Boo turned 10 this week. To celebrate we took him and a friend go-carting. They loved it. After we went to our house for pizza. The boys fished and Brandon caught his 1st fish. Then they went frog hunting and brought one in to show Shelby. It was a fun day. Boo has brought us so much joy this past 10 years. May the next 10 years be as good..... ha

Tues-How did that week go so fast?

After a perfect week with everything going our way from trolleys, to water taxis and shows all being ready when we were and talking about traveling with lucky and lucky (Tom and Gary) we had a comedy of errors. I woke up 4am our time and sat on the balcony waiting for the sun to come up for one more walk on the beach. Our daily dolphin show didn't show up.  We went to the Florida Mall to shop and be close to the airport and have lunch at Buca Di Beppo. At the airport security Marsha realized her drivers license was packed away in her checked bag and she had to get frisked, several times to get thru. Gary split his shorts all the way from top to bottom and his clothes were in his check on. And when we finally got to the parking lot to go home in SLC; their brand new Buick had the window rolled down all week thru snow and rain, etc. Guess we were a little excited to go on vacation and the bus was right there waiting for us when we pulled in. So I think our luck ran out and it's time to be home.

Mon~playing on the beach, John's Pass Historic Fishing Village shopping and lunch (and drinks) at the Hut Tiki Bar & Grill.

It's our last day. The plan was to go to The Florida Aquarium but the guys really didn't want to go. We had tickets as we bought the Tampa Bay Ciy Passes that included lots of things. We decided if we bought it we would go see more. Not sure if we saved any money but it was worth it to not wait in the ticket line at Busch Gardens.  Marsha & I talked about going alone to the aquarium but it was almost an hour away and right downtown so we just enjoyed the beach all morning then went to John's Pass shopping in the afternoon. Marsha & I shopped & the guys went to have a drink and wait for us for dinner. I text  Tom that we would be there soon and I got this picture text saying:  "TAKE YOUR TIME".  We all got a good laugh out of it. 

We almost missed the sunset tonight so we pulled off on a public beach on our way home to watch it go down. The Sunset Cruise boat is in this picture. 

Sun; Tom found more sharks teeth and I found a perfect sand dollar. Busch gardens and Lynard Skynyrd concert.

The Food & Wine Festival was going while we were there. 

Scrap metal by the animal show theater.

Lynard Skynyrd in concert. 

Sat 41st Annual Mainsale Art Festival by the harbor in St. Petersburg. A glass blowing demonstration at the Morean Arts Ctr Glass Studio & Hot Shop and front row seats from our balcony to a wedding on our beach.

One of the best arts festivals I've been to. It was right by the harbor in downtown St. Petersburg. 

Home in time to go to the pool. On the way there Tom almost stepped on a black snake laying on the sidewalk. Lots of lizards here also.

Fri- Tom found a giant sharks tooth on.beach, farmers market, sugar sand festival in clearwater,fl, lunch at crabby bills restaurant and beautiful sunset.

Clearwater Beach was rated the #1 beach in the US by TripAdvisor in 2016. It was nice, but lots of people. We parked downtown & took a water ferry over.

The guys were going to Hooters while Marsha & I shopped at Ron Jon's but they said the waitresses looked like they were in Jr High so they didn't go in.

The Sugar Sand Festival, shoes optional.

The view from our balcony. Loved watching the dolphins play everyday.

Thursday. long walk on beach, Chihuly Glass Collection on Beach Dr. in downtown St. Petersburg, Tampa Bay Rays BB game.

Our path to the beach.

Indoor ball park. 

Feeding the stingrays at the game. 

Chihuly Glass Collection.

Wed. Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Honeymoon Island , ferry boat to Caladesi Island and VIP mexican restaurant for dinner.

