Our trip was divided into 3 parts:
1. Sarasota. We did very little besides sit in the sun and rest.
2. Mississippi. We flew to a family reunion over the 4th of July.
3. Orlando. We flew back to Florida and stayed in Orlando for the last several days of our trip.
We were in Sarasota (Siesta Key, specifically) for 11 days. We went on a little day trip on one of those days but the rest were spent chilling out. Maybe that seems crazy to you, but it was exactly what this family needed.
Conrad and I were very much enjoying just being with our girls, but we also recognized that one of the main points of this trip was to rest and seek God about his plans for us and our future. With that in mind, we were very deliberate about taking time to get away individually. Most of the days we spent the mornings together (on the beach or at the pool), then in the afternoon we took turns getting away. He took off for a few hours of free time and the next day it was my turn. It was a good system and it helped us to each get a little downtime without the distractions of the girls. Then in the evenings we were back together. Sometimes we went out for dinner, but most often we ate in the condo then either headed back outside into the cooler evening air, or stayed in and played endless games of Uno. 
One of the highlights for me was running the beach in the mornings. I’ve been running off and on for the last several years, but I don’t consider myself a serious runner. I never do more than 2 or 3 miles at a time. But running the beach, with the sound of the waves and the smell of the salty air and the feel of the sand on my feet (yes I ran barefoot!!), oh man, I felt like I could run forever. So refreshing!
Here’s a picture of the route I ran. . .you can see how the beach curves around to the end. I didn’t run every morning. . .my calves couldn’t take running in the sand like that! But on the mornings that I did run, oh it was delightful!
Another highlight for me was trying new foods. I’ve never been much of a seafood fan, but, honestly, I think it’s because I’ve never had good seafood! Call me crazy. Being right on the Gulf of Mexico (with no evidence of the oil spill anywhere!) provided plenty of seafood restaurants all boasting to be the best. I am now in love with scallops, tuna, and grouper. The scallops were my favorite, I ordered them twice while we were there! Yum! The older girls were also being adventurous and throughout the week they ordered lobster, scallops, clams, and lots of shrimp. Ellie was a little harder to convince to go outside of her culinary box. She stuck to the basics:
Our little day trip was to go dolphin spotting on the Gulf. Fun! We loaded up into a boat and spent 2 hours in the sun trying to spot dolphins in the wild. We saw several of them, but, by golly, they’re hard to photograph! Here’s the best I’ve got for you:
That day was scorching hot but we enjoyed being outside anyway! Here’s a few shots from the boat:
The color of my toe nail polish is called “cajun shrimp”. Painting them that color is one of the better decisions I’ve made in my life. Love it!
I think I’ll end here. Lots more to come, including a story that almost had me packing my bags and heading home only a few days into the trip! YIKES!
