Newlyweds

Jim and I had the wonderful opportunity to go out this New Year's Eve with some of our closest friends from our college years.  That night I proclaimed that we needed to get together more often.  Vince (seen below) got out his smart phone and scheduled our next gathering immediately on The Cloud.  It's one thing to say you're going to get together.  It's a whole nother thing to commit to a date and location.  But, thanks to Vince, we all got together tonight at our house.  Vince, however, did not get to spend any time with his new wife, Alicia (seen above,) because her magnetic (and that's an understatement) personality drew my children to her side all night to the point that they actually appeared to be glowing from her aura and had a perma-grin from her undivided attention.

This is either a Magnum P.I., Rico Suave flash for the camera or a 007, Mission Impossible, get off my wife look.  Either way, it's all in jest.  Vince is sweet, sincere, subtly hilarious, intelligent and well rounded.  I'm so happy Alicia found him.  I knew the moment she introduced us to him that they were meant for each other and I hope they hurry up and have kids because they will make some amazing humans.

Alicia obviously has a knack.

And then there's Eric, Alicia's brother, who first met Jim in the dorms.  What a transformation he has been from our baby-faced college friend to a newlywed himself.  Mayra, his lovely bride, has a thing for Mia.  Mia has a thing for her too, but nothing like Evan, who may actually try to give Eric a run for his money.  If things work out, Evan will have more opportunities to work on this.  We're trying to get them to buy the house across the street.  Cross your fingers!

And finally we were joined by a rarity.  Hawes a.k.a Hizzo a.k.a. Chris is also a friend from college who also is recently engaged.  Jackie and he will be married this spring.  It is so amazing to see our good friends find their perfect match.  I never could imagine who Hawes would end up with because I've never known anybody like Jackie.  She is, in a nutshell, hilarious.  The more I get to know her, the more I like her and I majorly liked her right away.  She is serious, like Hawes, but she really knows how to have fun, which he needs, IMO.

Why do I tell you this?  I'm not telling you.  I'm telling our far away college friends who haven't had a chance to get to know these awesome new additions yet.  For the rest of you, just smile and nod.

Bellies

 My fellow "mom" friends and I often joke that we need a recoup vacation after taking a family vacation.  I never intended to do that, but my old roomie invited me to a baby shower for our friend, Becky and that shower just happened to be two days after our return from Florida.  And since I was going all the way over there, I might as well make a night of it, right?  Let me tell you, it was exactly what I needed to rejuvenate myself.

 My old roomie Kim joined a Belly Dancing class years ago.  She (says she) hates the performances, but they are required if you want to be in the class.  My excitement about the event was doubled when I found out they were performing at The Acoustic Café, which was a real treat for me even when I lived in Eau Claire.  The Acoustic spoils you with yummy coffee, delicious soups, and the BEST hoagies I have ever had and, in the evenings, you can sometimes find some great entertainment, as well.

 Such was the case tonight.  Three different belly dancing groups, from two different cohorts displayed their skills and the belly dancing culture bejeweled with spangles, hair extensions, and henna.

 There were two things that really amazed me about these women.  One was that they were women of all ages.  There were two women that looked to be in their late 60's and the spread went all the way down to late 20's/early 30's. 

 It was obvious from watching them perform together that they had a unique camaraderie.  These ordinary women in extraordinary costumes, most likely would not be friends in different circumstances.  The dance bonds them.  It really is intriguing and made me want to learn more about the history of belly dance.

 After each dance, the women would cover the mouths and ululate or Zaghareet.

 The best part of the evening for me, was playing with my new camera.  This camera has taken my love for photography past obsession.  Indoor photos have always been a challenge for me, so tonight, with no kids to interrupt me, I was able to really focus and play with the settings.

 I was determined to get some shots of the beautiful twirling skirts.  Even though this turned out blurry, I still like how it turned out.

 This one turned out so great just by chance.  By the last dance, I wasn't totally happy with my "skirt" shots, so I finally broke down and used the flash.  The thing I hate about when I use flash (and I am a novice, so I'll take any advice) is that delay you have from the time you push the button until the shutter actually snaps.

But, I got some great "belly" shots and I had a wonderful time doing so.  When I got home, I felt refreshed, rested and ready to get back to our regular routine.

Goodbye Yellow Beach

This is our last sunset.  Mia woke up just in time.  It just amazes me how the sky consistently turned yellow every night we were here.

Jim spent most of vacation exactly how you see him here.  I love how Owen mirrors him.  It's as if they are both comforted by feeling the waves wash over their palms.

I did not edit this photo at all - or any of these for that matter.  It is just that beautiful there.

I guess you can guess by all of my vacation posts that I had a lot of fun taking pictures here.

It's easy when you are surrounded by natural beauty everywhere you turn.

 

Goodbye Yellow Beach until we meet again.

One Last Splash

 Here is the boy who did not come here to go to the ocean.  He found two unbroken sand dollars.  He is not impressed.

 Here is the boy who doesn't want to leave the condo.  He has been surgically removed from his electronic device and forced to play in nature.  You can visibly see the distress it has caused him.

