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Our vacation took on a fevered pitch starting on Friday, as the remainder of our relatives poured into the condo for the “big event” (my FIL’s 90th birthday party on Saturday).
The day started slowly, but by noon we were making lists of our last-minute party details, constructing table decorations and grocery shopping for our Saturday night cookout on the beach. Our communal meals (mostly breakfasts and lunches in the condo and eating out for dinner) were loads of fun. But they did require daily trips to the grocery store, because none of us would have guessed that we would consume 4 cases of bottled water, 3 lbs of shaved turkey or 6 boxes of cereal. Each meal reminded me much of a swarm of locusts (and I mean that only in the most loving of family ways!) Thank God the condo was equipped with a dishwasher.
Friday’s events culminated with a photo shoot on North Lido Beach. We hired a professional photographer and are anxiously awaiting those pictures. It was one of those “beach picture” things where we all dressed in khaki and white and posed in front of the sunset. It took a bit of arranging, but during the photo shoot we realized we were doing something very special. Here we had 3 generations of family (with some significant members missing, sadly) from all over the country — California, Washington State, Washington DC, Georgia, Missouri…all together on the beautiful white beaches of Sarasota!
Each immediate family unit took separate shots as well. Guess we all know which photo we’ll be receiving in this year’s Christmas card!
Overall, another satisfying day at “from the edge” – where all the redheads have either sprouted freckles OR turned a little pink (put a fork in me, I’m done!). And our Chinese beauty, LuLu, is sporting a bronzing that is to die for! We call her beach baby! She’s loving it and her swimming skills are definitely improving.
One more day of living on the edge…before we have to head back home to reality!
We devoured food like locusts on our vacation as well. We had 10 people, and 8 of them were 25 or under. Food just evaporated! At dinner one night there were 8-10 leftover hamburgers… on purpose… and by the next lunch there were two! Huh?