July 4th "Vacation"

Every time we are at Quiet Water my oldest grandson proclaims we are on vacation. Works for me.

I was able to spend the Wednesday night before with Paige and Zane (PG was on the west coast shooting for a movie). I had such fun playing with Zane..........lots of smiles and "talking"was involved. I left Fairfield Drive early on Thursday morning and arrived at Edgemere Drive before Kevin left for work....that's early!The boys slept in a bit but once they were awake and breakfast was over things kicked into high gear. After we put their little red suitcases in my car we were off on our journey to the Keys.

About 20 minutes into the trip the question "how much longer....?" made it's first appearance but there was no whining or fussing. Just the question. We made it to the Capri restaurant in Florida City for lunch. Pizza, chocolate milk and ice cream. I ordered a large pizza for the 3 of us and I got to eat 2 slices.......the boys were hungry! Once we left Florida City both of the boys took a nap and by the time they woke up we were about 3 miles away from Quiet Water.

We dropped our bags at the house, turned up the A/C and water and then went into town to the post office and to pick up groceries. Hot dogs for dinner and then to bed pretty much on schedule for the boys. I waited up for Kevin and Ashley to arrive. Once they arrived safely we all hit the sack.

Friday:
*Kevin worked on Sook most all day and got her running by the end of the day. While he worked, Ashley, Kyle, Todd and I went to the beach. I had bought a kite the day before and the boys had fun flying it with their mama. It did get caught in the mangroves and we had to do major work to get it undone....but we did. Friday night was spent anchored off the beach @ Sombrero to watch the fireworks which were spectacular. There was a little snafu with the anchor but Kevin managed to work around it and we all enjoyed the evening.

Saturday:
Sook is running so we spent the entire day on the boat, most of the time at the sandbar just hanging out. When not snorkeling around the boat Kyle was climbing up and then jumping off the the side with all of the adults yelling "feet first" every time he started to jump. (We were anchored over shallow water) Todd put on his mask and snorkel and after a while was having a great time kicking around with one of us holding his hands. Later in the afternoon we ran down to Burdine's on the Water for gas, drinks and snacks. Kyle and Todd both got to steer the boat while we were idling in the canals and they did a great job! Then back to Quiet Water to get showered and dressed to have dinner @ Annette's. Had to check on Nemo and "Frankie the Puffer" before we left Marathon.

Sunday:
Ashley, Kevin and the boys left early morning so they could visit with friends on the way back to Fort Myers. Pappi pretty much vegged all the rest of the day with a little bit of cleaning included. The house was so very quiet after the Longs left.

Monday:
Big cleaning day for me and once I started I found more and more that wanted to spruce up. I ended up leaving later than I planned but the house was left in sparkling condition for Ryan, Kylene and Riley who arrived on Tuesday.

As always, it was difficult to leave and head back to Pinellas county. I find such peace at Quiet Water. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful place to escape to as often I wish to.