The Sound of Silence

Ssshhhhh! Do you hear that? Wait, shush. Aaahhhh...

Silence.

Both kids are gone. Asher's at camp and Amelia's in her Mother's Day Out program. This is my VERY FIRST DAY alone. I've been dreaming about this since I signed Amelia up back in May. I've got the entire day planned out.

I'm going to spend my day cleaning. Surprised? Well, there's a TON of stuff on my DVR that needs to be watched. I may get off the couch to meet Elijah for a child free lunch, but other than that my ass is staying put.

Good Times.

Long Time Sunshine

Around two o'clock last night, while running around my Med/Surg floor, I realized that just a short week ago I was in Florida, sitting around a pool, drinking wine, laughing with family and smoking (because I TOTALLY get to smoke on vacation!). This realization was pretty depressing. How did I end up back to work so quickly? It seems like it took forever to get to Florida and then I blinked and we were on a plane back to Texas.

I call foul.

I've decided I want to live on vacation. I have no desire to get back into my home routine. I want sunshine and beaches and Elijah home all day. I want late nights and long stretches of afternoon with nothing to do but read while Amelia naps. I want ice cream, and cookouts and bronzed kids smelling like sunscreen. The trip wasn't long enough, I wasn't ready to come home and so, I think I'll boycott the end of vacation. I'm not sure about everything an 'end of vacation' boycott would entail but I'm fairly certain that it would include losing the house, since paying the mortgage is my responsibility. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to live on the beach.

Since we're going to be homeless beach bums we might as well head back to Siesta Key; the town we visited for Elijah's family reunion. We couldn't afford the perfect little condo at the Seaspray Resort where we stayed, but the sand was soft and it only rained about once a day, usually at night, so we wouldn't have to worry about not being able to bathe before bed.

If we lived at the beach...

...we wouldn't need to hang artwork.

...we wouldn't need furniture

...we would all snuggle together every night for bed.

But best of all, if we lived at the beach...

...I'd never have to do laundry again.

Facing Your Fears - Really High Up

One of my favorite parts of this year's beach vacation was my parasailing trip. That's right, Ms. Terrified-of-Heights, Cried-on-King's-Dominion-Drop-Zone, Hates-Open-Water WENT PARASAILING! And it was awesome. I didn't even cry.

Tobie and I on our way up. See, no tears!

So very high.

They had the brilliant idea of dragging us through the water.

I'm rethinking my decision to NOT wear a bathing suit.

The white tank top wasn't such a great idea either.

We made it! Soaking wet, but still no hysterical crying.

The best part though, had to be the zodiac boat ride out to the parasailing boat. There were a lot of speed zone channels (where I actually got to drive - complete with a Bud Light in my hand) but once the Captain was able to open her up, we flew across that water. It was just like in the movies; wind running through my hair, water splashing while flying over the wake of other boats. Again I say, awesome.

We had a group of eleven riders, which took about two hours to parasail. Once the rides were over we met the other boats and headed straight to shore into a crazy heavy lightning and thundering monstrosity of a storm. Yes, really.  In fact, we only made it halfway to the dock before the weather forced us to stop under a bridge. The Captain couldn't see anything, it was freezing and I was no longer having any fun. 

The other boat pulling under the bridge.*

Everyone else seemed to be having a good time!*

Caia keeping me warm during the storm.*

Our group decided to get off the boats and have someone else from the family come find us. I was seriously freaked out and just wanted off of the water. Of course, once we were on land, the storm let up, and the boats took off for shore while we were stuck under the bridge hoping to be found. (For the record, I'm totally willing to admit that my judgment is impaired while sitting on a boat, in freezing wind and rain, listening to thunder and watching the lightning hit the shore.)

Of course we all made it back safely and now I have a great story about my parasailing adventure in Siesta Key! All's well that ends well, am I right? I would however, be lying if I said that I wasn't going to think twice (and check a weather radar) before getting on another boat again.

*I totally lifted those pics off of Tobie's Facebook page...Thanks Tobie!

The Sweetest Thing

We're home and I'm completely exhausted. I promise a full accounting of the past week's adventures, just not today. And maybe not tomorrow...we'll see. In lieu of a true post, I'm uploading a video of Amelia eating ice cream. It's adorable, so enjoy!


Ice Cream in Siesta Key from Miss Marina Star on Vimeo.

Vacation

We survived flying three hours with a two year old and had a wonderful first day of vacation. Asher insists that the travel day was actually day one, but I hardly count lugging two kids, and all their crap, across the US as relaxing so I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

We flew in to Tampa, rented a car and drove to Siesta Key. The place we're staying is amazing. We're a block from the beach, there's also a salt water pool, WI-FI, and a small kitchenette. This is definitely a place we'd come back to visit.


Being raised near Southern California beaches, I was nervous about how much beach time we'd actually want, but the water is warm, the sand is soft and the waves are just right for the little ones. It's rained a little off and on, usually hitting us late in the evening forcing us to run from the pool area and undress outside the room (tantalizing little tidbit, eh?).


Anyway, we are having a blast reconnecting with each other as well as extended family members. I've already finished one book and have started another. The kids are exhausted from yesterday so a little downtime is ordered for today.

And now, pictures!!!