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I recently had a nice 10 day fall break (Can I say, "I love my job!") Norman and I spent the first 5 days in Valdosta visiting Sara, Ryan and the GRANDS!!! I am not sure we could have crammed anymore into those 120 hours. A soccer game, a parade, bike rides, lunch with Parker @ 10:30 (I think that is considered brunch), lunch with Landon @ 11:00, lunch with Bryce @ 11:30, the hatching of several monarch butterflies and then their glorious releases, meeting teachers, doing a bulletin board, playing at the park, reading, shopping for a bed with Sydney(and lunch @ Chick-fil-A) and last but not least a little "OCD therapy". It was wonderful!!!!
Then it was off to Sarasorta where Norman attended a meeting. Before his meeting we were able to do a little sightseeing. We enjoyed a visit to the grounds of the Ringling Bros.Museum and some window shopping at Longshore Beach which included a Ben & Jerry's banana split. YUM! That evening we enjoyed a beautiful sunset and meal at Marina Jack's. The next day I enjoyed sleeping late, walking the Longshore Bridge, talking on the phone and a trip to Tampa via Treasure Island near St. Pete. I plugged in my destination to the GPS -not really expecting the place to be there. But sure enough the man said, "Continue 3.2 miles." I continued to drive, then heard, "Arriving at destination on right." I couldn't believe it but there she was, the Thunderbird Hotel and right next door, the Sea Castle. And yes, (those of you who know me), I cried. I got out, walked through the lobby(it was very small)and out to the pool area. It looked frozen in time with the rooms opening right up to the pool, the seawall between the hotel and the beach leading to the water.
***SIDE NOTE - As I crossed the drawbridge onto Treasure Island a flood of memories flashed through my mind...
When I was a little girl one of my favorite aunts (I am so blessed to have 3 favorites: Aunt Louanne, Aunt Sarah and Aunt Aubrey)lived in St. Petersburg. My family and I would travel to see her every summer. She would put us up in a very nice hotel on the beach where we would swim, laugh, play shuffle board,laugh, play goofy golf, laugh, eat ice cream and laugh everyday. Occassionally, we(my cousin, Cheri and I) would find some cute boys by the pool with which to exchange addresses. Oh the lazy, crazy days of summer. Thanks, Aunt Sarah for all the fond memories of the vacations at the Sea Castle and the Thunderbird.
3 comments:
Love it. Brought back so many great memories. You could have said laugh several more times. You and Cheri laughed and laughed and laughed. So much fun. Loved the pictures of the Grans. Sydney's bed is precious.
Thanks so much for coming to help us! We LOVE it when you come to organize but for some reason after you leave it unorganizes very quickly. I appreciated all the help.
If only some Hollywood producer could have heard us singing in the car---we would be famous millionaires and our children would be saying, "Yes. That singing duo was my mother and my second cousin" instead of them saying "Who the heck is Billy Joe McCallister anyway?"
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