A Full Day in the Sun!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! I woke many times through the night thinking each time that it must be time to get up. I wasn’t anxious to wake up however. I was feeling a little jet lag. The urge for sunshine swayed me otherwise and soon I was up and out of bed. It must have been about 8:00am. Mindy had told the kids that they couldn’t wake us until there was a ‘8’ on the clock. Unfortunately, Jacob reasoned that that could be any of the digits and not necessarily the first. You’ve gotta be on top of your game when it comes to kids! They work all the angles and are so literal. I found my tennis shoes, my vitamins, and the coffee makings. Soon, much like at home, I was exercising to sound and aroma of coffee brewing. I was excited for the day ahead. Jacob and Bella insisted on doing their exercises along side me. Soon everyone was up and about. I got the kids hooked up with some donuts and drinks. Our coffee was ready in the blink of an eye. I was happy for that. I made a cup with all the fixins’ for the both of us. The kids and I walked out onto the lanai, by the pool and out towards the pond to get a feel for the day. It was just as I remember Florida. – sunny, hot and steamy. After a couple cups of coffee and an hour of relaxation, I decided that I’d better get a run under my belt before the sun got to hot. I dawned my favorite running shorts and shoes and hit the road. The first day run of most vacations is always a special treat. It’s an adventure. I set out in no particular direction destined for no where specifically. Instead, my focus is simply to run until I fell I’ve run about 4 or 5 miles. It’s just that simple. I ran through the neighborhood and checked out many of the other homes. There are lots of beautiful homes and properties. Soon I wound my way out onto River Crossing Drive towards Little Av. I took the extra-wide walkway that passes by a few gated golf course communities. All very nice. Several large trees dotted the landscape and all of them were draped in Spanish moss – very cool! I ran until I came to an intersection I had not seen before. It was then that I realized I had run the opposite direction out of the sub-division. No biggie! On my return I decided to pass by a couple of new builds and peek inside since they were in “open stud”.status. They were nice but nothing too special. Soon I was back on Fall River Drive. I joined Mindy and the kids by the pool just as Mindy was fixing Bella’s hair for swimming. I learned later that Bella put up quite a fuss about getting her hair pool ready. Sorry I missed it! I jumped in the pool to cool off! A leisure day ahead. The rest of the morning and the bulk of the afternoon was spent poolside soaking up the sun, reading, applying with the kids. Mindy finished her list and readied for a trip to the local grocery to stock our shelves with food. The list was long! I was staying back with the kids. Mindy was out for around two hours. The sun was hot and the sky was blue. It was very satisfying to stay back with the kids and simply lounge around. We swam, played, and harassed one another quite nicely. Mindy was back home in time for lunch. I helped carry in all the groceries, and there were lots of them. We spent the remainder of the afternoon poolside and snacked on nuts and cheese. Later in the afternoon I went to the liquor store to get some raspberry vodka for me, some spiced rum and pina colada mix for Mindy. I also stopped in at Publix to get some whole milk and some swim goggles. When I returned I hurried to make myself a raspberry vodka, Fresca, with a twist of fresh lime. Soon we started dinner. We cooked salmon filets and a chicken breast on the large George Foreman grill that Craig has on the lanai. We had brussel sprouts and a salad to accompany the fish. After dinner we put the kids to bed so that we could enjoy a quiet evening together. Just as the kids went nighty-night we were attacked by a flock of very large Reddish Egrets. Those that know how large a blue heron is just multiply that times tow and you’ll get an idea of their size. They were aggressive too! I chased them with Craig’s papier-mâché’ Toucan. It was funny. The several vodka and Fresca’s I had already consumed didn’t hurt either. As the sun set Mindy and I took a stroll down by the pond/lake. We were checking out the aquatic marine life when we were attacked by a flock of turtles, which I originally thought were baby alligators due to their protruding eyes and long nose. They are Florida soft shells. After our stroll we took a number of pics and retired once again to the lanai where I made yet another tasty drink and grabbed my guitar for some poolside strumming. We hung out until about 11:30pm when we decided to call it a night and go to bed, but not to sleep.