Ok, This is fun. Directly from my phone. Homework time.

A test of mobile uploading

Vacation, The Fifth and Final Dose, Finally

We left the St. Pete area, headed back towards home with a van full of white sand, four tanned kids, and Mr. Hernia.  Unfortunately, Gary started feeling rough the night before we left.  Poor guy.  We remembered how crazy fast and vigorously he had been digging in the sand with the little plastic kid claw diggers he found at the beach and thought maybe that was the cause.  Or was it from wrangling the barracuda on the fishing trip?  After learning more about it, though, we realized it was something in the works over some period of time and he has done plenty of recent things that could have contributed.  Moving a refrigerator into and out of his truck, alone.  Lifting massive hunks of logs from the woods up into the Gator.  Those are just a couple. 

I drove most all the day and then we pulled off at Clarksville, Tennessee around 9 p.m. to stay a night since we still had four hours to home and night driving is not my best skill.  

Turned out, all hotels (except one) were filled in Clarksville and any other exit anywhere near Ft. Campbell, Kentucky since soldiers were returning from Afghanistan the following day and understandably many families were staying the area. 

The Country Inn was the one place that had two rooms available.  One was a King Suite and the other a King Jacuzzi room.  Those both get you one king-sized bed.  With such limited choices, I happily took the suite since it definitely offered (slightly) more to accommodate the six of us.  It included a couch. 

The desk clerk also kindly offered up extra pillows and blankets so we could make pallets on the floor.  Turned out, no need.  Jack took the sofa, Sam was happy to sleep in a chair, and Grant took the other chair with footstool and extended it in length with the ironing board. 

Never mind his expression, he was happy.  Caroline slept with us in the big king bed, and there you have it, a family of six fits in a one-bed room. 

 

We took a swim right before bed, our last pool of the vacation.  Well, Gary didn’t since he was laid out flat in the big bed trying to recuperate from a fourteen hour ride in a sitting position with a brand new hernia. 

 

Next day we got up and had our breakfast and hit the road, honking as we crossed the Ohio River into Illinois.  I might add, I was thisclose to getting on my family’s last nerve since I enthusiastically honk at every state line and they’d had about enough of that. 

I especially love that little stretch near Chattanooga where you are in Georgia, then Tennessee, then Georgia, then back to Tennessee.  Woo hoo!  Honk, honk, honk!

Let’s see, our whole trip had us crossing state lines at KY, TN, AL, FL, GA, TN, GA, TN, KY, IL.  That’s not that many honks, people. 

We reached home in the early afternoon.  Even after thirteen days, I can’t say I wasn’t wishing we were still on vacation.  It had been a really good one.

  

 

But this guy was relieved to be home.

 

              THE END

Vacation, The Fourth Dose

Then we headed down towards St. Petersburg for another six days where the family was meeting up to celebrate some important birthdays.  I seemed to disconnect from my camera during that time, but thankfully others shared their shots of some of our fun and memorable times.  

At the Seminole House                   

 

The Fishing Trip

 

My, who is that fishing wear model?

  

Karen, I could not pick just one.

You are too fun, girl. 

 

 

At the Beach

 

We did see a shark, no kidding.  A guy fishing actually caught it in the surf.  I guess it really looked more like this.  But still, it was a shark.  In our water.

It did not, however, interfere with us enjoying the gulf and sand and sun one bit, especially being in the big waves on the last two days.  I’m think I’m still bobbing. 

This shot reminds me of another of her on the beach in 2005, under a blue canopy, brown hair with pink beach face.  I’m gonna have to look that one up.

 

Sam wore a snorkel all day and look at that bathing bikini’d beauty!  I swear she looks like a teenager. 

 

This is the August Birthday Girls Club.

Happy Birthdays!

 

 

Watching for the elusive green flash, and ending with cartwheels at sunset. 

That was about perfect.

Vacation, The Third Dose

A couple more shots from our Cape San Blas days that I just found on my phone…

 

and couldn’t resist posting since they show Caroline and Sam both getting their surf on.  

Next, we travelled on to Havana to Julia and Neil’s house on the lake where we met up for one night there with Grandma and Grandpa and Ross and Julia. 

  

        

We took an evening boat cruise and got a little thrill of the scary kind when Gary in a kayak played chicken with (and should a been a little more chicken of) the pontoon boat driven by Jack.  Yikers.  

He finally came up.

 

    

This pic is of course Ross with Julia, but the next morning I went kayaking for my first time with Ross and, yep, I loved it just like I thought I would.  Super fun.  Add that to my want list… pool, lake with kayak.

 

Here we all are.  There were two versions of this shot, taken by ?? the pond guy.  Now I can’t remember his name….   Anyway, look at Grant’s expression in both. 

   

and

Does he not love being squished in with his family?

Or is it that Ross has an odor? 

My bet is on “citrus.”

 

Not sure Sam is all that happy either even though I clearly am. 

 

 

 

 

But then I think he found true happiness.  Everyone appeared to have found their sleeping accommodations comfortable.

 

I will say, Charles has never looked so rested. 

We did take some other shots that were pretty hilarious.  Too bad I have none in my possession. 

Just know there are funny pictures out there of everyone in the whole family, and I mean funny.  Man, that iPad was just too fun. 

And just how many times did we hear Sam and Grant say, “Can I play Angry Birds?”  

Next leg:  On to St Pete