Florida Spring Break 2013...

Last week we spent Spring Break in Florida...the third year we've been going to the same beach town and each year staying in a large, comfortable and fun house just steps from the sand. This year the Morse and Miller family joined in our adventures.

We mistakenly decided to leave on Good Friday, thinking we'd miss the weekend traffic. However, we didn't take into account that most people had that day off and were also trying to beat traffic. Ugh. We broke the trip into two days...and what is typically a 12 hour drive took a total of 18 hours. So there's that. Just made arriving in Florida that much more exciting.

Crossing into Louisville. I love this bridge and take pictures of it each and every time we cross over. Reminds me of an erector-set.

Day 2 we had gone through a bazillion movies, iPad games and every snack we packed. Izzy had some fun taking selfies on our home stretch. This girl. She can make me laugh!

As soon as we arrived we unpacked, organized coolers, then got into our swim suits to relax. This house had 4 BRs and 3BA, which fit all 12 of us perfectly. It was just 4 houses down from where we stayed last year...yet the backyard boasted much more living space (including Mike's favorite, the tiki hut complete with fridge, sink and flat screen tv). Vacation perfection. Exhale.

 After ordering a pizza we grabbed our drinks (and buckets) to trek it to the beach. The boardwalk is approximately 6-ish houses away from ours.

Arriving just as the sun was setting...

Shoes off at the end of the boardwalk...

Charlie loved running on the beach. He was such a great traveler and just went with the flow, always wanting to hang out with the big kids.

Bug on a beach

Saturday night Amy, Sandi and I filled a boatload of plastic eggs and had fun hiding them throughout the house. As soon as the kiddos woke on Sunday we had a hunt...and continued to find missing eggs all week long.

Running to the beach

Jason and Mike swam in the open water (much to mine and Jeff's dismay after watching videos of sharks migrating). I'd say they swam at least a mile. Sandi escorted them on foot along the beach and she said there were many a folk commenting on the crazy people swimming in the water. My sentiments exactly.

These pictures just never get old to me...they all just had such a fun time together. I can see them years from now walking this same path to the beach to sunbathe instead of building sand castles. My cousin and her family were also in Florida at this time (yet hours south of us) and she told me to cherish every day of our vacation with our Littles. Her oldest turned 18 last week and she was getting nostalgic for her little girl on the beach. 

Bathing beauties

Not a bad view

Lots of digging

Sweet Charlie

Daddy Jeff

Laney Bug waiting for her 362nd snack of the day

Girlies...we had some fun times on that beach

Izzy right after I thought I had lost her (she was sleeping under a blanket on a chair). That was a fun moment.

Chasing waves

Backyard selfies

Where the boys spent most of their time

Daddy digging (seemed the daddy's did more digging than the Littles!)

Sunset family photos

Ben's favorite: lizard hunting

Sisters. A rare, tender moment.

Can't. Get. Enough.

Daddy's making the most out of a dreary day: make a whirlpool!

Pool crew. And cross-eyed Izzy. What have I done to these girls?!

Weather was still warm but the clouds were out...so we took a long walk along the beach and did some serious shell hunting (as Laney called it all week long, "she-shells from the she-shore").

Buddies on the shell hunt

My lovey lou.

Windy day makes for perfect weather to fly kites

All of the kids did great flying kites, so did the big kids. Every one of us were flying kites. And every one of us smiled the entire time. Even when Buggy let go of her kite and it was swallowed into the ocean.

Group photo on our last night

Shout out to nanny Natalie...

IU !!!

We had a great time on vacation. Created memories and bonds...and funny stories. Like that one time when Amy ran along the beach front with her very large kite warning people she was coming through (at a pretty fast clip). Or all the delish pina coladas Jeff made for us. Or that squirrel the boys named Stewie who would come scarily close and eat our food. Or the time we waited for 30 minutes for the ice cream man (who seemed to come around every 5 minutes all week long). Or how Laney reeked havoc in the kids' room at night only to be quarantined to her parents' bed every. Single. Night. Or how that Jumping-Jack competition never happened (but will one day!). Or how we all got burned the very first day yet still went back out the second day ready for more. I could go on and on. And the memories will.

Pretty sure the kids loved it...most of them claimed the "bunkin' beds" were their favorite part of the trip. Mmkay. How about that ocean you played in every day?

By the end of the week we were ready to pack up and get the show on the road. Sleep in our own beds. Thankfully, the drive home was uneventful and we made it in around 13 hours. No meltdowns. Lots of movies. And a little Ben.adryl.

I'm chalking up Spring Break 2013 a success. And I can't wait to do it all again next year.

Master Mike...

Since the first day I met Mike, he has talked about his love/hate for the sport of swimming. He had been on a swim team for as long as he could remember with most of those years practicing twice a day (read: early mornings and late nights). Mike held many school and state records in high school which scored him a scholarship to a Division I university (where the two-a-day practices continued). He says by the time he graduated from college he never wanted to swim another lap in his life.

Throughout the last 10 years Mike has dabbled with the idea of swimming on a local Master's Swim Team. He had many friends and former rivals that swim in the Master's group but for some reason Mike never pulled the trigger. He took up running. Ran the Chicago Marathon in 2005. Retired from running when his back got bad. His surgeon suggested never to run again (the doctor claims running is the absolute worst sport for your back and Mike's training for just the one marathon could easily have done this to his disks). In fact, the doctor said the best form of exercise for Mike would be swimming. Huh. Wouldn't you know? He can do that pretty darn well.

Once the New Year hit Mike confessed that he had been researching the Master's program here in town; where and when practices were held, who else he knows that is doing it, and when future meets would be this year (including last year's qualifying times for Nationals). Oh, and by the way, Nationals would be held in Indy this year, so he thinks he can qualify and is going to attempt to do just that...because he had already signed up and paid his dues. He was ready to get back into the water.

Sometime in November/December Mike started clean eating in anticipation of his upcoming training schedule. He hit the intense practices in January and was serious with his training from the start. The girls and I would join him on Sundays while he swam his laps and we played. We'd snack and watch daddy swim gracefully through the water, back and forth. Flip turns. Intervals. Warm-ups and cool-downs. Watching him made me so proud of him. And also left my heart a little empty, as I'd envision him swimming in college and am sad I never got to see him compete in his prime. Breaking DI records. But I was watching him now, swimming pretty darn close to as fast as he was 20 years ago. And my pride would come washing over me again.

A few weeks ago was the Master's Regional event here in town where Mike swam in several relay events and several individual events (1,650 yard freestyle, 100 yard IM, 200 yard backstroke and the 500 yard freestyle). Mike's most notorious for his distance swimming and his best event was always the 1,650 yard free - A MILE!!! - (second to his 200 backstroke). Of course he swam the former on Saturday when I couldn't be there (I had a marathon relay with my girlfriends in Lafayette and the timing just didn't work out). And let me tell you something, Mikey smoked this heat. He won his age group and came in only second in the entire meet to a 20 year old Purdue (peeeeeyouuuu!) swimmer home on spring break. The bottom line, Mike qualified for Nationals and I'm pretty sure I've told everyone I know, I'm so proud!

Here are a few pictures from Sunday:

Mike says his times are slower than 20 years ago but from the sounds of it, just by a few seconds. Can't be by too much, as he is still able to hang with the younger guys. As I we were waiting for each heat I would ask his dad about swim meets when he was younger and I loved hearing how Bob could still recall his times on each events. Was so glad that the girls and I could watch him in his element. He did great in all events and is swimming a handful of them in May at the National Championship here in town.

Go Daddy Mike!!!!