March Break: Meeting Winter.

Our afternoon at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium - the crazy, windy trolley ride, the movie sets, the sea turtles, the stingrays and, of course, Winter:

Needless to say, even after waiting, excitedly, for six months to get there, Juliana was suitably impressed.

March Break: Our lazy days.

We started the day with coffee.  (Well, actually, Peter started the day with a run but that was way earlier than the rest of us rolled out of bed so I guess that, technically, only my day started with coffee.)

Peter drinks full strength.  I drink decaf.  Brewing two pots every morning takes time.  So imagine my delight when I found the perfect coffee place right across the street from our cottage.  Imagine my children's delight when we discovered that they had donuts.  Ooey, gooey, perfectly fresh donuts.  I was guaranteed company on my morning walk over once they realized that donuts + happy mommy on vacation = extremely lucky kids.

After breakfast we'd pull our lounge chairs down to the beach.  Along with the sunscreen and our books.  We'd read, play ball in the water, read a little more, collect some shells, and maybe have a little snooze before the noon day sun made us retreat back into the shade of our gazebo.  

Nothing's perfect though.  Sometimes not everyone was happy.

Sometimes we needed a little break.

Sometimes we needed to bring out the laptop and connect with friends.

Sometimes we needed a nap.

Sometimes we needed a cold drink.  

Sometimes we needed ice cream.

Every day, though, we could count on a beautiful, peaceful ending.  The pre-sunset plays on the beach,  watching the sun go down, and the after-dark family walk up and down the beach.  We were unplugged from the world and connected to each other at the same time.  That is family time.

 

 

Later, when the kids were asleep, Peter and I would retreat outside with a glass of wine just because we could.

Our lazy day.

With the option to do it all again the next morning.

Perfect.

March Break: We've arrived?

We arrived in Clearwater with the afternoon in front of us.  The plan was to pick up at few groceries, unload the car, and enjoy the afternoon at the beach.

Until, 12 miles from our cottage, the van started steaming.  Like serious steaming.  In the middle of busy afternoon traffic at the world's longest red light.  Little did we know at the time but we'd blown a fuse and the cooling system shut down.  The engine overheated.  And so did we.

Fortunately we pulled over into a Target parking lot and I took the kids in to get some groceries while Peter called the dealership.  To anyone who knows me, you'd think that landing at Target was a blessing.  Not this time. Two kids who have been jailed in a car for seven hours being set loose in Target was not ideal.  The plan was to let them run on the beach, not in the aisles.

Cripes, it's lucky we all made it out of there alive.

We came up with a plan, made it to the cottage in time for dinner and for this:

Well then.  It looks like our week is about to improve.

March Break: Heading south.

It started when I took Juliana to the movies in the fall.  "Dolphin Tale" tells the true story of the rescue of the dolphin Winter who now lives at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.  We came straight home from the movie and immediately started to plan our visit.  It took a little, actually a lot of convincing, but soon we had two parents in agreement, accommodations booked, and nothing to do except count down the months and days until we hit the road.  

Finally, before the sun came up on Thursday, we were heading south.  

She was over tired and way too excited so no surprise that we only made it two hours before Juliana threw up.  

Three hours later when we stopped for a bathroom break we ran into our neighbours at the gas station - what a small world, indeed.  

Much of our drive was rainy and quiet - the kids were loaded up with Gravol and Sheldon slept most of the way.  

For a couple of days before we left Sheldon was in a bad mood.  A seriously bad mood.  He didn't want to go.  He didn't want to pack.  He just wanted to play on the computer or lounge in bed watching videos.  By the end of the first day in the car he was making me crazy.  I wasn't sure if I could take this sulking for an entire week away.  But, once again, parent of the year goes to me:  we arrived at our first hotel and the poor kid was burning up.  He ended up fighting a fever, cough, and cold until our second day in Florida.  And, not surprisingly, when he started to feel better, Happy Sheldon returned.  

BEFORE  

AFTER

12 on 12.

March  :  Monday

01.  Donuts and coffee from Lighthouse Donuts at Indian Rocks Beach.  Our breakfast of choice.  All. Week. Long.
02.  Hula hooping outside our front door.
03.  Reading on the beach.  My morning of choice.  All. Week. Long.
04.  Escaping the heat with some post-lunch ice cream.
05.  Peter (and Juliana) provide some direction(s) for the afternoon.
06.  Admiring the mirror in our cottage.
07.  Catching a glimpse of 'Winter' - our inspiration for this trip.
08.  Winter's prosthetic.
09.  Sheldon touching the stingray.
10.  Sausages on the BBQ.
11.  Father/son bonding.
12.  The sunset.  Our evening of choice.  All.  Week.  Long.

Sending a message.

Juliana wants her own email account.  Like, really wants her own account.

She's been asking us for months but lately she's been stepping up the pressure.

I found this list beside my bed:

jujube

jbrocks

jjkoolbeanz

julsielovespooches

jjcutie

choochiejc

jlovesdance

jbold

smileyj

jcbfun

She's trying out handles and she's circled her faves.

The question is:  can we resist?