We
headed to the Sunshine State for some holiday R&R with Poppy,
Darren & fam, Aunt Jackie and Uncle Steven. Hard to believe we had
never all been on a vacation together before. We spent the week in Marco
Island, Florida where the kids enjoyed playing with their cousin Jonas
whom Dean dubbed "the third brother." : ) The resort was beautiful and
had a great kiddie pool, hot tub, and white sand beaches with
picturesque sunsets. The moment the boys' toes touched sand, they
concentrated on filling up their pockets with as many seashells as
possible. Between overloaded pockets and wet shorts from the ocean,
Morgan didn't make it far before his pants fell down. Didn't seem to
bother him much though! The boys slept well between all the sun and fresh air. Once day, I think Dean must've walked miles between runs to fill up his bucket with water for a sandcastle. One day we ventured to the Everglades to check
out an
airboat tour and an alligator farm. The boys liked the boat ride,
holding a baby gator and having a huge bird land 2 feet in front of us
on the helm of the boat. For New Years, we had dinner and watched the
fireworks in Naples.
Afterwards, soapy bubbles "snowed" from the lampposts lining the
streets. Too bad some people parked their fancy convertibles underneath! We
spent the rest of our days hanging out at the beach and pool (
see boys playing here), kayaking
in the ocean, hustling some strangers for beach volleyball, eating at
some yummy restaurants (thanks Poppy!), at playing games in the room at
night. (We will have to do a tiebraker charades some day...) Thanks Dad
for making this vacation happen, it was very memorable and great to
spend time with everyone!
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| Olay! |
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| oops! |
On
the front and back end of our trip, we were able to visit Papa Mario,
Patria and Camillo, who is now 8. It was great to catch up with them,
see their beautiful home renovations, eat some Cuban food and have the
kids play soccer together – Camillo's favorite. Thanks for your
hospitality and it was great to visit. We would love to host you in
Austin hopefully sometime soon!
