Tag Archives: Summer

August 6, 2011 · 9:43 pm

AMI Saturday Fun

August 6: Saturday

We love the weekends!  So much to do and see….  We started our day today down at the Holmes Beach public beach for breakfast.  We had heard about their all you can eat pancake breakfast and that sounds perfect for the boys.

After breakfast we loaded up the beach gear and decided to spend the rest of the morning at Bean Point.  We knew that the beaches were going to be crowded, so we thought that we might get lucky here since it is a little more private and secluded. The kids played in the kayak and on the paddleboard. We even went for a walk around the north point. The tide was out and the view was beautiful. The kids were even rewarded with a finding a starfish.
To end the day, we moved over to the west side to watch the sunset. The weather was beautiful and we were rewarded with sand dollars. :O)

Amanda and her family came out to spend the day with us.

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August 4, 2011 · 6:56 pm

Mote Aquarium

August 4: Thursday

To break up our day trips to the beach, we decided to take the kids down to the Mote Aquarium in Sarasota.  It was our first time visiting this aquarium and surprisingly it was bigger than I expected.  What I didn’t expect was how much of it was going to be outside!  Late morning in August… in Florida… and then there was the long walk from one building to the next.  Ugh…  However, the kids really enjoyed it and the Manatees were adorable.  For lunch we crossed the street to go to the Salty Dog and to wrap up the day we found it fitting to have ‘Movie Night’ with the movie Oceans.

Baby Ryla looking at the fish…

Pacific Moon Jellyfish.

LOOK!!!  There’s Bruce!!!!

While the kids were watching their movie…us grown-ups went out for date night.  We took the golf cart over to the Beach House and enjoyed the company, ambiance, and cocktails.  :O)

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August 3, 2011 · 2:06 am

Holmes Beach and After Dinner Fun

August 3: Wednesday

Every morning while we are making breakfast, the little ones beeline for the golf cart.  Jack has taken to calling it the tractor…so ‘The Tractor’ it is.  The front of this house is all sliding glass doors to a screened in patio which faces the road, so it really is perfect for us and them because they can play outside and be watched.

To change up the beach fun, we decided to head down to Holmes Beach today.  The little ones have been asking to go to the park and we knew that there was a playground here.

It didn’t take long for the older boys to make a few friends…  Four older boys asked them if they wanted to play volleyball and frisbee.

After we got back from the beach, they all hopped into the pool and cooled off with popsicles.

For our after dinner fun, we headed a little further down to the beach and parked the golf cart on Palmetto.  We love the wooden footpaths that head down to the beach and they did a great job pausing for a photo for us.

Feeding the seagulls…

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August 2, 2011 · 5:13 pm

Bean Point and Fishing on the Pier

August 2: Tuesday

Today we started our day with some scrambled eggs and bacon for the children.  Afterwards, I ran over to Ginny and Jane’s and picked Kelly and I up a couple of Latte’s.  About 30 minutes later Brandie and Laurence stopped by and said, “Let’s go to Bean Point!”  We stopped by Beach Bums to find out exactly where the foot path was, and we were off.  I had to park the golf cart at the Rod and Reel pier, but the views and solitude were worth it.

This picture is so funny to me….  For some reason we have had terrible AT&T service today and poor Brandie has been constantly checking her phone just hoping that her work emails are coming through.

Me and my Matty Bear….

After dinner we decided to take the boys fishing; with the sun setting on the west side and it being a little later in the day we were hoping that it wouldn’t be too hot.   In retrospect, this is something that definitely needs to be done with the daddy’s here….there are just to many little people wanting help with baiting their hook, casting, and pulling off the caught fish.  We bought some bait over at the General Store and went down to the Anna Maria pier.  The boys were so excited when uncle Laurence showed up to help them.  All of the big boys caught fish, they were so happy!

I love this picture because Emma’s face is just classic….

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August 1, 2011 · 6:11 pm

Let’s Ride the Waves

August 1: Monday

We have found that the most pleasant time to be at the beach is in the evening.  The sun is setting and not overly hot, there is a wonderful breeze, it’s not to crowded, and the children get to run and play before bed.  Tonight we took out all of the boogie boards, they are a big hit this year for all of the children.  The waves have been the perfect size for our little guys and the current hasn’t been to strong either…  :O)

Brandie, Laurence, and Ryla stopped by for a quick visit.  How cute are they on their 4 seater bike!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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August 1, 2011 · 5:20 pm

AMI Vacation 2011 – First Weekend

July 30-31: Saturday and Sunday

YAY!!!  It’s vacation time!  With much anticipation we have been waiting for this vacation for what feels like months!  We reserved the house back in May, and we have been dreaming of our two weeks of fun in the sun all summer.  This year Kelly and I decided to set our eyes on Anna Maria Island.  We love it here and come quite often for the day, she’s never been here, and it is close enough for the husbands to drive back and forth as needed for work.  The house we found is Anna’s Cottage – 309 Spring Ave; it is on the north end one block off of the main street Pine Ave and is three blocks to the beach.  The house is a three bedroom with a pool and is adorably shabby.  Check in time was 3pm, so Saturday morning we packed up and headed out.

Here is Andy’s truck: 6 scooters, 5 bikes, 3 tricycles, 3 fishing poles, 2 wagons, beach toys, chairs, and tackle boxes, 1 bike baby seat, and 1 easy shade.  We loaded up the van, Kelly’s SUV, Brian’s Camry and off we went.

The beach house was everything we expected and so much more….  We are all in love with 309 Spring Ave.