   This morning the dead fish were still here and the seagulls were eating all their eyes out. We started talking to other visitors on the beach and found out it was a Red Tide. This is due to a bloom of the Florida Red Tide organism, Karenia brevis and causes respiratory problems to humans and kills fish, birds & marine mammals by shutting down their nervous system. Once we did research and found out it wasn't going to kill us since we didn't have asthma or chronic lung conditions, we relaxed a bit. Sometimes it lasts weeks or months but luckily for us we were on the end of it and by tonight all the dead fish were gone and the beach cleaned up.
   We headed to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium where we met Winter & Rufus from the movie Dolphin Tale. I kept looking for Dr. Clay (Harry Connick Jr) from the movie, but he was no where around. Then to Honeymoon Island where we took one of the last ferry's of the day to Caladesi Island State Park. We had the whole place to ourselves besides the park ranger and one other couple and enjoyed seeing it and walking the beach before taking the last ferry of the day back.
   For dinner we went to the VIP Mexican restaurant. Wet burritos & margaritas were great.

Beautiful state park. 

This guy found a fish dinner.

Tom got this picture without Marsha & Gary knowing. This year is their 50th anniversary and I'm thinking a canvas may be nice .

On the ferry at the aquarium going to the 2nd location. 

Tues~

   We flew out at 10:45 from SLC to MCO. We asked for seats together and Delta upgraded us to the extra leg room seats at no extra charge. We arrived just as the sun was setting in Tampa. I had originally booked at Madeira Bch and the Resort Rental Co called 10 days before we left and said they were renovating and we didn't even have a balcony so suggested we choose another condo or get our money back. Marsha & Gary had just committed and got airline tickets the day before the call. I told Tom I'm not telling Marsha we don't have a plan until we have a new plan. ha We didn't have much choice left but decided on Lands End. I told myself I would not stress about a vacation as I feel so lucky to get to go. The good thing is if you book 10 days or less before arriving you get a 10% discount so that saved us almost $200.  And we were so happy with Lands End. Our condo was perfect. A gated community on the end of Treasure Island with covered parking and an elevator to our 3rd floor "Holiday House" for the week. Two bedroom, two bathroom, newly remodeled kitchen and balcony facing the gulf of Mexico.
   Tom and I decided to take a flash light and walk on the beach the first night and there were lots of dead fish and our throats were itchy. At that point I was ready to go find another place to stay and thought "what have I got us into?"  And how far is it to drive to Amelia Island, FL?

Helping Mimi pack and trying out my new computer to take on vacation.

   It is amazing we are really packing to go on this trip. We had frequent flier miles so I started planning a vacation, Originally were were going to Amelia Island, FL, Savannah, GA and Hilton Head. We were changing resorts every 2 days and driving lots.
   On March 15th I got a call at work from the Hwy Patrol in OR and our driver Milton had been killed in a truck accident. I had worked with Milton for 20 yrs. This is the 2nd driver to be killed in 9 months at Savannah. Besides the sad, personal part of it we had the financial, insurance denial or huge increases and talk of if we could even stay open. Lots to think about. Should I cancel vacation and save our money? Or go for it and enjoy life?  Our final decision was to go while we can. But the whole changing resorts and driving didn't seem very relaxing anymore. In the end I booked a resort for a whole week on the gulf side. Walking the beach and looking for seashells was what I needed.

Chels, Shelby and I went to Boo's football game on Sat, then La Frontera for lunch. It was Shelbys first time at La Fra and she loved it. But I think Chels was most excited to be there.

Then Sun afternoon Shelby came and hung out with me and papa and we played outside and went on a golf cart ride to 32 lakeview to check it out. 

DANDELIONS

Shelby and her new friend Maddison that moved in 32 Lakeview.

Less than one week away.

mimi day

Big Papa & Peggy spent the night and we got a 4 generation picture. 

Shelby was excited to go back outside and play when she came over. Then we took a golf cart ride to get dinner. 

By the time Chels & Boo got home from football practice she was so tired she grabbed onto her Bobo and ready to go home. Chels said they were both asleep as soon as they got home.