Vacay 2013 - Part 1

Our summer vacation spot this year was the Clearwater/Tampa area.  We opted to buy some Busch Gardens passes and try it out this year.

One unfortunate event that happened before we left the house was Jim's cell phone belt clip broke.  Jim without a phone clip = unhappy man = difficult coexistence for us all.  The Verizon store, the ReTech store and Wal-Mart in Ocala left us with nothing.  At least not the one he was looking for, so when we arrived in Tampa we stopped by a Target.

Here, the children are entertaining themselves in the electronic aisle while daddy looks for a suitable clip.  Now that I think about it, I don't think they've ever tried on "real" headphones and listened to music before.

Our first stop, after the hotel and settling in and finding a clip and supper, was Clearwater beach.  It was voted "Florida's best beach town" and boasts sugary white sand beaches.  Beautiful, it was.  What we failed to plan for was one road in and out of the area on top of rush hour.  Oh well, we showed up a little later than we expected, but they got in some good sand and water time and a show by Aaron Bonk.

Reminiscing about Nathan when he was 22 months old in St. Augustine.

 

Brandon 26 months old.

 

 

Thus begins a series of pictures of me on the beach.

 

Don't you just love the attention to detail (I say sarcastically).

 

What a great place to practice your cartwheels!  Much better than the living room.

 

Jim saying, "I love the beach."  (again, said sarcastically)  Must explain why he was aiming for the shots of my rear end the entire time.

Shoveling/slinging sand.

 

Pouring water on mommy's leg is fun.

 

Her grand creation in the sand.

 

Here's Aaron Bonk, the "Object Manipulation Specialist" that put on a juggling/variety show on the boardwalk as we were leaving.  Nathan was enthralled and we made sure to thoroughly explain to him that balancing swords or knives on his forehead or swinging around fire-laced whips were NOT going to happen in our house.  No matter how much he practiced.