Vacation time! The Rother family took their first beach vacation! We drove about 14 hours to an area just south of Jacksonville before we stopped and stayed in a seedy little motel over night to rest. The drive was looooong to say the least. Rick ended up with a kidney stone and so was out a lot of the drive because of his pain meds and Emerald didn't sleep more than maybe three hours, the rest of the time she either watched Frozen on repeat or cried. It was painful. But, we made it. The next day, we drove a few short hours to Sanibel Island where we rented a condo for a week. The location was fantastic and we all had a wonderful time, despite a tropical storm. Both kids loved the beach and ocean and of course the community pool ;) We rented a bike trailer and rode around the island on the condo's bikes taking in the sites. We subsisted mostly on ice cream and french fries, which the kids loved and we tolerated ;) All in all, it was a wonderful first family vacation and we can't wait for the next one!
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| Emerald playing with her first barbie doll- a singing Else that was in her birthday cake. |
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We took pics of the pets for our pet sitter, thought I would share since they haven't made an appearance on the blog in a while.
Gracie... aged about 17 years old. She is in kidney failure, but still hanging on and as loving as always. |
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| Darby, still kicking and doing well. |
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| Poor old Koshka, he's nearly deaf and blind and has arthritis in his back end. But he still eats and gets around and we love him. |
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| Neko is doing great, full of love (and a little piss and vinegar too ;) |
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| Kieran tot he rescue! The McKee's mom locked herself out of her new place, Kieran helped out, climbing through the doggie door ;) He loved it! |
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| Our little princess playing in her fountain |
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| Kieran with his creepy carrot... nice work buddy! |
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| Watching a movie together in their preferred location... on the coffee table of course. |
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| "Batgirl!" |
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| "Cheese!" |
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| Potatoes from our garden- mmmm! |
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| Snow-biz after a hot baseball practice- zombie Kieran! |
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| On the road... thank goodness for ipads! |
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| It was a long trip, but well worth the drive! |
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| Our condo... |
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| View from our patio |
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| Emme and me walking down our boardwalk |
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| Fun in the sun and sand! |
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| Emerald wasn't sure about the waves, but she loved the sand! |
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| An olive... it's alive! We of course returned it to the ocean :) |
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| Our one and only family picture... right after this shot a huge cloud rolled in and it just poured for about an hour. Crazy Florida weather! |
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| While we were gone, my folks celebrated their 50th anniversary so we sent them this beach card June 10th to wish them well! |
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| Collecting shells on an overcast afternoon at the beach. |
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| We ended up with a ton of shells... now to figure out what to do with them! |
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| Kieran proudly displaying the huge horse conch we found in the ocean. I stepped on it and thought maybe it was a large rock, picked it up and was happily surprised to see this beauty! |
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| Kieran and I at a lecture in the Sanibel Shell museum. |
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| Checking out the exhibits. |
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| The museum was the perfect place to spend a rainy afternoon. |
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| One of many ice cream stops |
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| We all love us some ice cream! |
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| A yummy meal at the Pink Flamingo |
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| More french fries |
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| Our little monkey... entertaining herself while we wait for a meal |
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| Waiting for a table at the Island Cow. We ended up eating here twice it was so good! |
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| Bean bag toss or.... |
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| A nap mat ;) "Sooo sleepy!" |
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| More ice cream at a little place in a nearby shopping center |
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| Breakfast sans Kieran... he got to spend a morning at Sanibel Sea School... he loved it! |
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| A slight variation on french fries... hash browns ;) |
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| Emme and dad doing her crazy face |
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| Mr. Pouty Face makes an appearance |
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| Gotta have ketchup with our fries |
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| A Meincraft book... good entertainment while waiting on meals |
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| Kieran reads while we wait... Emerald does my hair ;) |
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| She's got a gentle touch ;) |
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| We loved our bikes... the entire island is completely flat and has bike paths everywhere. |
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| Despite her crabby face, they really did like getting around in their little trailer. |
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| Of course daddy pulled them ;) |
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| Emerald pointing at one of the tropical birds that were on display at a near by shopping center |
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| An ibis in the Ding Darling park. We all enjoyed our tour of this beautiful preserve. |
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| Night heron. |
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| Checking out all the creepy little crabs that were all over the trees in this swampy park. |
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| A date night after our trip... it was much needed after those long 18 hours driving home! |
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| Pool time fun at Katyln's country club... post swimming in their jammies, enjoying ice pops! |
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| Mmmm! |
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| Carter's 2nd birthday! |
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| Fun times in the shower ;) |
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| We took a trip to a state park near St. Louis... the kids loved it and we all had a great time wading in the creek and enjoying a picnic lunch |
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| Our sweet little flower child |
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| And Kieran the frog rider! |
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