Tuesday-Wednesday

I didn't get a chance to sit down on Wednesday and post anything about Tuesday because I was SOOOOOOO tired I just couldn't form a decent chain of thoughts.  

We went to Madeira Beach on Tuesday. It's on the Gulf side, and we chose that beach because of the weather forecast.  Daytona, Smyrna, and Cocoa Beaches were all supposed to get rain.   That's the nice thing about being in the middle, in Orlando.  We can go to either side of the state to get to beaches, so we stand a better chance of finding good weather. 

Of course, it's US, and virtually noting we do is ever without incident. Somewhere along the way, it occurred to us that we resembled the crew from "Vacation", except we had a slight "cousin Eddie" spin to us.  Then, about half way to Madeira Beach, I realized I'd forgotten my towel, so...  we had to stop off at a Walgreen's to get me one.  But before that, we stopped at Starbuck's, entering the parking lot through the exit (of course), and then stopped at a Shell station to use the bathroom. 

By the time we got to the actual beach, it was a very welcome sight!

Charlie got our umbrella securely placed, and we got ourselves SPF-ed, and ready to "beach".

The beach was GORGEOUS, and we had lots of fun playing in the surf and the sand, and relaxing in the sun.

 

 

Best of all, we managed to get through the day without getting badly sunburned, and found a snack shack just off the beach where we got snow cones and ice cream and snapped a great family pic.  

After leaving the beach, we went to a great little shopping area not far from the beach at a place called John's Pass.  We checked out several shops, bought a few souvenirs, and saw dolphins in the water, and pelicans perched.  It was pretty cool.

Back home for the night, the kids just chilled at the resort, while Charlie and I went out for a bit. 

We drove along International Drive until we found a spot that looked appealing to us to stop for a drink or two, and we landed at a bar called "Howl at the Moon".  The entertainment was dueling pianos.  It was pretty good entertainment.  The musicians were competing for tips, and took requests from the audience.  They were great at getting the crowd involved, and people seemed to be having alot of fun.  We even got our picture taken there, and bought a print.  (yes, we DO have tourist stamped on our foreheads...)  We didn't stay out late, just long enough to spend a little time alone together.  It wasn't an early night, but it didn't seem like a terribly late night, either.  Until, of course, you look at it from my perspective on Wednesday morning.

Wednesday morning, I woke up at 4:30-ish, and couldn't get back to sleep.  I was a total zombie, and really couldn't think straight.  So...  I was dragging.  A LOT.  But I got up and at 'em, and got caffeinated.  It wasn't really all that long before everyone else was up and dressed, as well, and we were on the road headed back to the beach.  This time, we headed a bit farther south, towards Venice.  Kathryn's new college roommate, Hana, lives in Venice, and we took advantage of the opportunity to meet up with her and her family.   She met us at Nokomis Beach, where we lounged away most of the day, under a beautiful blue sky.

The sand on the beach at Nokomis Beach was, very literally, shell.  I know sand IS bits of shell, etc.  but this sand was REALLY shell-y.  In fact, later last night, when we all got home, we realized we all had tiny little pieces of shell still stuck to us!

When we left the beach, we went into Venice, to the Daiquiri Deck restaurant, and met Hana's parents.  We sat and talked, and enjoyed a really good meal, and great conversation.  It was good to spend time with Hana and her family, and to get to know them a little.  Kathryn and Hana are, after all, about to become really close! 

The drive back to Orlando was a long one - unlike Tuesday, we all got sunburned at Nokomis Beach.  I think it was partly because the shell-y sand was very white, and so it was much more reflective.  Plus, it was very windy, so we may have all gotten a bit of wind burn, as well.   By the time we got back to the resort, we were all pretty much ready to crash, and we did just that.  (especially me!)

Thursday (today) was an "old folks" sight seeing day in St. Augustine, while the kids stayed back at the resort.  I still have to upload my pics from that trip, so....  I'll write about that in the morning.

