We’re Off!

I’m going camping.

I don’t camp. I don’t like to camp. I don’t want to camp. But…I’m camping. In a tent.

I had these grand plans of writing posts ahead of time, so you wouldn’t even notice I was gone.  Alas, you get stuck with a picture of our destination and some final complaints about the trip.

I’ll be back in a few days!  Enjoy your nice comfy beds and your central air.  I’ll be hangin’ with the mosquitoes.

Disney Bound

Apparently, my Christmas gift this year is a broken laptop. So, I blog from my mom's house. Tomorrow afternoon we are headed here. I'll be away from the computer until after the new year, but I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories of kids fighting in the car, standing in line for hours, and throwing up on Space Mountain.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a blessed New Year! I'll be back soon!

On Golden Pond

We just returned from a long weekend up north.  One of my friends just told me that out-of-staters don’t know what “up north” means.  Basically, when you go to any northern part in the state of Michigan, it’s called “up north”.  Maybe I’m not sure what she means by that…

Anyway, we stayed at my friend’s cottage.  When we got there, I knew immediately it wasn’t your “average” cottage.

Our friends also have Maximus’ sister.  So…we shared the cottage with two bullmastiffs.

The view from the cottage.  You see that little fake owl on the dock?  It took Maximus three days to get within a couple of feet of it.  Good guard dog, eh?

There’s “our” cottage in the middle.

The inside is just about as good as the outside.  This is the view when you walk in the front door.  We sat out there to have our morning coffee and talk about our solutions to life’s problems.  It’s quite easy to do that when you’ve got that view.

The beat up living room that my friend is ashamed of.  Believe me…we weren’t in this room much.

I don’t think I got a good picture of it, but they just re-surfaced the island with large beadboard paneling.  It’s gorgeous!

They like to entertain lots of family and friends up there, so they have tons of seating and easy access hangings.  I love the laid back nature of the place while still looking put together.

The colors are so complementary, huh?  Nice chandelier.

This was the room we stayed in.  At their cottage.  The guest bedroom.  It’s more put together than mine is!

My favorite room of the house.  The bathroom.  They have another one downstairs for the kids, but this is the adult one.

I could NOT stop staring at the hooks in here!  It’s all paneled beadboard behind it with 8-inch baseboards everywhere.  Sooo nice.

The owner’s dad did all the custom woodwork in the house.  He’s also the one who built our mudroom lockers.

Yes.  It’s a sink.  But a reeeeally pretty one!  I stared at it every time I brushed my teeth.

Don’t let the house tour mislead you.  We did enjoy the water.  I had to use my daughter as a ploy to get us to go slower.  My first time out, I barrel rolled twice.  And had my suit bottoms wrapped around my ankles once.  Thank the lord for deep water.

  

And last but not least, Maximus surprised us all and proved that he can swim.  Who knew? 

 

A Mortgage for a Mailbox?

A couple of things I forgot to tell you in yesterday’s post.

1.  I spent the majority of my vacation in Naples.  (My best friend lives there.) However, we traveled to Siesta Key, Fort Myers, and Sanabel.

2.  I did wear sunscreen.  I started with a 30 (only for 45 minutes) and then wore a protective 50.  Still burned.  Go figure.

One of my favorite parts of my trip was traveling through Naples’ Port Royal area.  Think “homes I’ll never be able to afford”.  We saw a lot of these…

But I quickly realized that I was falling in love with the mailboxes in the area.  Yes.  Mailboxes. 

The next two are my favorite!  Look at those pink flowers! 

I just love the state-liness of the vine covered boxes.  I would smile every time I went out to get the mail.

So I wonder.  Do they offer a mortgage plan on a mailbox?  ‘Cause I just might have to look into that.

Good Intentions…

HI!  I’m back.  Florida sun, sleeping in, going out to eat for every meal…be gone!  Back to reality for me.  I just walked in, and I have about 37 loads of laundry to do.  Until I get back on track, I thought I’d let you see how to spend the perfect afternoon alone in Florida.

Step 1:  Pack yourself a goody bag.  By goodies, I mean some good music, something sweet to eat, and (of course) a celebrity magazine to be read cover to cover with NO interruptions!

Step 2:  Sit in a chair that allows you to take full advantage of the view of your new pedicure.  You know…the one you’ve been needing for 6 months.

 

Step 3:  Speaking of views, make sure it’s something like this.

 

If you turn your head just slightly, it’s ok.  Your view will still look like this.

Step 4:  (Perhaps the most important)  Lay back and enjoy the sounds around you.  Notice that those sounds do NOT include, “Mom, I’m hungry.  What food did you bring?”  “Mom, will you throw me in the water some more?”  “Mom, she won’t share her shovel!”  Basically, drown out anything you hear that remotely sounds like “Mom…”

Final step?  Take a shower, feel a bit of a hot sensation coming from your skin, take a look in the mirror, and scream at the horror!  (Believe me, that wasn’t the worst of it.) Then douse yourself in aloe and ibuprofen for the next three days.  Rinse and repeat. 

Florida in Review

Things I learned on our family vacation:

1. Gas station cappuccinos are from heaven.

2. Gas station toilets are from hell.


3. I really love being around my husband.

4. I can go 9 days without shopping.

5. I can't go 9 minutes without thinking about shopping.



6. Walt Disney World is SO not just for children. (Notice my husband dragging the kids.)

7. Walt Disney died a ga-jillionnaire.


8. Sand gets into places and never. goes. away.

9. Fish creep me out.

10. Kentucky at 3:47 in the morning creeps me out.



11. I have the most well-behaved kids on the planet.

12. I have the most beautiful kids on the planet.

13. I took a kick-ass picture of the castle. I'm sorry. Would you look at that?

14. There is no place like home.

Guess Who's Back?!

We survived! I don't even know where to begin. I will say that this won't be much of a post. Consider this an introduction of sorts. I got lots to say, but I got lots of laundry! I have a huge travel tip for you. Clean your house before you go! How nice it was to come home knowing I have NO sheets to wash, no dishes to do, and no tubs to scrub. There IS still that laundry...but not too much of it, considering. Okay, onto the eye candy.

Notice how far out from shore my husband and daughter are. It's shallow and CLEAR for that long and more.
This was looking down from our condo.
Again, I have so much to show you that I need to go through the pics. Vacation pictures can get kind of boring after awhile, so I'll spare you.

Before I forget, thank you to all the nice comments you left as I left. I have some new friends on here! I'm spending down time trying to catch up on your blogs, so forgive me if I don't comment just yet. Just wanted to let you know that I read them all, and you guys are sooo nice. I'll be back later!

Florida Bound!

Well, I don't know how I'm gonna be able to stay away from my blogging world for over a week, but we are off. The chances of having computer access are pretty slim, so this will have to do for now. PLEASE don't desert me will I'm gone. I WILL be back. :-) However, I don't really mind leaving this:

for this:

And I'm not too bothered to trade in this:
for this: (And yes, I really do mow the lawn.) Have a good week, everyone! And just when you think I'm gonna have too much fun, just remember--I have to sit in a car for 48 hours with an 8-year old and a 5-year old. See you!