Loved getting home... hated leaving Florida, but once we were on the flights home... I was ready to get back home and back to normal. Missed our dog, Henry a lot. He missed us too, apparently sniffing the yard everytime he went outside ... looking for us I guess. Poor guy. Mom and Dad took wonderful care of him and spoiled him I am sure. Thank you! We brought him home a special bone from Target (ha) and the kids couldn't wait to give him his present.
Florida was wonderful. Our beach house was perfect. Gorgeous. I would definetely go there again. St. George Island was fun and the ocean was close and I loved seeing it when I woke up in the morning. Here is where we stayed: "Reel Close" --- West Beach St. George Island.
We ate like kings and each of us had our things we were good at cooking... so that worked out well. Shaune made killer pina colada's and we rarely left the beach house for eating, other than some icecream once in a while.
Our usual day had us waking up for breakfast and then heading to the beach for a couple hours. The kids loved the ocean and the saltwater didn't seem to bother them (or their eyes). I loved it all: the smell, the sounds, the sights (dolphins, crabs, birds, fish)... I hadn't been to the ocean since I did my internship in LA, California back in (ahem) 1994.
The private pool was wonderful to have and my kids enjoyed that as much as the beach I think. We usually hung out at the pool all afternoon, with the young ones napping in their rooms. Chloe loved the bunk bed room so much that she sometimes asked to take a nap. Ha. That was great! Anyhow, the pool... Chloe was a water bug and loved jumping into the pool over and over and over again. She never tired of it. Keaton learned how to swim... way cool. He was so dang happy with himself and once he mastered swimming on his own in the deep end, there was no stopping him and he was diving for rings and other stuff. He was thrilled!
Mostly we just chilled on the island. There isn't a ton to do there. It has a very small section in the middle of the island for groceries, movies, beach rentals, etc. We did watch a ton of horror movies at night when the kids went to bed (ya, we are silly) and took the kids for ice cream one day. On Friday night of our trip we booked a 2 hour tour of the waters/island and that was amazing. Jenn and her boys came with us. We went to little St. George Island (uninhabited) and it was gorgeous. There were dolphins swimming near the shore and went shelling. The kids wanted to fish badly so we fished as well and each of them got lots of fish... Chloe even got one or two big ones (big for her!) --- they were all so excited to be fishing in the ocean. Chloe cracked me up because she was the only quiet kid on the boat (the other 3 were excited and BOYS) so she would just stand there with her fishing pole in her hand but every once in a while she'd look up at the captain and say "I wanna catch a shark". Totally serious face... she was on a mission! A few photos of our boat trip:
On Saturday (our last full day on the island) we went to the State Park at the very tip of the island. Wow, beautiful. There was hardly anyone there, we had the beach to ourselves. We went mid-day and then liked it so much that we returned for our last night there. We went shelling and I was in the ocean with all the kids for at least an hour. The water was so clear there and calm... I could see all the different fish and crab swim away as I walked thru the water... again we saw dolphins and flying fish were jumping behind Jenn all the time.
Sunday we packed up and headed out :(
I somehow got sick with a cold, how in the heck does that happen? You leave Canada for warmer weather and you catch a cold about 4 days into your trip! UGH. I still have it and it is a nasty one.
The travel home was uneventful. The kids loved flying and weren't scared so I am glad of that... they thought it was fun and loved the airports and all the activity. They were really good the whole trip. It was a good trip... it was a wonderful trip. I'd do it again in a heart beat. I miss Jenn and I miss Renee. It sucks that we all live so far away from each other. I will see you both in October... I cannot wait ;) I loved spending time with your families. Beautiful, fun kids. Great husbands. It was great fun guys... thank you!
Also, it's nice traveling with 2 other camera happy girls, we managed to get lots of cute photos...
