Well I am back home after a week long trip to Florida for a girls’ vacation. My mother-in-law invited my mom and me to join her for a week of sunshine and we could hardly have had a better time!
We spent a lot of time outside just enjoying the weather and beaches but also did a bit of shopping. Our first day there we just hung out at the condo in Kissimmee. The weather was beautiful and we had the whole pool area to ourselves for a good part of the day. We read and swam and took a little walk to see what was around.
The forecast for the second day was beautiful, highs in the lower 80′s so we decided to take a mini road trip to the Atlantic coast. We spent the day wandering the beach, collecting shells, and did some more reading.
It really was a beautiful day and I enjoyed just relaxing and soaking up the sunshine…even though the winter has been really mild, I still yearn for sunshine and heat that you can only get from the sun. :) I’m sure we put on a few miles wandering the beach…
The following day we got up early and headed to the other coast, the gulf side, for another day of enjoyment on the beach. We started at St. Pete’s beach and ended up staying the whole day there. The weather was AMAZING again (we felt so lucky!) and we all got nice tans that day! But, if you know me, you know that weird events seem to happen to me no matter where I go, and this trip was no different…
We had just returned for a long seashell hunt walk down the beach and decided it was time for lunch. We had packed sandwiches and chips, a little beach picnic. So, we all sit down on the sheet and get out our sammies. Well, there were quite a few seagulls roaming the beaches and they started edging ever closer to us as we were eating. I was kind of grossed out and scared to get pooped on so I put my towel over my head and arms. So all was going well when all of the sudden a seagull swoops in from behind me and nabs a piece of my sandwich right out of my hand as I was eating it! I sat there stunned for half a second looking at my food and trying to decide if the dang bird actually succeeded in stealing some of my food. He did. So the rest of the seagulls get all crazy because they think I’m feeding them or something and they are flying and swooping so I started screaming and all of the sudden, my sandwich is gone! One of those jerks stole my lunch RIGHT OUT OF MY HAND WHILE I WAS EATING IT UNDER A TOWEL! Seriously. Did that just happen? Yes, it did. Did they try and go after mom or MIL’s food? No, why would they? This kind of thing follows me around like the plague. So, after I got over the initial shock, I was laughing so hard tears were rolling down my face. Just another day in my life really. :) It still makes me smile thinking about it. Good thing I had another half of a sandwich or I would have been hungry!
SO. The next day was forecast for a rainy afternoon so we decided to spend the day hanging out. We went to the historic downtown in Kissimme and really had fun. There were scupltures on display around town and we enjoyed looking at them as well as just enjoying the vibe there. It was beautiful and there were all kind of little alleyways and lush tropical plants to enjoy. What fun!
We spent about 2 hours in a little co-op art gallery where we all found some really awesome treasures. I got the most amazing watercolor of a jellyfish – can’t wait to hang it up! Mom also got a few prints by the same artist and MIL picked up some really pretty beadwork jewelry. We spend the remained of the day browsing through antique shops and such…a must when on girls’ trip!
The remaining days we spend by the pool and around town, but our last day we drove to the Canaveral National Seashore and WOW! What an amazing place! Even though this day was the coolest with temps topping out at about 60, this was my favorite day. I will post about that separately as I have a lot to say about it and I actually had my little camera out a few times that day so there are some pictures from that part of the trip! Here is a little sneak peak of one of my favorite snaps from that day…
It seems that when on vacation, I often times don’t take pictures, but according to some, that is the sign of a great vacation! Enjoying it too much to bother to take out the camera. I only have about a dozen pics from the first 6 days but the I have about 50 from the National Seashore. Which is nothing compared with what we’ve taken on other vacations…usually hundreds. :) But a lot of times pictures don’t even do it justice, so that is also part of my excuse for lack of images!
I am sure glad to be home though! I didn’t realize how much I missed my house until I walked in. Oh, and husband too…it was good to see him again. It is always hard to leave beautiful places, but this time wasn’t so bad as I know I am going to be back early March for a work conference! Two trips in one winter for me…I’m feeling spoiled!
