Epic Vacation, Day 6 - Club Med Thursday

The first time I went to Club Med, I spent most of the trip sick.  It was morning sickness for Jacob, except that it hit me Morning and Evening.  And it's really hard to enjoy when you can't Drink. 

It was particularly hard for me to get over the fact, that this was Not Disney World.  

We hadn't even been there 24 hours, and suddenly it was Already a better trip! 

This was the view out of our back door in the morning on Thursday. 

Seriously, the rains had gone, and we received a sign of God's Promise.  

What a great Sign of the good things to come?!  

The Kids couldn't wait to go to Kids Club.  

They were excited to be able to pick out whatever clothes they wanted.  We don't have to match when we're not on the Move.   They couldn't wait to go Play! 

Jacob got to be in Kids Club with his cousin Cole.  

They hit it off immediately, and played before the day had officially begun. 

It was Brilliant having the cousins play together in Kids club.  

Jacob and Cole were in with the littler kids, and Sam and Chris were in the same group.  

Giant Spider Lily 

Giant indeed.  This thing was taller than me. 

I took a few minutes just to snap a flower or two after breakfast and the kids hit their Club.  

Then it was off to the Quiet Pool (AKA the Calm Pool) for Eric and I.  

We found Mom and Aunt Teri, and we sat in the shade for a moment or two chatting.  

We closed the cabana curtain, so the sun wouldn't fry us.  

Mom and Eric take to the Quiet Pool.  

I joined them, but didn't take my phone with me.  

I prefer to be camera free while I do my best imitation of a beached whale.  

If I put my head just so, this pool is almost like an infinity pool.  

Oh yes, and in case I didn't mention it.  That's the mini - bar.  

They made mango mix, which I had unleaded since we'd just had breakfast. 

It weirded me out to drink booze before 11 a.m. 

Um, This. 

Crepe Day. 

Not every day, but some days, there was a Crepe Lady making desserts.  Almost every other day.

On our first lunch day, when Eric and I were blissfully eating in the Adults Only dining room, (kids at Kids Camp, WOOHOO!) I got a Bananas Foster Crepe for dessert from lunch. 

Oy Vey. 

Crepe day became my favorite day!

The Regatta 

Apparently, once a week they have a race for the sailboats, for the new students, and any youth that want to try.   

They all took off right after we took our naps. We watched half the race from our lanai.   

Meanwhile, the Kids Club set up their own Kids Olympics on the beach. 

They were having a Sandcastle building contest.  

Down the beach Uncle Ryan, Aunt Amy and Jeremiah played.  They didn't do Kids Club. 

OK, my kids are the ones in hats.  

Cole is the shirtless one on the left, playing with Christopher (in the shark shirt). 

Sam and Jacob are on the right in green. 

Super Cute, and having a Great Time! 

Evening Swim! 

Dinner begins at 6:30.  We're old fuddy duddies, and would have liked to eat dinner earlier.  But a significant portion of their clientele is European and eats later.  

The kids get out of Kids Club at 4.  So we decided that between Kids Club ending, if no one was desperate for a nap, (not me, I'd had one!) then we could go for our Evening Swim. 

Last time we came, we were allowed to swim in the evenings.  That was not the case anymore.  

They close up the pool at like 7 or 8, dusk, while we are inside having dinner.  

So a sunset, evening swim was the best time to try having a Family Swim.  

Oh yeah.  

4 boys having a great time in the pool, while Mommy rests poolside.  

I was drying, that's it. 

And resting my hip.  

While having a Family Swim, Jacob took off.  Turns out he can dunk his head under, and hold his breath.  I didn't realize that, and the first time he did so, he was just out of reach, so I dove for him.  

I thought I'd saved him, but he was fine. He knew what he was doing.  Whew.  

On the downside, I had a heart attack and hurt myself, as my hip dodged out of joint while I was trying to 'rescue' Jacob. 

The rest of the evening, I rested. 

At least my toes were cute. 

Those would be my children.  Out of reach. 

And doing just fine. 

My favorite sound in the world is listening to my boys all laugh and play happily together. 

That's a great way to end the day. <3

My Rock Star

Sweetboy at Sunset. 

Chris and I were bringing up the rear on our way to dinner. 

He had to finish up his flush.  

We weren't that late. 

Everyone is enchanted by Baby Bryce. 

The oldest and the youngest. <3

Big boy needs a drink. 

I got to sit across from Jeremiah. 

He'd spent most of his day at the pool with his parents and sisters.  

So I didn't get to see much of them, or him. 

He was quieter than Jacob.  

But he definitely has a goofy streak. 

Fits right in. 

When we came out of dinner, it was dark, and the path was lit by the fire candles. 

It took a minute to get the kids to leave them alone. 

But they sure were pretty. 

My new goodie. 

Not as pretty as my new goodie.  

