We left Sunday after services in our fancy rental car, a huge roomy Suburban. The Beast nearly stranded us the last two trips, we weren't taking another chance. Going from 2003 to at 2021 was a huge technological jump and Chris had a lot of fun with "Look kids No Hands" as he tested out the "Lane Assist" option. We also brought another family member this year, Holly.
As soon as we arrived, the kids quickly unloaded, were greeted by the carp and then they headed off to Miss Beth's; Chris and I left to get pizza and groceries. At the grocery store, Chris was accosted and given a fist bump by a perfect stranger for being man enough not to wear a ridiculous mask. At Miss Beth's, Titus picked up a skim board (it had been on his bucket list for a while). After dinner we enjoyed our first of many enjoyable walks along the beach. We saw a lot of wildlife, Cannonball Jellies, Blue Crabs, Horseshoe Crab and Great White Egrets. When we rejoined the kids Chris helped Amber with her Boogy boarding. Then we returned home to chill out to watch "Over the Hedge".
Monday morning Lance was up bright and early and managed to hook the 30lb Carp "Of Knowledge" outside our condo. It was so heavy it bent the hook and spit it out. Then it was off to the beach where Titus quickly mastered his skim board. It looked like so much fun that the big boys had to get their own boards at Miss Beth's after we ate lunch at our favorite Greek restaurant. We carried the boards over to the Pirate park, where my kids entertained all the other kids :-)
Back to the beach to try out the skim boards and fishing. Even Chris gave the boards a try and managed not to hurt himself. Lance caught on like Titus, Jared decided it was more fun to float with the fishies.
Lance caught a Whiting and a Sting Ray. A well meaning woman tried to help flip the Sting Ray over with her hand, luckily Lance stopped her in time. (Lance has to put it on its back, step on the tail to remove the hook, then use his pole to flip it back over to keep distance between him and the barb). After that excitement we went back to the condo for a movie (Secret Life of Pets 2) and game time (Uno).
Tuesday, was the beach again in the morning, lunch at the Sandbar, a visit with Miss Beth, Pirate Park, back to the beach, and watch a movie (Secret Life of Pets 1)....do you see a trend.
Wednesday, we decided to try out Legendary Golf, a family run put-put place that had a neat biblical quote at every hole. We split into two groups: Chris and the Ladies vs. The Boys. One group was there to have fun Yin/Yanging their way through the course, the other group was a bit more competitive, I'll let you guess which group was which.
Afterward, we filled up on Greek food and returned to the beach, where we walked and played with the Coquinas.
Then we returned to our condo and watched Ice Age. This was followed by returning to the beach for some night fishing (caught another Whiting and 3 Catfish) and star gazing. As we were walking along, Jared voiced he didn't realize how much he needed vacation. The beach is so healing.
Thursday, we were back at the beach playing walking and fishing. Lunch at the Sandbar and "Goodbyes" to Miss Beth and Maverick.
After the park we took a break indoors to watch Mary Poppins and then went back to the beach for an evening ball game, walking and fishing. This time Lance caught a Sharp Nose shark and an actual Scalloped Hammerhead.
Friday, we did our exit from the beach a little different. We'd met the manager of a breakfast restaurant and decided to eat there for breakfast, rather than to scavenge for left overs.
We did well disconnecting for the week. I hope to keep the momentum going when we return home. Frankly life is better without a lot of electronics. Highlights of the week voiced in the car on the way home were: Learning to skim board - kite surfers - cute kids at park - loss of speech "fire farters" and "taco cranes" - jets and coast guard.
