St. Augustine for the 4th of July
We headed to St. Augustine to spend the weekend with our "Gainesville Family". We call them that because that is where we all met. We rented a condo on the beach that was big enough for Jen and Milo, Jaime and Ron, Alex and me, George and the kids- Zachary and Joshua and Brooklyn and Ben.
We were unable to get into the condo on the day we hoped so Jen and Jaime's mom Roz was nice enough to let us hang out and stay at her house one day. We went to the beach and played in the splash park on the first day, and then had Rita's custard and gelati for me. Alex ate his ice cream and had about two bites of his cone left and asked little Joshua, with a mostly complete if not dripping cone, if he wanted to trade. Joshua looked at his cone as if he forgot how much he had left and then puzzily looked at Alex's cone and shook his head and walked away knowing that was not a good trade. Here they are sharing a moment. Aren't they cute?
The next day we were able to get into the condo and went to the beach again in the evening. It was awesome. That evening George and Jaime arrived. Milo made an awesome salmon dinner and then after the kids were in bed we did what we do best.... play games! The girls made some yummy adult lemonade drink and we played a card game called "Golf" which was a lot of fun. And then we had a Spit (Speed) card game tournament that I won. Later Alex and I went for a walk on the beach and thought we were seeing ghosts until we got closer and realized it was just Jaime and George out for a walk too. Then they tried to get us kicked out of the condo when we proceeded to break all the old people condo rules by being in the pool after hours, drinking at the pool, making excessive noise at the pool, and a stumbling Alex making his way into the wrong condo at 2:00am. Here are the people having too much to drink but not too much fun...
The next day was the 4th of July... Maggie's 4th birthday! Jen and Milo went for a walk on the beach and came home to inform us that the beach was filling up fast. So we headed to the beach with our canopy and food and drinks for all day. The kids had fun playing in the sand and the tide pools and making our way out to the sand bar. The adults had fun playing with them a bit in the waves and having fun of our own. We threw the frisbee, played paddle ball, and bocce ball. Even though this was the 3rd beach day in a row I didn't want it to end. It was a fun day.
So we showered and ate at the house and then headed to the Bridge of Lions overlooking the Fort (Castillo de San Marcos) and the bay for fireworks. We had a great spot and the St. Augustine fireworks were good as usual. Zachary fell asleep right before it all started. We played more games that night.
The next day we went to the pool cause the kids can't swim in the rough beach the way they can in the pool. We taught the kids marco polo and sharks and minnows and then Alex and I broke more condo rules by playing paddle ball in the courtyard.
George left after a Milo BBQ lunch and we were going to leave too except we thought we'd head to the beach for just a bit. Alex stayed at the house with Ben, and Jen and I took on Jaime and Ron in a game of bocce ball which lasted a few hours. We pretty much got massacred. After that we said our good-byes and headed for home. I love how Jen and Milo and Jaime and Ron let us into their families. I love seeing their kids grow up and I love them like they are my own. Zac and Brooklyn gave great hugs and the affection Joshua had been withholding all week finally came through in a cute little hug and kiss.
It was a great trip- 2,629 miles with my husband-- and friends and family sprinkled in. It was awesome and all I hoped it would be.
Now for the unpacking and laundry....
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