I'd ordered this Desert Mist Diffuser back in June, but with an Insect Repellent that Indiana won't let ship in.  So I had it sent to Mom in Florida.  But she'd not been home to receive it.  It went to Aunt Teri, while Mom missed the window.  So I wasn't able to pick up this package until we were at Mom's condo.  So this was the first time I got to unpack this light.  

It has a Candlelight setting, like incandescent with a hint of a flicker.  

So Beautiful! And the light was so calming.  It makes me sleepy just to write about it. 

I guess that's my sign to call this blog entry complete.  

It was a wonderfully exhausting day. 

Epic Vacation Day 5 - From Grandma's to Club Med

After taking a laundry day, and just a swim, we got to bed at a semi-reasonable hour Tuesday night.  Unfortunately, Jacob fell out of bed at 2 am, and needed to switch places with Christopher, and I couldn't fall back to sleep .  So I started a load of laundry of our day clothes in Mom's washer.  Well, that woke Sam, so he took my place in the bed, and I took his spot on the couch.  It wasn't as cushy.

They are the sweetest when they sleep. <3

I didn't sleep well, but they did.  And they had energy.  And then we commenced with washing as much of the laundry as we could and packing before we headed out. 

On the way to Aunt Teri's for laundry, I saw this huge bird out front of one of her neighbors.  Wowza.  I think it's a Broadwing Hawk, judging by the bands on it's tail. Either that or a Red Tailed Hawk.  But he didn't seem red enough.  

Some of the local birdies.  

The pond behind Mom and Dad's building had all kinds of birdies. 

I think one was an Anhinga, and the other something white Egret. 

Mr. Great White Egret takes off!  

Jacob found another visitor in the front yard as we were packing up, Mr. Stork. 

He was a hoot chasing the Wood Stork down the street! 

He got such a kick out to the birds!  

Bye Bye Grandma's House! 

Maybe next time we visit, Grandma and Grandpa will actually be there. 

Three boys, being crazy, in the car. 

We were driving through the swamplands of mid-Florida when a storm popped up. 

Still looked pretty cool! 

I literally found myself asking the age old question, "What's that white line?" And explaining it to the boys.  Now they know what the White Line is. 

The White Line is a big rainstorm. 

Check out this pic. As soon as we were out of the storm, the ground was dry, the sun was out, but my car was soaked, and it was still Dark behind us.  Very Cool. 

We began to see Pelicans flying as we neared the beach.  The best quote of the day was Jacob, "Oh I want a Pelican!  I want to eat a Pelican!"  Eww.  But he thought they'd be tasty just like any other bird.  

And Welcome to Club Med! 

We pulled in just after 3.  As we stood there, Mom and Dad came in behind us.  Eric came shortly thereafter with Karl and his crew, they'd flown in together. Within 10 minutes, all the Willmans congregated upon the Club Med Lobby.  It was Awesome! 

The hotel helper offered to take us in his golf cart to our building/room.  

The kids couldn't wait to ride it.  So we let them ride in the golf cart, while we followed in the minivan. 

A tour of our room!  

The boys were bummed, we didn't have the room with the bunk beds again.  

However, our room was right next door to Aunt Teri, Alexis and Kaylee.  

Apparently, they only took 4 to a room, so one of the boys got to have the privilege to sleep in Grandma and Grandpa's room if they were good.  

View Haloo!  

The boys LOVED the view from our lanai!

View Haloo!

Mommy practices getting a Panorama shot. 

When Jacob saw all the sailboats and giant yellow paddleboards on the beach, he began declaring how much he wanted to go do that.  The other best quote of the day, "I want to go waterboarding on the beach!"

Priorities. 

Since dinner wasn't until 6:30, we opted to go to the little cafe, and get a little snack at 4.  We ended up meeting various family members.  And Priorities Yo, Mommy got a nice chilled glass of pink wine for her first beverage of the treat.  There was no drinking while driving, nor drinking while I was the only grownup on duty with the kids.  But now I had lots of Fam helpers.  We got some shrimp on a stick with a side of macaroni and cheese which was amazeballs, with 4 cheeses and bacon. Oh yeah. 

As we sat there discussing everyone's trips, we got a bit of rain, not as bad as the storm as we'd had on the drive though. 

 That's Florida.  Give it 10 minutes and the weather will change.  Like this!  

Check out this buddy we met on the way back to our room. 

All I could think was Mmm... look at that delicious crab claw! 

Kaylee caught her first lizard, this little baby enchanted all the boys the way this little baby ran up and down her arms and legs. It was super cute! 

Sam at sunset. 

On the way to dinner, Sam and I were dallying, looking for Mr. Crabs. He's so handsome.

It was a great note to go end the day, a beautiful sunset, and a yummy dinner with our family. 

They didn't put us in group together, but I sat where I could watch Bryce eat, and chatted with our family in line.  So it was still cool, and there is so much more to come! 

