Tampa Night

For dinner, Jayjay suggested Acropolis.

Greek food - yum.

Entertainment - wonderful.

Company - excellent!

Cole was thrilled when the wait staff danced through the restaurant and threw napkins into the air!

He clapped along and kept his eyes peeled for the rounds!

He got an up close view of the wandering guitar.

And he fell in love...with the belly dancer.
His eyes followed her round and round.

He and I shared some yummy dessert and left stuffed and exhausted.

We headed back to Jayjay's apartment for continued good company, Wii Mario, and...swelling.

Build-A-Bear

After landing in Tampa and settling in a bit at Jayjay's apartment, we headed to Wire Grass to grab some lunch and do some shopping.

Cole spotted Build-A-Bear and I landed in a place I had never planned on.  His persistence was impressive and his sense of direction spot-on when I tried to distract and trick him out of it.  I broke down and we walked in....

Aside from feeling sensory overload, it was a good experience.

Cole (love this kid) chose the cheapest bear in the store, even after we explored all of his options. We stood in line and waited while two girls and their mothers had 5 animals stuffed (?!).  Cole entertained Jayjay and I with some of the songs provided to put inside of the bears.  Luckily, he didn't realize that he could purchase the "Happy Birthday" song and relive it over and over and over....like in the store.

Finally it was our turn to stuff Cole's bear.  The cutest thing was putting the small, soft hear inside the bear.  Cole got to rub it between his hands to warm it up and then put good wishes and love into it for the bear to live a happy and loving life.  So cheesy and so precious!

Next came the accessories.  Again, Cole surprised me with his inexpensive reserve.  We walked away only $20 poorer with a bear, Ozzie, wearing a Tampa Bay hat and a guitar.  Most importantly, Cole loved it!