Buscemi Bunch: Anna Maria Island

We spent the Fourth of July on Anna Maria Island.

But before we could head out on the road we had to make a stop for an All American Slurpee.

Oh, Thank heaven for 7 - Eleven!

We were ready for a relaxing weekend at the beach.

Anna Maria is a beautiful Island off the west coast of Florida.

We were invited to come stay with our friends at their family condo for the holiday weekend.

I would have loved to have walked around old downtown Bradenton on our way through, there are some intriguing architectural buildings, but we were on a mission to get on the island. And so were about a thousand others. Traffic getting on the island was stop and go as there is only one lane on and one lane off.

I did manage to get this picture of the Bradenton Post Office when we were stopped.

After a quick "Hello and thank you for having us!"

We were in our suits and on the beach.

The surf was a bit choppy that first day but that didn't stop us . . .

That night we started our 4th of July celebration with some sparklers and fireworks of our own before enjoying the big fireworks show right down the beach.

He's such a handsome kid.

I love him!

She was nervous the first time, especially as it burned closer to her hand, but then she got TWO more and enjoyed them immensely.

Makayla was too quick running about with hers to get a clear picture.

Apparently it was safe enough for them to sit next to this firework?!

You can see just how smoky it was on the beach, everyone and their brother was lighting off fireworks that night.

My BFFL and I had been wanting to do a New England Clam Bake for the past year.

We finally got to do it on this vacation.

Of course we were Sous-chefs to Marcello.

Couldn't have pulled it off without him.

(I will do a post about our recipe another time)

I don't know if you can tell or not but there was an incredible amount of food.

Never go shopping hungry!

We had tons of leftovers for the next night as an appetizer to dinner and used some of the potatoes for making red skinned mashed potatoes.

Later that evening we headed to Dips for some ice cream.

Superman Ice cream!

We swam . . .

Buggy boarded . . .

Tubed . . .

And body surfed for three whole days.

So on our final day we decided to board the trolley and head up to the pier for some sight seeing.

Loved watching these two bond on the trolley.

He is such a good dad; my children are blessed.

Enjoy the pictures of our day...

I think they're OPEN!

Charming little bakery where we stopped for coffee and cookies.

The muffins were so fresh you can see them steaming up the cake dome.
We bought oatmeal raisin cookie sandwiches filled with buttercream. They were still warm and just melted in our mouths.
HEAVEN!