Tag Archives: Vacation

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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May 28, 2011 · 1:14 pm

Memorial Day Weekend 2011 – Chimney Rock

Davy just finished his last day of school and with a long weekend ahead of us, we decided to pack up and spend the weekend in North Carolina.  Davy loves the mountains so much and we had the time, so this gift was for him.  After we had our celebratory lunch, we went home and packed the car, and we were off.  The ride up was easy and we pulled in around 11pm.  Here’s sweet Matty sleeping on the way up.

When we woke up on Saturday morning, we decided to head over to Asheville and do a little exploring.  We stopped at the BP for a cup of coffee and a sausage biscuit and then headed out.  We figured by the time we got there it would be the perfect time for brunch.  Asheville has so many independent places to eat at, but we had such a great meal at Tupelo Honey the last time we decided to take mom there so she could see it for herself.

As we pulled into Asheville, we saw a sign for the Asheville Farmers Market!  In the spirit of being spontaneous, we decided to go and check it out.  I love Farmer’s Markets.  There were several different hangers all filled with produce, plants, meats, jams, jellies, honey, etc.  We were not disappointed and ended up having a honey taste test.  Yum!  We bought Blueberry Honey, pure Wildflower Honey, Sourwood Honey, and some Hotter than Hell Chow Chow.

We were officially starving so off to Tupelo Honey.  It was actually a good thing that we stopped because they didn’t open until after 9.  We had a half hour wait, so the boys played across the street.

Once you sit down at the table, they bring out biscuits, jelly, and honey.  Here are the boys eating theirs.  For brunch I had a sweet potato pecan pancake, mom had a grilled chicken sandwich, and Andy had fried chicken with biscuits and red-eye gravy.

We decided today that we would check out Chimney Rock; so we headed southeast out of Asheville and about 25 miles later we were there.  Chimney Rock is located in Chimney Rock State Park and is apart of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area.  The rock is at and elevation of 2, 280 and you can see out up to 75 miles.  When climbing up to Chimney Rock it is roughly 400 stairs.  We parked at the bottom, took a bus to the entrance and then began our climb.  Davy and I went ahead first, Andy carried Matty, and mom followed in the rear.

Here’s Davy and I half way up to Chimney Rock.

Now, when you get to Chimney Rock lookout, of course there is a trail to go even higher and we weren’t going to give up there.  We had to go to the top to check it out!  Exclamation Point is at an elevation of 2,480 ft and is the pinnacle of the park, and essentially we just hiked 3/4’s of mile straight up.  We were so proud of Davy and Matty.  Davy didn’t complain one time, in fact he loved it, and little Matty wanted to hike it too…he’s just a little slow.  Here we are at the top.  :O)

After we hiked back down to the entrance of the trail, we met up with mom and decided to hike on over to Hickory Nut Falls.  It was also 3/4 of a mile to get there; meaning that we ended up hiking 3 miles today.  This waterfall is one of the highest falls east of the Mississippi.

By the time we got back to the bus we were hot and tired….but we were so glad that we went the extra distance.  The views and the waterfall were beautiful.  At the Chimney Rock lookout we spotted Lake Lure and decided to drive over and get a better look at it.  There was a really cute little village, a beautiful resort, and a beach on the lake.  This beach reminded me of one that you would see in a movie.  It was very clean, crowded, lots of things to do, and with a gorgeous backdrop.  Matty fell asleep in the car, Davy took one look at the water slides, and we had to stop for him.  :O)

One of the neatest things that they had here on the beach was a water balloon firing station.  You could purchase the balloons at the check-in desk, the kids would fill them up with water, and then they would launch them at each other.  Davy loved this!

After we left the lake, we headed back towards Asheville.  All of us were starving so we stopped at their local Mellow Mushroom for some pizza.  Yum Yum!!!  The weather was beautiful so we ate outside.  Today was a great adventurous day!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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August 16, 2010 · 8:30 pm

Seabreeze Kite Flying

Most of time when you head down to the beach at night it is really windy, so knowing this Kelly went out and bought a bunch of kites for our vacation.  We went out two different nights to fly kites, the first night the breeze was slight and there were a lot of gnats so we went in early and then the second night it was perfect.  Davy, Colin, and Connor each had their own kite and then Emma and Matty shared one.  The kids just had a ball running up and down the beach watching the kites soar into the sky.  Davy kept saying that he wanted his to go higher and higher and Matty kept asking to hold and try.  We only had to untangle the lines a few times.  The weather was nice and we also got to watch a beautiful sunset.  Life is good.

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August 16, 2010 · 8:25 pm

Riding the LGI-Hideaway Bay Ferry

This ferry is what we took to get on and off Little Gasparilla Island.  There are no cars on the island, however there are golf carts everywhere and a ton of wagons.  We took 2 day trips off of the island and both times the kids were thrilled to get on the boat.  The ferry runs every three hours during the week and every two hours on the weekends.  While on the boat the kids looked for fish, crabs, birds, watched the dolphins chase the boat waves, and the captain even let Davy honk the horn.

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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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