Vacation Part I

I see a pattern developing in our summer trips! 

Here we are yet again stopping in for a Slurpee before hitting the road.

But that's because it was 7/11/2013 a.k.a. Free Slurpee Day!

See that line behind my kiddos.

It stretches to the door.

We beat this crowd, there was only a dad and his two littles in front of us.

We lucked out big time, cause they had run out of the small Freebie size at this location so we were bumped up to the next size! 

Oh, Yeah!!

Load the kids up with sugar before a 3 hour drive to Orlando,

 sounds good to me!

We were off to my parents villa for the weekend at Marriott's Cypress Harbour. 

More affectionately referred to as "Mimi and Poppy's Hotel".

My parents have been getting a villa for a week or two every summer for the past 5 years.
It's the highlight of the summer!

We hit the pools  as soon as we get there.
There are 3 pools, plus 2 kiddie pools,  2 hot tubs, and a sanua.

Let the R & R begin!

My sis and I!

The kid's favorite pool is the main pool which my children nicknamed the "Frog Pool"

 because of the four colorful frog fountains

 (see them in the background).

My fish, Makenzie, in the foreground.

That evenings festivities included a Hawaiian Luau.

The show was brought inside instead of poolside as the weather was unpredictable that evening.

Makayla and my sister's two girls kept us entertained while we waited.

Such hams!

My sister and I plan on having them redo these poses 20 years from now.

 When the show began I snuck the girls up front.

 We sat on the floor and had the best seats in the house.

My brother and sister-in-law showed up later that night with a little souvenir from their recent trip to Hersheypark in Pennsylvania.

A 5 lb chocolate bar!

We each took a nice big bite of that Soft Yummy Milk Chocolate!

So glad the rest didn't come home with me.

Poppy brought his their favorite episode of Little House on the Prairie,
The Runaway Caboose.

They all watch it so intently, as if they've never seen it before. 

Truth is they've seen it at least 10 times.
They have the BEST Grandpa in the World!
(And Grandma, too!)

The next day we were back at the pools.

Look at my brother's guilty grin.

He gave Makayla a cold one for her hurt chin.

 After a long day of swimming we headed back to the villa for dinner, but

our personal chef, Mr. Spouse was still on the golf course with my sister-in-law.

You can see a corner of the green to the left in this picture.

With our chef MIA it was each man munchkin for themselves til he returned.

We did finally eat dinner that night but it wasn't until 10 pm.

Then mom and dad called a family meeting where they showed us a map of Disney on the flat screen (that's what we're all looking at).

The big kids (adults) got it right away

but some of the little kids didn't quite understand why Poppy was jumping all around pointing out things on a map.

Mimi thought handing out these shirts would help.

Matchers!

Then we all had to try and get some sleep so we could get up early.

But it's hard to fall asleep when Disney is on your mind!!

It's even harder if your snoring husband falls asleep before you do ;)

Part II: Disney . . .

Anna Maria Island - 4th of July

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!

My love and I enjoying the moment!

This man is Gor-Geous!
How did I get so lucky.
Couldn't decide which picture I liked the best!

Stopped at Two Scoops for lunch.

Anna Maria City Pier

You can see the  Sunshine Skyway Bridge in the background.

 

It was a wonderful vacation!