Day 3, aka Monday

Since we were all a bit sunburned from Sunday's pool side lounging, yesterday was a daytime inside day.  Charlie and Jack stayed at the resort and played putt-putt and ping pong, and napped.  The girls and I went shopping.   There is a great outlet mall at the end of International Drive that's full of great deals.  Of course, we started the day's adventure with a stop at Starbuck's.  We had to rev up for serious shopping.

After our long day of bargain hunting, we hit Chicago UNO for dinner (yumalicious) and then went to the pool.   Sarah, in particular, was ready for some scuba action.

We made a couple of new friends at the pool -

 

Snails were out in force last night, and Jack was loving it.   I only saw one tree frog, though.  Last year at home, we had hundreds of the little critters, but I haven't seen one there yet this year.  So it was nice to see this fellow on the fence last night. 

 

Today's a beach day.  It's been raining every afternoon around 4 here, so we're hoping that pattern continues, and carries over to the coasts.   By that time of day, we're usually ready to leave the beach and get the sand out of our - well, everything.   I want to take a nice family picture on the beach, but in all reality, I'm not sure I'll be able to get that done today.  Nobody's too willing to wake up and get moving and ready to go yet.  I guess we'll see what happens - this might be a totally wacky family pic today, and a nice one tomorrow.

 

Tomorrow is another beach day, and we get to meet Kathryn's college roommate.  Yay!  She lives here in Florida, and we are going to meet up with her and her parents for dinner.  I'm very excited about that!  It will be good to know who she's going to be spending so much time with during the coming school year. 

 

And now I'm off to try again to wake these folks up so we can get to the beach! 

Day Two!

Day two was our lazy day.  In fact, the HH didn't even wake up until noon!  Even I slept in until 9:30 - 10:00 ish.  We hung around at the resort and relaxed, spending quite a bit of time at the pool.  Our building is on the back side of the property, across a lake from the main building, larger pool, and such.  They have a pontoon shuttle service, though, to get guests back and forth across the lake.  Charlie didn't seem to mind the ride.

The girls love, love, love laying by the pool, as do I.  So, much to Jack's dismay, we lounged alot.  He's all about being IN the water - not BY it.  You can see by the look he was giving us, that he did not approve of our decision to stay on our loungers most of the time.

The afternoon was virtually perfect. There were just enough clouds in the sky to cool things off once in a while, and enough clear, sunny sky to make it really feel like vacation. 

 

After our much loved pool lounging time, the girls made sandwiches, and we went to - of all places - Wal-Mart to get hats to wear to the beach, and a few other small things.   

 

 

 

One of the best things about our vacations is that we all help out so that we can all really be on vacation - nobody ends up getting stuck with all the work.  We're cool like that.  :)

 

Tomorrow - Outlet mall.  And pools.  And relaxing.  And....   who knows!



2013 Vacation... Day 1

Day one really kinda sorta spanned two days, since we packed up and headed out on Friday evening.  But...  I'm going to lump that all in to one day, since the time all ran together, anyway, during the marathon car ride.

 

Sarah took the first shift as vacation driver, with me riding shotgun as her "co-pilot".  She literally kicked off vacation, and got us well along the way.   Just before we left Illinois, we stopped for gas, and she and Kathryn switched.  The H.H. and I also switched "co-pilot" spots, and I moved to the back to try to nap for a while.   "Try" is the key word there.  I slept for about 15-20 minutes at a time.   I just couldn't get comfortable sleeping in a seated position!   Although, I did manage to sleep through our climb over and through the mountains.  Either that, or I intentionally tuned it out.  I hate, hate, hate that part of the drive to Florida!  Kathryn drove the entire way through the mountains, and I am SO proud of her.  I'm a grown woman who's driven the road several times, and it makes me nervous.  She's never driven it, and did great!