 Oh.  But wait.  The ocean seems to be calling them.  They appear to be giving in to the temptation.

 15 minutes later, Owen retreats from the water.  Is he still in a foul mood?

 A game of chase ensues.

 Taunting.

 Competition.

 In the water, out of the water, in the water again.

 

Splashing.  Playing.  Nature wins over the stubborn Letts boys, despite their diligent efforts NOT to have fun.  Mom and Dad succeed in facilitating valuable childhood memories.

Mangrove Forest

 Again, today was like pulling teeth to get the boys out of the condo.  There were actual tears from both boys.  Owen, who is most often deadpan and stoic, actually raised his voice and told me through his tears, "You may have come here to go to the ocean, but I didn't!"  Now, don't be mistaken, he did not actually yell, just raised his voice with slight emotion.  And he was right.  I did come here to go to the ocean and I came here to share that experience with my three young children.  I always dreamed of stereotypical family vacations as a child, and I am thrilled that I married into a family that embraces travel.  So I pulled out the genetic Norwegian parenting technique of "guilt" that always works on my oldest child because he's like me and I knew in 15 minutes he'd be having a blast running through the mangroves and later splashing in the waves.  And when the "guilt card" didn't work, I counted to three and threatened to take away the ipad.  There is one good thing about all these electronic devices. I can use them as leverage.  Note: I do realize this was not one of my finer parenting moments.

Anna Maria Island has a free trolley that runs up and down the island about every 20 minutes.  They encourage people staying on the island to use the trolley on the weekends to cut down on traffic back-ups, and people actually do.  Mia rode the trolley once already and cried when it pulled away.  She had her shoes on before the rest of us could stand up.  She is a lot like me too.  Actually, that would be most like her Ya-ya and Great-Grandma who have been coined "Zoomers" by my Uncle Ron.

In less than 20 minutes, we were hopping off the trolley, crossing the highway and entering a mangrove restoration area called Leffis Key.  After 3 days at the beach, I was craving a little shade and forest.  Florida cannot really compete with the forest trails of Wisconsin and Minnesota, but we can't compete with their sand

and their brilliantly colored water.

 

Alright, we winding down to the end of our vacation and I still haven't taken a sot of the kids with a palm tree.  Everybody say, "CHEESE!" or whatever they say down here... maybe "squint" or "SHARK!"

Another Brilliant Sunset

 After the beach, the boys wanted to swim more.  Connie was nice enough to take them down to the pool while we tried to get Mia down for a nap.  The pool is about 80˚.  They had a blast showing off their skills.  This is a Double Triple Whip.

 At sunset, the boys still were not ready to get out of the pool, so Jim and I headed over to the beach with Mia.

 I hate my profile, but I love Mia's... her button nose, her golden sunlit hair, her perfect little mouth and the innocence of an age where it's still fun to give Mom a kiss.

She's getting so big and so busy.

 It's getting harder and harder to catch her photo.

 She sat for a minute.  Then she saw a seagull.

 Owen made it over next.  He immediately made a game of jumping over the palm tree.  Grandma, Grandpa & Evan showed up right before the sunset.  Perfect timing.  It was another amazing show.  "Yellow Beach" and all.

Connie and Neil took the kids back to the condo so Jim and I could walk the beach alone.  I walked the shore; he walked on the sand bar.  Such is how we are.  The sky was even more amazing after the sun had set.  We saw a dolphin paralleling the shore.  The moon finally got it's turn and was equally amazing.  It was a sliver of a smile, dotted with a wink courtesy of Jupiter.  What a great trip.  We are so lucky.

THANK YOU CONNIE & NEIL!

Longboat Key

 Today we drove past the southern tip of the island and across to Longboat Key.

 Longboat Key has wide beaches with soft, white sand.

 

 The water is brilliantly colored, shallow and tranquil.

 

The boys brought the boogie boards along.  Evan mostly played with the "magic" sand, as he called it, but he did play in the surf a little bit.

Both Mia and Evan were completely mesmerized by the beach 

 

and Owen was the same with the water.

 Grandma and Grandpa took a stroll down the beach.  Shortly after they left there was a commotion just down the shore from us.  When we heard the word, "ray" Jim and I called to the kids and took off down towards the growing group of on-lookers.  Evan stayed back at our "camp" and played with the magic sand.  No amount of coaxing could pull him away.  Too bad because when we got there we found out that this guy not only caught a sting ray, but he also caught a baby Hammerhead Shark on the very same pole!  He let both Mia and Owen touch the shark before he threw them back to the ocean.  I was surprised that swimmers went right in the water after he threw the sting ray back.  I guess maybe I misunderstand the dangers of the ocean.

 When Grandma and Grandpa returned, we had a little lunch.  Grandma threw the scraps to the seagulls.  Within seconds we were surrounded by gulls.  All three kids had a great time chasing the birds.  Owen wanted to chase them away, Evan just wanted to play with them and Mia wanted to hold them.

Mia would have liked to take her nap right here, but unfortunately us white skinned northerners had to get out of the hot sun for awhile.