Paradise is gone

Our month long vacation has come to an end to mine and Summer's dismay. Neither of us were ready to leave, but after a long, long, long drive yesterday we are home. The kids were ready to be home 5 minutes into the trip which I thought was a bad sign, but we did not have any breakdowns the entire trip. Lexie did wake up from her 2nd nap crying about her ankle. The last few days we were there the bugs came out and ate us all up, her especially. So we've all had our share of itchiness the past few days. We stopped twice to eat and made a couple of pit stops at rest areas. It took us a little over 11 hours and we were lucky not to hit too much traffic when we passed through Atlanta. The car is still not unpacked, but I will get around to it eventually.

There were lots of adventures on the trip, and we all managed to avoid getting sunburned. The girls and I came home with great tans thanks to the beautiful Florida weather and good skin pigmentation. It was in the 80's the first 3 weeks and the 90's the last week. I think it only rained 2 or 3 times the whole months and that was not for very long. A lot of the days were spent in the pool and hot tub. The girls were less thrilled about the beach than I was, but they did have some good times playing in the sand, collecting shells, and building castles. The best times for them were at sunset when it was not too hot.

We took a ferry to Caledesi Island which turned out to be a 45 minutes hike north from the beach where we stayed. With the kids, I am glad we took the ferry instead. We swam in the ocean for a bit before we ate a picnic lunch at some tables they had shaded with palm trees. Then some of us hunted for pretty conch, whelk and cockle shells which were more prevalent on the island than where we were staying. The kids tried to play on the playground with Memaw and Nanny but the equipment was too hot. So, they played in the showers and sand instead.

Summer got to parasail on two different occasions. The first time she and I went with my friend Christina. She was a little nervous about doing it, but I reassured her and once we were up in the air she was all smiles loving the ride. When they dipped us down to get our feet wet, she raised her feet so she wouldn't get wet. On the way back into the bay to dock the boat, the guy jokingly told us we were going skydiving next. She asked me what that was and I told her jumping out of an airplane with a parachute. She asked if we would land in the ocean and I told her no we would land on the ground. She was ready to go! LOL She wasn't too disappointed when I broke it to her that we weren't really going to do that. ;) The 2nd time she went with her Auntie Erin and cousin Jonathan and again raised her feet so they wouldn't get wet.

On our next to last day, we headed to the pool to try out the water slide which was closed every other time we tried to go during the month. It was newly installed so they were still working out the kinks most of the month so it would be safe for riders and no one would get injured. To be able to go down it, the kids all had to take a swim test and swim all the way across the pool. Summer was intimidated at first and did not make it the first go around. I don't know if it is because I was beside her, but every few strokes she would grab the side of the pool. I knew she could do it, but she did not believe in herself. So, she gave up and just swam around enjoying the pool anyway. About an hour and a half after we got there, she got up the nerve to try again with Memaw coaching her through it. She swam across like a champ and it made my heart so proud to see her do it. Her first time down the slide was great and she did not land in the water the wrong way or get any water up her nose like I worried she would. She absolutely loved it! She and her cousins went over and over again. They could've stayed longer, but after 3 hours at the pool we headed back to the house.

We made several return trips to the playground and pier. On our last night, Summer wanted to go back to the pier for one last souvenir. But, they were not set up yet when we got there so we ended up going to a shop where she had seen something she liked before. She looked the little store over really good before picking out her treasure - a box full of shells which included a pink star fish. That was the clincher for her. It made me smile because she is a girl after my own heart compelled by the beauty of shells. We both came home with lots of those treasures from the ocean. Can't wait to get crafty with them and I know she will be all over that too!