When the Ocean Calls

Hey friends!

I have returned to the land of my youth, a space of sea and sky, where even in December one can merely throw on a t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops and feel perfectly comfortable in the salt-caressed air. :D

Zounds. Get me to the beach and I wax lyrical. ;)

We're in Venice, Florida, visiting my grandma... and we'll be attending my cousin's wedding on Saturday! I'm so excited for her and her fiance.

The drive down was relaxing for everybody but Daddy, who did the driving. (Such a good man!) I cuddled with my microplush-encased body pillow and read a book on my Kindle with music streaming into my ears through my iPod earbuds.

It's crazy how different childhood car trips are to our car trips now. Now, we might take like, 3 bathroom breaks all day. And during one of those we throw together some sandwiches, then eat them on the road. It's super-streamlined. Also... my 'toy bag' now consists of a tote stuffed with my Kindle, my iPod, my journal, my camera, and a couple extra notebooks & pens... and my laptop sitting next to it in its sweet matching sleeve. Gone are the coloring books and stuffed animals! :D

Today we got up kind of early... 7:30 for me. I always seem to wake up early here - I think it's all the sunlight pouring into Grandma's house. :D But anyway, it's nice to be up and about sooner than later. I scrambled some eggs and made toast for breakfast, then we headed out to do some shopping!

First we stopped by the Goodwill, which is the best Goodwill in the world. We always find amazing stuff there. This time I found a skirt that looks like a peacock... exact same shade of blue with an intricate pattern, though not actual peacock-eyes. I'll have to snap a photo of it for you. :)

Then we hit Target, hoping to pick up some blankets to replace the ones that fell off the van roof (How that happened, we have NO idea, Daddy is the king of strapping-stuff-safely)... but the boys decided they could make do with the blankets Grandma is lending them for now. :) However... I managed to snag some sweet shoes and a clutch wallet-purse that will go perfectly with what I'm wearing to the wedding! Observe:

The copper shoes and purse will go so nicely with my orange dress! :D
The jewelry I made for the occasion is yet to be revealed. ;)

After finding those gems, we popped into Publix to pick up a chicken for dinner. We also grabbed some of Mark's favorite maple-glazed honey ham lunch meat. :) And sundried tomato hummus. Yum!

We enjoyed an extremely tasty lunch at home, then Daddy and Grandma went to go pick up some new plants for her front yard and I took the boys to the beach for an hour and a half. I took pictures, and half walked, half ran up and down the beach -for a stretch about as long as our driveway- eight times. It felt so nice to get some exercise and work up a healthy glow, especially after sitting in the car doing nothing yesterday. :)

Now you see 'em...

Now you don't! Guess who's who! ;)

Miss Austen was right - walking does improve the complexion!  :D

Once home, we rested for a little and then Mama and I whipped up some dinner... crockpot chicken, Julia-mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans were on the menu. Now we plan to watch the football game between the Broncos and the Raiders - I'm rooting for Peyton Manning. ;)

I don't know if I'll be able to do a blog post every day while we're gone, but I'll check in with you now and then to let you know how we're doing! :)

Till then, a few pictures...

:)

Cute little sand pipers danced down the water's edge. 

The sky was feathered with clouds. 

The ferry dock. :)

Here's the boardwalk over from the ferry dock. :) We ride the ferry across a strip of water to get to the beach.

Blessings,