Back in early October when my DiL suggested a sunny get-away vacation with them sometime in January or February, of course I said YES! She started hunting for cheap flights to different locations and after finding out that friends of theirs were going to go down to the same city she was considering, the date was set for the week of January 10-17. I thought that was a bit early, but it seems there is a slump in tourism just after Christmas and before the Spring Break holidays start later in February, so she found good prices. And after the deep freeze temperatures we had had since Christmas, it felt really good! We had enough time to clean up and recover from the Holidays and get ourselves organized for take-off.
I had been concerned about my house/pet sitter situation, but then remembered that I had a young friend here in town that could be trusted to check in or take over in an emergency. When I contacted her to ask if she could be emergency back-up (and she said yes), I was ok.
We went to Cape Coral, FL. I have a good friend from High School days who lives there permanently and was looking forward to seeing her - and her Mom who now lives with her. DiL found a VRBO house for us to rent with a heated pool and 4 bedrooms. I was a little concerned about making all our own food in a rental kitchen (sometimes they are lacking in cooking utensils), but it was fine. We had everything we needed. DS the Elder rented a car that fit all of us (barely) but he was the only driver allowed, so that was a bit of a crimp - anytime anyone wanted to go anywhere, he had to drive them. But it worked out ok. I learned how to use UBER!
We went out to eat only a couple of times and tried to stay away from crowds. We went for the nice weather and relaxation, not to go and run around a lot. What's the use of renting a house with a pool if you aren't going to use it? But we did do a few fun things!
I was concerned that a full week living with the kids would get on my nerves, and at times it did but I just took Myself off to my bedroom and shut the door for an hour or so.... It was fine.
Now I'll just make a photo diary of the trip and sign off at the end.
The kids did really well on the plane.
We had a rough landing in a downpour, and it took over an hour to get us all of the plane.
Luggage, carseats, and people all got wet!
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It was a nice house, very clean. Not much space outside for running around, so the kids got in the water, instead. One night we went to a restaurant (the Boathouse) that had outdoor seating - ON the sand! The boys loved it!
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Bowman's Beach, Sanible Island.
Walking from the parking lot to the beach. |
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Make like a pelican!
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| Burying Grandpa in the sand... |
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Then Jasper
then Emmett.
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A lovely day. Full of fun! And no sunburns!
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Lots of "pooling around".
And a visit to a local rum distillery -
the Wicked Dolphin.
We tasted rums.
And bought some, to take back to the rental, but not to take home.
On our last full day (Sunday, JAN 16) WE HAD STORMS! Even tornadoes. One touched down in the Ft. Myers Metro area, but we just spent an hour and a half in the safe room (master bathroom).
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| Just hanging out.... |
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| A walk after it was quiet, lots of coconuts down! |
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| Indoor games... This was train ride... |
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| And somebody had a nice long nap! |
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| Back on the plane.... |
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| A long ride home... |
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| And once back in SF, everybody was ready to run! |
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| Welcome back to a bit of snow left! |
As usual, this Blogger program went haywire on me so some things are out of order, or the words and pictures don't jive, but anyway, it is all here, one way or another!
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