Summer's Last Hurrah

Hotel time.

Hey fellas.

So summer is more or less winding down to a close. . . which is 'good news' for nobody, really.  No more pool, no more 'not working.'  Back to the ol' grind.

But not yet.

Kris' birthday was yesterday, and she decided that, in lieu of presents or anything like that, she'd rather have money invested into one, last bout of 'Summerness.'  So, with that in mind, we booked a hotel room on Anna Maria Island and drove out to the Gulf coast.

Smurf it:

We stayed at a hotel that was about a twenty-minute drive from the beach.

The girls fight over who gets which bed (Kris and I were supposed to sleep on the floor - that shit didn't happen.)

Stoked.

Fortunately the place came with a fridge, microwave, and tons of premium movie channels. . . so we were able to bring a ton of stuff from home to keep the kids - and ourselves - entertained and well-supplied.

The Cannonball scopes out the shower. . . which she didn't use.

Our hotel was located right next to the bridge that connected the island to the mainland. . .

That boat was anchored in that exact spot the whole time we were at the hotel. . .  not sure what the hell was going on aboard that thing.

Back of the hotel (that fenced area contained the hotel pool, which we never checked out.)

Speaking Spanish, flipping through the phone book

. . . and reading the Gideon's Bible.

Birds on sticks

At the Pier

Historic Anna Maria Island City Pier

As you'll note, there are NO guardrails of any kind. . . so nothing is stopping a preschooler from running off the side and plummeting into the deep water below.  This obviously puts EVERY parent at ease.

Free Trolley Buses (we didn't use this)

This flock of seagulls repeatedly swooped down around the people walking along the pier.   A little unnerving when you're trying to keep your child from falling off the side into the water below.

Pelicans

Fishing off the Pier

We didn't eat here, but we did use their restrooms.

Do NOT shake hands with dolphins.

You hardly ever see an old guy in a Hawaiian shirt strumming an acoustic down here in Florida. . .

. . . what the hell is there to look at?!

Pelicans. 

Houghs.

My anxiety over the inevitability of our kids falling into the water - which, to me, was well-justified - forced us to exit the Pier prematurely. . .

. . . so we let the kids splash around a bit before heading off to find dinner elsewhere on the island.

On the north beach, eating dinner at sunset. . .

Order window at the Beach Cafe. . .

Some particularly handsome gentleman. . .

Abby watches a guy butchering the hell out of a saxophone.

Some bizarre 'entertainment.'

Yet another healthy dinner.

Kris chows down. . .

Sunset on the beach (we took a few of these pictures - please bear with us)

Yours Truly and the Cannonball

Gettin' crazy in the waves

Sans kids.

Getting kids to man up in the water.

The girls warm up the waves.

I totally don't remember who took this.  And I was sober, too.

Kris and Abby

Out.

Kris has been reading the unabridged version of the Count of Monte Cristo - which is upwards of 1200 pages - for months now.  She's barely put a dent in it.

The next morning:  beach time.

Frontal shot of our hotel

Somewhat ready for the beach

Back on the island

Being chased by waves

The first of many snack breaks.

Lunchables.  The kids barely eat this crap - I don't know why we still buy them.

We bought the kids some kites to try out.  They were both destroyed in a matter of minutes, but they had a good time with them while they lasted.  Personally, I find kites boring as all hell.

Flying kites. . .  sort of.

The demise of Abby's kite. . .

Another snack break. . .

Coming back from the bathrooms. . . again.

Treating the girls to ice cream (though Alayna barely ever comes close to finishing hers)

Abby never has that problem.

Fín.

Abby wasn't a big fan of the waves, and would only go in if you picked her up and walked her in.

By late afternoon, the kids had been utterly spent. . . so we drove the two hours back to Orlando and presented Kris with her birthday cheesecake (we didn't have the right candles for Kris' big 3-2, so I was forced to improvise.)

The girls insisted we do the whole cake thing in their playroom. . . so that's what we did, as we're ruled by preschoolers in this house.

- Brian