The Gravens Conference

The Sheraton Sand Key resort where we stayed

Why does it always have to rain?

The view from our room

The pool

Enjoying lunch at Crabby Bill's. They had the best grouper sandwiches!

Our conference room

Clearwater Beach

I just love palm trees!

The three of us from work

Footprints in the sand

A beautiful sunset

Corey and I by the pool

A view of our resort from the beach

Creme Brulee!!!

Rebecca finally got Corey to smile!

Our view from the Iguana Bar & Grill on our last day

Enjoying lunch by the gulf

Homemade ice cream

We learned to never bring ice cream to the beach or you will be attacked by seagulls!

The pier

Well, I just got back from Florida!  Ever since Corey and I went to Fort Meyer's Beach last April, I fell in love with Florida and have been wishing I could go back. So, when the opportunity arose to attend the 24th Annual Gravens Conference in Clearwater Beach, Florida, I jumped at the chance!

This conference was started by Dr. Stanley Graven--a leader in neonatology and developmental care of newborns. Dr. Graven is famous for pushing the creation of neonatal intensive care units in hospitals across the country and continues to be a tremendous advocate for developmentally appropriate, family-centered care. He is now in his 80's (I believe) and still conducts research and participates in conferences. It was fun to meet him and hear his stories about the days when parents were not allowed back into NICUs and physicians would give paralyzing drugs to babies and perform surgical procedures without any pain medication. We have definitely come a long way!! It was a full four-day conference attended by people from Belgium, Australia, Sweden, Italy and throughout the United States. I attended seminars on kangaroo care, family-centered care, NICU design, infant touch and massage, and infant nutrition. I learned so much that I can't wait to bring back and use to improve our NICU and my own individual practice.

The first day we arrived, there was a severe thunderstorm and winds! Nice! And although the weather was in the 60's and 70's, it was windy and chilly the first couple of days. Oh well! It was warmer than Minnesota and there was NO SNOW!!!!

I was so excited that Corey got to go with me. I also went with two colleagues from work and one of their husbands. Corey laid out on the beach or by the pool and slept and relaxed while I was at conferences during the day and then we had our nights free to sight see and spend time together.We spent time walking along the beach, visiting the pier, shopping, and eating out (a lot)! We ate at some absolutely fabulous restaurants! We tried Cuban food at a place called Columbia's, enjoyed fresh seafood at almost every meal, and had an amazing creme brulee dessert at an Italian restaurant called Cesar's On the Beach. I had so much fun and I'm already planning our next trip to Florida!

Now, today, back to snow and cold and shoveling the driveway....Sigh!! Only 6 weeks until vacation!!!