Epic Vacation Day 4 - Dunedin

The town that my in laws have their condo is called Dunedin.  The first few months, in my head, I called it 'Dune-den'. It is not pronounced Dune-den.  It is prounounced, 'Done-Eden'.  This has taken me some getting used to.  And I kept thinking to myself, what kind of town calls itself Dun- for Done in America. On occasion I say that I am D-U-N done, like stick a fork in me Done.   But still, it strikes me odd.  Anyway, I figured on this day, we'd explore the town, go to the Beach.  My goal was to go to the Beach at Sunset, so I could take pictures of the sunset at Florida's west coast, and then hit a sunrise on Florida's East Coast.  It didn't quite work out.

For one, it rained most of the day on Tuesday.  

We'd gotten home too late on Monday to go find the beach or a sunset.  

So we had a leisurely morning, which involved Laundry, because dang.
As it turns out, the four of us can go through a lot of laundry when we travel for four days straight.
It was also raining.
It's a good time to do laundry, in the rain.

But as we approached lunchtime, I felt the need to actually get out.
I wanted seafood, real beach fare.
And there was a break in the clouds.  

So we headed into Dunedin.  

There was a cute pub that I thought Eric would love. 

And a nifty doggie mural on the side of a building near a dog friendly advertised bar. 

Turns out the main part of town is super cute, it reminds me of Petoskey. 

We drove through town, I just wanted to find the water.  

We'd been inside all day, I'd hoped to find the beach, but it was raining off and on.  Glad I was in my car.  Turns out Dunedin is just down the way from Clearwater. 

Welcome to Dunedin!  

Guess it's a Scottish type town.   At least, judging by the Great Scot on the Welcome board. 

This was my view from the place we chose for lunch.  

It was called Bon Appetit, and was at the very edge of the street ending right in the water. 

My three sweetboy dates.  This restaurant reminded me of Rick's Cafe Boatyard.

It was classy, could be a nice date spot, but we ate outside, which wasn't as fancy, and that was fine with me.  It was still nice, and the weather for the moment, was perfect. 

The fanciest hot dog in the state of Florida.  

Jake got a super swanky peanut butter sandwich.  They even cut the crusts off for him. 

Mommy got some of the 'soup of the day' a nice southern gumbo.  

Oh yeah. Shrimp and sausage.  I can deal with that.  

Looked pretty too. 

Christopher got a cheeseburger.  

This made the fourth consecutive day he'd had a cheeseburger.  

He decided, over lunch, that his New Goal for Vacation was going to be to eat a Cheeseburger every single day.  Given what I recall of Club Med, I think that may be able to be arranged. 

Mommy's Grouper special. 

Apparently, Grouper comes from the Gulf.  So it's caught FRESH.  Right here. 

So when in Rome...

So I have decided to eat as much of the local fare as I can.  

This pan fried grouper sandwich was scrumptious!  

Even the tartar sauce was homemade from scratch. 

As we left town, we found this pretty dolphin leaping off the corner, like one of the Bison floating around Indy.  

Earlier in the day, I had told the boys we would go swimming.  When it finally stopped raining, Jacob said, "I want to go to the pool." I asked him, "Do you even know where the pool is?"  

Jacob replied, "Yes. Far."  

I giggled, for he had no more idea where the neighborhood pool was any more than I did.  We looked for it after lunch, and found nothing.  As it turns out, I wrote on FB about the conversation with Jacob, and so a reply from Aunt Teri came through, and she said, "About 20 paces out the back door."  Well, we hadn't gone out the back door, let alone opened up the window back there, we had stayed out of the the back porch and door, because there was some of Aunt Teri's stuff back there, and I didn't want it disturbed.  But upon reading that, I took a look.  

And there it was , the pool was 20 paces out our back door. Ha!   

So I showed the kids, and after flushes and whatnot, we decided to go for a swim before dinner.  I didn't eat much for dinner, since I'd had a decent size lunch, we grabbed some turkey and bread, to make sandwiches.  In theory we were planning to watch the sunset, but with all the clouds and misty rain, we decided to stay put through the sunset.  The kids were happy watching tv after our swim anyway.  

After a day indoors, the boys couldn't wait to go for a Swim at Grandma's new neighborhoood pool.  New to us anyway.  

Jacob has begun to venture out from me.  And he doesn't drown.  He makes me nervous though. 

They boys were having a great time, playing with pool noodles they found, and laughing. 

Their laughter is the Best Sound! 

Mommy has happy vacation toes.  

I hadn't had much time to do my toes before we headed out.  On Tuesday, I did. 

I did them while we had a break watching TV with Grandma and Grandpa.  

They are a lavender color with neutral tan and peach seashells, a hostess exclusive from June 2015, perfect toes for a Floridian vacation. 

And lastly, this pretty plant grows happily outside of Mom's window.  

It is called Ixora, also known as West Indian Jasmine.  

Beautiful.  

And after a long day, an evening swim was a perfect way to end.