on the beach, took walks, enjoyed great food and drink and most important of all, spent quality time with my brother. Ryan hadn't seen his Uncle Jim in just over a year, but it was as if no time had passed, they fell right into playing together. During the week, we would hear Ryan say "Uncle Jim - watch this!" before almost everything he did. When we took the Duck Tour, and I bought Ryan his own "quacker," his first comment was "I can't wait to show this to Uncle Jim!" Ryan even had a sleepover at Jim's house on our last night in town. Several of Jim's coworkers commented on the resemlbance between Ryan and his Uncle, calling Ryan Jim's "mini-me." Ryan also loved staying at the hotel, it didn't take him long to figure out how it all worked - press "L" in the elevator to go down, "P" to go up. he also remembeered where all the buttons were to automatically open the different doors to the hotel, and loved opening the doors for not only us, but other guests and the staff. Possibly he will follow in the steps of his Uncle Jim, who started at the hotel as a Bellman. His hard work over the years there has paid off, and I could not have been a more proud sister than to see the life he has created for himself in Miami, and how well respected he is at the hotel. It is a testament to his hard work that we were treated so well, and received so many perks (read: freebies!) on our trip. Leaving vacation is always hard, but even more so this time, especially after seeing the bond created by Ryan and Jim in such a short period off time. I see many more trips to South Beach in our future, and hope Jim and Kim can make a trip up north to see us soon also....