Florida part 2 - Fun on the island

It amazes me to think how much I love Cedar Key when I spent the better part of my teenage years complaining of boredom, chastising my parents for making us live in such a sleepy town and plotting my escape off the island. I'm so grateful for the truly unique experience of growing up on an island and all that it taught me. I'm also grateful that I have a husband and kids who love it as much as I do so we can visit often. 

A week in Cedar Key was the perfect way to wind down after the action at Disney. Driving down highway 19, away from civilization with Jimmy Buffet blasting on the stereo, my happiness quotient was rising with every mile that passed. I swear my blood pressure drops 10 points just crossing the "number 4" bridge that takes you onto the island. Part of it is nostalgia I'm sure, but I just love being in Florida, especially Cedar Key. 

We had a great week and it was amazing how fast the time passed. Every day was packed with outdoor adventure - trips to the "shark park", beach time, seashell hunts, bike rides, swimming and golf cart rides around the island, endless puzzles, playdoh, coloring, playing with grandma's (my grandma's) barbies. Hadley even rode her bike all the way downtown to the city park one day (probably about a mile) with daddy following her in the golf cart! We packed a lot into the week. 

I completely forget about my life back home - phone calls, endless chores, paperwork, scheduling appts, household duties. I was free of my daily chores that keep me so busy, so I was able to just sit on the floor and play barbies, do puzzles, just while the day away. I really felt like I was in the moment, something I strive so hard to achieve at home but never seem to do. On vacation, I had no real sense of time, no idea what day it was, or even what time it was, unless we had dinner reservations or a fishing charter and even then the time is "ish".  The most pressing decisions were whether to go to the beach or the pool.

We had family pictures scheduled one night. It's generally a stressful event for us and this time was no different. It was hot, humid and buggy and the photographer was late so we ended up taking them close to bedtime so everyone was extra grumpy. But you'd never know it from the photos. She got some great shots of all of us. I love the fact that Cedar Key was our backdrop made it really special.

Tate was baptized while we were there at the church where I grew up. Father Jim baptized him, the same pastor that baptized Hadley. My uncle and aunt drove over from Dunnellon to attend the ceremony and have brunch after at my parent's house. Tate did great through the entire service and didn't make a peep, even when Father poured the water over his head. He was so tired he sucked his thumb the entire time!

Dayven and I fished a couple of times with a childhood friend of mine, who is now a fishing charter. Normally we do great but it was windy and things just weren't biting. We ended up fishing the back bayous instead, looking for Black Drum fish. It was my first time fishing for them and it was so much fun.  They are huge fish that feed up on sandbars so you "sight" fish them first. Once you spot one, you cast directly to it with crab as your bait. Once you feel them take it, you set the hook and tire them out so you can reel them in. A little more strategy is required then just blindly casting. It's kind of like hunting on the water!

One day we decided to take a break from the sun and head into Gainesville. We took the kids out to lunch and to the Natural History Museum to see the butterfly garden. None actually landed on us, probably because we're too impatient to stand still enough, but it was still really beautiful to see them up close. The museum was really nice too, much nicer than I remember it being as a kid. It's in a new location now, but they still have the cave my brother and I loved when we were little!

We hired a sitter one night and headed out to this funky little tiki bar for drinks and then on to our favorite dinner spot on the island.  We dined out a few more times too with the whole crew and even took them to happy hour at a cigar bar one night. Oh yes we did. They weren't even the only kids there! Cedar Key is very low key like that.  The kids were so well behaved the whole trip. There was very little bickering, no complaining of boredom, no messes or other mischief. I guess everyone was just really happy.

Puppet shadows in bed at bedtime. The kids loved sharing a room

It's always a little bittersweet for me when vacation is over. It feels good to go home and get back to my life but there is part of me that just doesn't want it to end. We had a great day of travel home, easy going kids and a quick 2 hour direct flight. Such a huge difference from some of the long, horrific travel days we had heading to/from Canada. Dayven and I sat out on our deck the night we got home after the kids went to bed and had a beer, "easing back into our life" he said. We both agreed this was one of the best trips we've had for as long as we can rememeber. It was so much fun, everyone got along great, no meltdowns, just real quality family time together. We can't wait to do it again!