July Date with Ben

In July, Ben and I went on our date to see Planes: Fire & Rescue. First we ate at Sonic, per Ben’s request, then headed to the movie (which he had already seen with my parents, but wanted to go with me to see it again).

Kids’ Rooms-Paint Update

After we got back from our Tampa trip, I took a couple of days to paint the kids’ rooms.

Ben’s change was subtle.

Before, a grayish blue…

…to a truer gray.

But the girls’ change was more dramatic…

Yellow to…

Pink.

I still need to get curtains and art, but the walls feel fresh and clean now.

11th Anniversary Trip–Tampa, Florida

For our 11th anniversary, we snuck down to Tampa for a few days. We dropped the kids off with my parents before heading over to the west coast.

We got checked in then got ready for dinner. We basically planned our time away around where we wanted to eat. First stop, the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City.

Ready to head out.

I had roasted pork, black beans and rice, yucca, and sweet plantains. Oh, so good.

Jonathan enjoyed paella.

We opted to eat in the main room so that we could see the flamenco show. It was so good that it was hard to eat my dinner. I kept wanting to just watch the dancing.

We got a few pics on our way out.

The next day, we headed over to Honeymoon Island for a beach day. We got Publix subs on the way then found a good spot to set up.

We spent some time on the beach then had our subs. After we ate, Jonathan decided to take a walk. I pulled out Dear Mr. Knightley to read and settled in my chair by the water.

After two and a half hours, I began to wonder what had happened to Jonathan and eventually went in search of him. Finally, we found each other.

For dinner that night, we stopped in at the Cheesecake Factory. I always get the same thing there, but because we eat there so infrequently, I am okay with that. The last time we ate there was when we were in San Francisco.

That night at the hotel was so bizarre. At 4am, the clock radio came on in the room next to ours and we could hear it. It had to be at the highest volume possible to hear through the walls. We knocked on the wall and called the front desk staff who tried calling the room, but it didn’t turn off for an hour. Not the best sleep ever.

When it was the time we’d planned to get up, we got ready, loaded up the car and headed to Tarpon Springs.

We picked up a few sponges for the kids then headed to Hellas for some Greek gyros.

Once again, an amazing meal.

As we started back to Gainesville, we decided to drive north along the coast and have dinner in Cedar Key.

While at the restaurant, we watched the storm roll in (and out) and a little fishing boat fight the winds.

This salad is one of the strangest combinations of food I have ever had, but it tastes so good. The best place to get it is at the Island Hotel and Restaurant, and we didn’t eat there that night, but it was still delicious. It has hearts of palm, tons of fruit, and an ice cream, peanut butter, and mayonnaise dressing.

From there, we finally headed home. Another wonderful getaway to celebrate our anniversary was complete.

Five Minute Fact Sheet

This summer Rosemary went to work getting her addition facts faster. To encourage her, we made a deal that whenever she got all 100 in 5 minutes, we would go to Red Lobster for lunch. Two days later, guess what she did.

So off we went for some clam chowder and cheddar bay biscuits.

She even wrote me a little note.

Independence Day at the Beach

We braved the crowds once again to celebrate July 4 at the beach. The forecast said rain would be coming in the afternoon, but we headed over any way hoping to beat the rain and enjoy some beach time.

It was crowded, but not too bad. We found an open spot and set up our little camp.

The boogie boards are almost always in use now.

Ben caught a wave. This boy is not afraid to get in that water.

I used the boogie board a bit, too.

Janice and Richard met us for a bit, too. The rain wasn’t too far off, so we started packing up. It started as we were finishing loading up, and as we made our way to the exit ramp (with everyone else) a full on deluge had begun. We waited a few minutes in the car before getting changed to make our way to Palatka for dinner.

We had a little bit of a wait at Corky Bells, but while we waited, Ben opened his gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Peine.

After dinner, we headed down to the water for some photos.

That night, Jonathan set up our fireworks display.

Charlotte wore some ear protection.

And some sparklers to finish off the evening.