It was no mistake that we planned to do a week at SeaWorld and Disney World first and then relax at the beach for a week. So, on Saturday morning we packed everthing we owned back into “White Shadow”.

Since we had some time to kill between checking out of our place in Kissimmee and into Madeira Beach, we hit up the outlet mall. After shopping in the morning, we decided to try the food court for lunch. The lines were worse than Disney! So, we gave up and headed to BJ’s Brewpub instead. Good idea to avoid the lines. Great idea to avoid the torrential rain that came just as we arrived.

Unfortunately that rain continued all the way to Tampa and into Madeira Beach. When we arrived the waves were 7 feet tall crashing into the shoreline. The kids really wanted to try the pool so we went. We quickly gave up with very cold water and sand whipping our faces.

Sunday was Kelly’s birthday, so we woke up and made a nice big breakfast, gave her cards and gifts. Katy even got some flowers and balloons to brighten up another gray day. Katy and Kelly had a spa day that included wine, while Richie and I stayed home and watched the kids who seemed content (most of the day) to play indoors.

While the girls were out, Richie and I may or may not have had a few beers. And, then proceeded to stack the empty beer cans to the ceiling that day. I mean we were on vacation that day too, right!?!

Richie and Katy watched the kids for us on Sunday night so Kelly and I could go celebrate her birthday with a nice dinner. We went to a great seafood place called Guppy’s. After another drink at another bar, we called it a night.

Sunday night the wind howled through the windows, rain beat against the panes and the forecast for Monday to Wednesday didn’t look much better. So, we called up our mutual friends Helen and Mark to see if we could head south to Ft Myers Beach again and rent their condo. Luckily it was available – so we drove 3 hours south to SUN!

The weather on Monday in FMB was great. We spent the afternoon at the beach and the pool and everything was right again.  Beach vacation was on! That night we hit up Pinchers Crab Shack for dinner. It really felt like going home!

Tuesday morning we woke up to a perfect beach day. We hauled our beach kit to our “usual” spot and spent the day searching for starfish, building sandcastles, lounging in the chairs and, of course, took out some jet skis!

That night we went into FMB downtown to get dinner at SOBs (Smokin’ Oyster Brewery) for our favorite grouper dinner. We did some touristy shopping, got an ice cream, watched the sunset from the pier and got the kids some balloon swords and animals. The perfect night!

On Wednesday morning Richie and Katy went on the jet ski dolphin tour and then we went back to Madeira Beach. We were greeted with warm weather and a beautiful sunset. The kids finally could play on the beach without the sand pecking them in the face!

On Thursday night Richie and Katy went out for a nice dinner to celebrate their anniversary! But, other than that the rest of the week was spent the way we intended –beach, sun, and good friends and a bit of Cards Against Humanity.

We said our goodbyes on Saturday morning before hiting the road for Colorado. It just reaffirmed that when you have great friends, like Richie and Katy, it doesn’t matter how much time goes by or how many miles apart we are – we’ll be friends for life.