I took my shift as driver during the early morning.  I took us from somewhere south of Chattanooga, TN to a bit south of Macon, GA.  It was an easy drive, and I could have maybe continued, if I'd been able to have an espresso.  But every time I thought about stopping at Starbuck's, I also thought about how it would wake everyone, so I didn't stop.

In Tifton, GA, we got off the highway for breakfast, and hit up Cracker Barrel.  Jack was a little wary of the choice, after his last Cracker Barrel experience filled with way too much bland oatmeal, but....  we went, anyway.

 

I don't know if it was simply because I hadn't had any coffee in 24 hours, or because I was crazy-tired, but I truly believe the coffee served to me at Cracker Barrel was THE BEST restaurant coffee EVER.   Our waiter was pretty amazing, as well.   5 tired, hungry, and no-longer-looking-quite-so-fresh travelers got exactly what they wanted for breakfast, and left happy.

After breakfast, we made a stop at Starbuck's to feed my caffeine and espresso addictions, and we got stuck behind what I believe had to be a clown car in the drive through.  It was a small-ish car, but at the window, it seemed like they just kept handing them order and order, after order, after order.  It took FOREVER.  But, once we had our coffee, and made another quick stop for gas, we were good to go, and ready to head back to the highway.  Charlie was wide awake after his initial cup of Cracker Barrel coffee.  I think the girls, though, were just ready for a nap.

Most of the rest of the day was just filled with driving.  We were a little ahead of schedule, and so we detoured a bit, and drove along the Florida coast towards Daytona.  I was a little dissappointed that we couldn't see the water better, but I was also very impressed by the homes that were blocking our view.  The series of what must be multi-million dollar homes stretching from St. Augustine on towards Daytona is awesome! 

Getting from the coast to Orlando was uneventful.  There was expected traffic coming from the theme parks that made the trip take longer than we'd like, and it rained for a bit.  But that was the sum of the excitement.  We were pretty "done" with traveling, until we finally got to the resort.  After 18-ish hours in the car, we were sooooooo happy to see that Marriott sign!

The rest of the day and evening was spent getting settled in.  We got groceries, had dinner, everyone showered, and Jack and Charlie even wandered out for a little pool time before bed.  All-in-all, a really good vacation day 1.  

And now, on day 2, it's 10:30, and everyone but me is still asleep.  So, I'd say we've got a good start to a relaxing and good day 2!

What? When Did September Show Up?

Time is flying by.  I can't believe it's a full week into September already!

So much is going on, and I have to be the first to admit that I suck at keeping up with the blogging when there's lots going on.  But, once again, for the bazillionth time, I'm recommitting myself to it. ;)

We're three weeks into school already.  Well, two-and-a-half, really, since the first week was short.  So far, so good...  sort of.   The HH had his first "grade lecture" of the school year, since everyone has gotten their first "C" in something.  That was less than pleasant.  And Jack's seen his first bit of trouble for the year, including a chat with the principal.  That was just disheartening.  But I have high hopes, as always, that it will be a great school year, when all's said and done.   Maybe we're just getting the rough patch over with early.  I mean, really, how could these three have anything BUT a great year?

Well, we made it back from vacation safe and sound... two weeks ago.  And, of course, as is always the case with us, we've been busy ever since. 

Only one plant died while we were gone.  Not bad.  And both bunnies and both cats were none the worse for their time without us.   Naturally, one of the cats had "accidents" while we were gone, which are really "intentionals" because she gets mad at us.  But...  carpets got cleaned, and we've moved on. 

Probably my least favorite part of vacation is the day after - it's filled with laundry and grocery shopping, and putting stuff away, and getting back into the schedules of reality.  Bleh.   This time, some of that was broken up by a visit to the doctor with Jack.  Just a follow-up to the orthopedic specialist, who officially released him from wearing his boot.  The leg's healed and looking good.  AND, even better, she doesn't see any underlying problems.  Ya-hoooooo!

