day 9, 10, 11, & 12....of Florida

Promise this is the last post of me reliving my Florida days....some of you wanted to see this last couple of days so here you go...

Day 9...shock of all shocks I know --we went to the beach. Smile smile smile. It was a beautiful day and so most spring breakers were there at Siesta also. It took us about 20 minutes to find a parking spot..and another 20 minutes to walk to the beach from our parking spot. Even though we were at the beach early...by 10 a.m. Well not that early...but early if you are on vacation...right. But it was a good work out...and lots of great things to see on the long walk there.

Jack spotted this sight first....

Not something us Northerners see...ever.When we got to the beach...we met up with cousins. What a blast to watch the kids play and catch up. Pictured above:
Andy & Danielle, Donovan & I, Jenn & Randy

Donovan was in charge of entertainment...and gave the kids rides on the boogie board. Almost like sledding only with water and sand.

That evening we were invited over to Rod and Jessica's since they were not able to make it to the previous get together at the park. Loved eating outside....loved eating Jessica's good food....loved not cooking....

Loved laughing until my cheeks hurt...love these people.





Day 10....Jessica hooked us up with a pool of a friend of a friend. Great fun to play in the pool. I was surprised how Suzy would jump right in like she did last summer. She went right under, it was great. I thought with age she would get a little more fear of going under. But she loved it, as long as I had my arms out to catch her, and counted to 3. William on the other hand has no fear and more than once that day I pulled him up...because he went to far walking until he couldn't reach. He would get scared and then about 20 minutes later go for it again...venturing out to deep. I'm hoping swimming lessons will give him the boost to swim independently this summer. Isabella and Jack were in the deep end diving for pennies.

Later that night we went for dinner at a sea food restaurant. Isabella and Donovan both ordered fish. I had some yummy chicken.

Day 11 was Easter Sunday. I had Easter goodies for the kids and they opened those before we went to church. I love the excitement they had of opening their little surprises. I love the fun of getting them dressed up. We also did the Easter story through Ressurection Eggs this year. It was a neat way to retell the story of Jesus dying on the cross for a young audience. It had a huge impact on their little minds.

Easter morning we went to Abundant Life Fellowship, the church where Donovan's first cousin is the youth pastor. Also 2 other cousins attend there. It was good to be in a church with family on Easter morning.

After church Danielle and Andy invited us over for lunch....with all the trimmings.

Let me share the menu with you....

Ham

Mashed potatoes

& Gravy

Corn and green beans

Hot rolls

Mac & Cheese (for the kids)

and Pie
Hello!!! It was awesome!

The above pictures shows our kids toasting with Sweet tea...to the awesome lunch. It was so cute Austin (their oldest) even said prayer for the kids table. I didn't hear the prayer...but for days after that William repeated how Austin prayed....."Dear Jesus, Thank you for dying on the cross." Isabella informed me that, it was how Austin prayed for Easter lunch. It's pretty cool when your kids learn from their cousins a prayer like that.

Our hosts.

After lunch the kids went outside for a water gun fight. It was around 85 that day. How awesome to be sitting outside soaking up the Florida sun.

That evening we were also invited to another Easter Celebration with Donovan's Aunt Wilma and Uncle Reuben and their family. It was such a bummer to decline...but we had a lot of junk to pack in our trunk that night so we could leave at a ripe hour of 3 a.m. the next morning.

How sweet that Aunt Wilma brought down an Easter basket for our kids with 4 of everything for our kids. How very very thoughtful of her....thanks Aunt Wilma. It was a great way to pass the time the next day.



Day 12 came and we got up at 3 a.m. we loaded up the sleepy kids and headed out. It was a great driving day and we had no traffic or weather problems. Which was a huge blessing. One sad, sad moment of my driving was to pass this great and awesome place without stopping.

Esp. since I still have a gift certificate to use from Christmas! Well another day I guess. The first 2 days of being home I have to admit were pretty depressing. Just getting into the swing of things and getting back to reality. Now Donovan he loves the trip home. Loves to be home. The man is a home body by nature. Me...well I think I would've stayed in Florida (if not for the cash flow issue) for another week. I just love to travel. I just love to be in a new place. The reality of back to the grind was just a little hard for me. But after a couple days...and catching up on the unpacking and laundry, seeing friends and family and I was happy to be back in my nest.

How do you do coming off of vacation?