Florida!

"I don't think your supposed to take your wife and kid to your very first spring break in Florida," says my husband.  But that is what we did.  Now I get why people head to Florida in the spring.  85° and sunny every day.  Every single day.  Do they rejoice when it rains or does it ruin their week?  We had the most beautiful weather, house, beach...the waves in the ocean could have been a little more; it was very calm the whole week ~ we have bigger waves on a regular basis in Lake Erie, but the shell hunting was fun and the dolphins fed every morning right out in front of our house.

View from the porch

We left Friday night, leaving Patrick home 'alone' until he left on Monday.  Rather weird feeling to have a kid old enough and responsible enough to be left home.  He really stayed with friends, but we pretty much ditched him for the beach.  The trip only took just over 17 hours, so we made it for a late Saturday lunch.  And then we spent the week, getting up, going for a run, eating, laying on the beach, eating, taking a walk on the beach, swimming in the ocean, showering, going out to eat, watching the sunset, going to bed, repeat.  Exactly what I wanted to do for my week off of school.

Day is Done

There were a few variations to the theme: Mike and Jacob went parasailing one morning.  Another morning we loaded up the bikes and went to ride the Pinellas Trail.  It's an amazing trail that runs a really long way.  We road from Seminole Park over the water to Walmart.  It was about 6 miles total.  Gracie didn't make it down the first hill ~ poor kid.  Lots of blood and road rash ~ Now we just call her Crash.  Mike and Jacob tried their feet on a skim board...not as easy as those little surfer boys make it look.  It was fun, for a little while.  If you can't be a surfer, look like one!

surfer boys

At dinner one night, Phil wore his goin'-out-to-dinner shirt.  {It sure looked a lot like a bowling shirt.}  We walk into the restaruant and see that the band is wearing the exact same shirts, just in a different color.  The lead singer shouts out, "Hey, what time is our lane open?"  That's Phil for ya!

Then we spent Thursday at The Magic Kingdom.  I love this photo op @ Cinderella's Castle; you know my deep desire to be a princess.  Best ride: Space Mountain.  Stupidest thing: The Enchanted Tiki Room {aniatronic singing birds?}We had the most magical day ever ~ as you look at the faces of all the people around 4:00 in the afternoon you can see that they have used up all their magic.  There are even some kids in full melt-down...they used up more than their share of the magic.  I don't understand why you'd take little little babies to an amusement park...but that must just be me, judging by all the babies in the park.  We road in a car, a ferry, a bus, and the monorail.  A full transportation day that started when the alarm rang at 5:00 am and ended at 1:00 am when I collapsed into bed.
So funny to meet up with everyone we know 1100 miles from home ~ almost everyone was there...including my boss {he still doesn't know who I am}.  Everyone was there to see the Blue Streak kids.  Madison High School Marching Band marched down Main Street, USA at 2:30.  It was very cool to see my 17-year old trumpet player front row marching in the most magical place on earth.  He had 5 days of fun...I just picked him up and he's EXHAUSTED!  We missed the best thing, he said that Harry Potter World is the best place ever.  Another trip, I suppose.
Now I must go make dinner & grade those papers that I brought home almost 2 weeks ago!  {can you say procrastination?}