Florida Vacation Part Five

After spending five days in sunny Florida we all resemble lobsters. I guess it is time to head back up north to Chicago. I will miss the sun, sand and surf. We all had a great time and I created lasting memories for my kids.

Today we left our hotel and headed for the island early in the morning. We took the kids to some of the local shops and visited one that had parrots outside in cages. The parrots are very colorful and most of them repeat everything that you say.

Monkey and Bear were very hyper in the shops. Chris and I spent more time chasing after them than looking at the souveniers. So we decided to head over to Grandma and Grandpa’s resort in order to get the little ones away from the shops as quickly as possible.

After a brief lunch we went to the beach for the last time. Tomorrow the forecast calls for thunder storms. We could tell that the storms are coming soon because the beach was windy and the waves were the largest that they have ever been this week.

Sand blew into our faces and I didn’t trust my kids to play in the ocean today.

Little Bear took a nap on my lap on the beach. Monkey kept on going into the ocean which made me nervous. Parrot played so hard in the sand that his back got completely covered.

Parrot’s back covered in sand

Little Bear climbed on my lap and said that he was tired.

The beach

The surf was pretty strong

Kitty playing on the beach with a girl she met from a town in Illinois.

Parrot

Little Bear was getting even more tired.

And even more tired.

But he still decided to be Mr. Cool with his hat and new sunglasses.

Egrets on the beach

Chris and Monkey

Little Bear fell asleep.

We got tired of the beach around 3 o’clock this afternoon. Chris and I packed everything up and headed up to my parent’s apartment at their resort. I helped the kids get cleaned up and out of their sandy swim suits while Chris packed up the van with all our things that we were keeping at Grandma and Grandpa’s.

Later we went out to dinner at the Swordfish Grill in Cortez. I accidentally left the camera in the van so I didn’t take any photos there. It is a family friendly seafood restaurant with live music. I ordered the grilled mahi mahi and it was delicious. Even the kids’ got seafood.

After dinner we went back to Grandma and Grandpa’s resort to watch the sunset and take some final photos. It was too cloudy for a good sunset. We tried to get the kids to stand still so Grandma could take a photo of all seven of us. This is what we got.

Getting five kids to be still and look at the camera is nearly impossible. But we tried!

Of course they all stood still for a photo with Grandma.

When we got back to our hotel in Bradenton I gave Little Bear a bath, tucked him in bed and got ready to write this blog post. But I couldn’t find one critical thing…my camera was missing. I nearly panicked. First I called my mom and left her a message. I thought maybe we left it over there. Then I pounded on Chris’ door. When we travel we always get two hotel rooms.

I thought for certian he had the camera. He didn’t. Finally I got a hold of my mother and she searched everywhere. It wasn’t there either. I nearly cried. The twenty minutes that it took us to locate the camera seemed like forever. I thought all of my memories were going to be lost forever.

Finally, Chris came back to the hotel with the camera in his hand. He found it in the drink holder in the front seat of the van. I searched the front seat and even turned a light on, but didn’t see it there. Thank God it was found and I was able to write this post.

I hope you are able to take the time to read my other posts from our Florida Vacation.

Florida Vacation Part One
Florida Vacation Part Two
Forida Vacation #WordlessWednesday
Florida Vacation Part Three
Florida Vacation Part Four
Florida Vacation Part Five