I had to include this picture, because when we arrived at the house, a FedEx from work was already there waiting for me.  I just found it so funny that work beat me to my vacation….  :O)  If you are wondering what it is, I have been having computer issues and needed a new battery for my laptop.  After we had unloaded all of our stuff, we sat down to enjoy a nice cold beverage…  :O)

It was a little late and still a little warm, so we let the boys swim in the pool out back.

We went for a walk down to the beach so Matty could see the water….  All little Matty has been asking for, for the last two weeks, is to see the beach.

Kelly’s cousin Brook is still in town visiting and she agreed to watch the boys so Andy and I could go out to dinner.  While posing for a picture, I guess the boys are so used to the family photo they just snuck in like it was normal and smiled.  :O)  Love them.

The next morning, we decided to take the boys fishing before it got to hot.  We went over to the Anna Maria Pier.  At the end of the pier they have a bait shop, but much to our dismay they were out of bait.  How does that happen?  Especially, on a weekend.  We let the boys cast a few times and then we packed it up because we knew that they weren’t going to catch anything.

After naps we picked up our golf cart and went to Scoops for some ice cream.

Aunt Brandie and Uncle Laurence arrived today so we had to go over and see baby Ryla.  Their rental house is 3 beach blocks from ours.  She just loves Matty bear.

For dinner we all went to the Waterfront Restaurant.  7 children and 7 adults.  Afterwards, we went over to the beach to feed the seagulls and watch the sunset.

My favorite house on the island.  :O)

Sand Angels…

At 8:30 we drove back to Brandie’s house to drop them off, we hopped back on the golf cart, and it wouldn’t start.  So funny…  so we left it there and walked back home to put the boys to bed.  You can see how tired & wet they are… :O)  I love being on vacation.

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August 16, 2010 · 6:41 pm

Dancing in the Rain

After what felt like days and days and hours and hours of rain…with no end in sight Kelly says, “Well when life gives you lemons, you just have to make lemonade!”  So that’s what we did.  As long as there isn’t any thunder who cares if there is sunshine or rain? 

 

We had been watching the radar on the The Weather Channel and it didn’t seem as if the rain was ever going to stop and the children just needed to get out and run…so they did!  They danced in the rain, played chase and tag, made new friends who came out to join them, and gathered up buckets to have a water fight.

After dinner, we rallied and did it all over again on the beach in their pj’s.  This time instead of having water fights, they had mud fights.  They laughed, and squealed, and ran…Kelly and I of course got soaked, but to watch the sheer happiness on their faces was priceless.  Andy said to me afterwards that he needed to remind himself to live in the moments and have more fun more often no matter with situation.

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August 16, 2010 · 5:26 pm

Fun on the Beach

There’s nothing better than being on vacation and watching your children just have a wonderful time.  Playing on the beach means running, swimming, laughing, treasure hunting, digging, building, chasing Seagulls, growing and so much more.  We love going to the beach!… so here are a few of the pictures that we took during the week.

Here Davy and Connor are walking from the condo over to the boardwalk that leads out onto the beach…

There are over 100 sea turtle nests on the island and there are 4 rare green sea turtle nests.  We were hoping that we would have enough energy to get up around midnight and take the older boys out to see if we could see any eggs hatching…but we were to tired after long fun days of playing…next summer!

Davy, Colin, and Connor loved riding their Boogie Boards!  They rode them for hours.  The only problem that we had was after riding the waves onto shore they were to far down the beach and we would have to call them back…

I couldn’t help but take a picture of this perfect beach dog.  Every morning that we were out we saw it lazily walk the beach with its owners.  For a dog, it can’t get much better than this…

Davy and Connor were making sand angels…

The kids loved having the wagons on the beach.  Davy and Connor were always wanting to help us pull the wagons, but in the loose sand with the babies in them they were kind of heavy, so this way they all got to climb in and out and take turns dragging it around…

After each trip to the beach we found it to be easiest if once we got to the condo they stripped down, were hosed off, and then headed inside “mostly” sand free…

Ahhh, how could watching six kids at the beach not be fun!!!!…..

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August 16, 2010 · 3:17 am

Little Gasparilla Island

If you have never heard of Little Gasparilla Island, then there is a reason for that…the residents keep it a secret.  As summer vacation is coming to a close, Kelly and I decided that it would be fun to take the kids to the beach for a week for one last getaway before school starts.  It was through a recommendation of a friend that we ended up here at Hideaway Bay.

 The island is in Charlotte County and located just north of Gasparilla Island and Boca Grande.  The only way to get to the island is by ferry which runs only a few times a day, something that we weren’t really aware of when we arrived.  

We got up in the morning, loaded the cars, and drove on down.  The drive only took two hours so the trip wasn’t to long and it wasn’t to short.  When we got to Placida Kelly had to pick up the rental key and we thought it best to buy groceries sooner rather than later.  When we got to the unloading area, we were surprised to discover that the ferry was due to pick up at 2pm (8 minutes away) and then again at 5pm.  Not wanting to miss the ferry we went into overdrive to get the cars unloaded and parked across the street.  When the ferry arrived a few of the people who got off helped us get on.

Now there are no cars on the island, just golf carts and wagons so I am sure that you can picture how much stuff is needed for 2 adults and 6 kids for one week, including the groceries…  We were lucky that a man aboard the ferry offered to help us get our things to the condo with his golf cart.

Whewww…..  I’d like to think that all of this occurred because of perfect execution…but really it was just luck.

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August 2, 2010 · 12:26 am

End of the Summer Haircuts

After a long and relaxing summer, it is time to get the boys haircuts.  We have one more trip to the beach ahead of us and then it will be time for back to school.  I have loved their long blong locks, but they are beginning to look like wild children and Matty looks as if he is growing a mullet.  So…so long summer hair and hello fresh, clean, and cut hair…

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