Jack's birthday went off without a hitch.  He gave us his birthday wish list a whopping three days before the big event, and I almost prefered that.  There wasn't time for lots of additions and changes, and revisions - those get confusing sometimes.  We can't go shopping too far in advance, anyway, since that just means hiding gifts, and more time for him to search and potentially find his surprises. ;) 

The Last Day

Friday.  The last day of vacation. While I'm anxious to get home to my own shower (the one here is not one I'd choose...), that's about it for now.  I've been really happy to be away all week.  The resort has been nice, the beaches have been lovely.  It's been a good week, overall.

But enough blah blah blah about the last day...

The HH took the kids to Universal Studios parks on Tuesday, while I did some shopping.  I rarely get to go shopping lately, and I was LOVING it.  I only got a couple of things, but buying wasn't my objective.  Shopping has little to do with buying for me.  It's more about being alone with my thoughts, walking around through stores and shops, and relaxing while I just look at everything.  I miss doing that.  So Tuesday was a great day for me.  And in the late evening, after the fam was finished with their day at Universal, the HH and I went to Landry's restaurant for a late dinner, and then to BB Kings to listen to music.  It was GREAT!
 

Wednesday was another beach day for us.  Once we were all up and moving about, we piled into the van and headed to Daytona Beach.

There's some weather stuff going on out in the ocean, and so the water was REALLY choppy, and it was crazy-windy.  There were riptide warnings, too, and the lifeguards made people stay very close to shore.  On a couple of occasions, they had to actually blow their whistles, and get the attention of people who were swimming too far out.  Kinda scary, but it didn't bother us.  We were able to have plenty of fun in the waves that were coming in.  Because it was so choppy, there were some decent waves to jump in right along the shore.

After "beaching" for a few hours, we walked along the Daytona boardwalk, looked at a few shops, and got some ice cream before heading back to the highway.  And, of course, before leaving Daytona, we made a stop at the raceway.  That place is HUGE.  I knew it was big, but until I saw it - live and in person - I just really couldn't fully imagine it.  I don't think I've never seen so much spectator seating in one place.  Wow!  I can't imagine being there for a race, when it's packed with people. 

The HH was particularly happy to have seen the raceway, since he is such a huge NASCAR fan.  and even I am glad we stopped - it was cool to see it. 

By the time we got back to Orlando, it was (of course) rush hour, so it took us practically twice as long as it should have to get back to the resort.  We made a quick stop at the grocery store, and then spent the evening relaxing, doing lots of nothing.  (what vacation's all about!)

I got up on Thursday, and hit the fitness center again.  I've made it there a few times this week, and I'm glad I did.  My days are always better if I make time for my cardio, especially.  The fitness center here is the largest I've seen at a resort so far.  And it's always busy.  I guess that means that there are some smart folks staying here this week.  ;)

Nobody wanted to go back to the beach on Thursday, so I took the girls to the outlet mall for a little Victoria's Secret bargain hunting, and then we just hung out most of the day at the resort.  The HH had to sign in to work for a few hours, and Jack developed a little bit of a migraine.  So Thursday was pretty uneventful.  The kids got pizza for dinner, and Charlie and I went to The Pub for a while.  It was a really cool bar.  Loud, but cool.  They had more imported beer on tap than I've ever seen.  And the menu featured two pages full of single-malt scotch options.  The servers were all dressed in kilts or short kilties, and the atmosphere was very old brittishy looking.  It was cool!  No gluten-free beer, though, so I had to stick with a cider.

And now here it is, Friday.  Our last full day here.  I'm getting ready to go to the fitness center for some time on the elliptical, and then I have no idea what we are going to do with our day.  It's a bit overcast, so not quite as hot today.  The girls talked about renting a boat to go out onto the lake here at the resort.  I'd still like to take some more pictures around the resort, and around Orlando. And Sarah is seemingly DYING to find a go-kart track.  But I have no idea yet where we'll end up today.  I just know we'll certainly have a good day!