Our last day of vacation

Before launching into the details of our last day of vacation, I want to update the two sticky situations here. Zach's phone may not be doing as well as hoped, and his ipod still shows no sign of improvement.  Logan is really sick.  I noted that he was diagnosed with an ear infection yesterday, and it must be a doozie because I have never heard of a doctor prescribing a narcotic for a child suffering from and ear infection, but that is just what this local doctor did.  Of course Logan is also on an antibiotic, and he does have ear drops to numb his ear. He is pitiful, and I feel so bad for him.  The boys had hoped to go parasailing today.  Logan made it to an arcade and to do some shopping at Pier Park tonight, but he has spent the rest of the day in a recliner.

Our day started with some shopping.  Wyatt wanted a starfish.  Julia found a t-shirt she wanted at one of the beach shops, but they did not have her size, so we ventured further down the strip to another store to try and find that shirt.  Savannah also wanted a shirt, so I thought heading out early and taking care of this stuff was the best way to make the most of this last day.

Wyatt picked up some more rocks along with a shark's tooth and a starfish.  He really wanted a sandollar when we started the week, so I got one of those for him early on.

Zach just had to have this Jimmy Hendrix shirt.

Very early next week, I will be posting Savannah's art work from this week.  I love it!

After our short shopping adventure, we spent most of the day poolside and swimming.  I have spent less time on the beach for this vacation than I can remember for any other beach vacation.  The more than ample seaweed makes the water less than appealing, but the sand is awesome on the feet.

Regan was really stylin in her hat and bikini.  Trust me the hat lasted barely long enough for a couple of pictures.

We did spend some time learning how to use our new nail art kits.  These pictures are of Tara's nails.  If we were the type to get manicures professionally, using these kits ourselves would pay for themselves after just two uses.  Other than replacing the specialized polish, the kits can be used countless times.  If you are interested in this easy way to get way cool nails, look up Konad nail art.  The online prices are better than the deals we got here, so we all plan to combine an order and supplement our kits when we get home.

Regan loves the water.  She also giggled and giggled today when her dad teased her in the pool.  She is a happy baby.

One thing that we will remember about this vacation is the frogs.  They sing to us every night, loudly.  Who knew such little creatures could make so much noise?  We thought the day that we arrived that the rain brought out the frogs.  We were wrong.  We get serenaded nightly.  Did I mention that they are loud?

Plan A was to go to the pier to try and get that elusive, perfect (okay just really good would be fine) family picture.  Andy thought that too cumbersome, so back to the beach we went where dozens of pictures where snapped.  I will have to play with them at home to see if I have one worthy enough to replace the homepage picture on the blog.

One of our LOUD but cute buddies

I can't say this has been the best vacation ever.  It has been a good week, but there have been challenges.  There is still lots of grief in this family.  Jonathan's injury and Logan's illness were less than fun, but we know that there will be vacations that aren't everything they hoped to be.  I came into this one with no expectations, and I have had some fun times with my family.

Andy and I are in no hurry to get home tomorrow.  Others plan to leave insanely early.  We plan to take our time and get home when we get there. Vacation only comes once a year, and we want to wring every minute out of it.

A shout out of thanks to Dad for keeping us well fed!