Family Anniversary

Michael and I were married 11 years ago, this past Saturday. The plan was to spend the day together, just the two of us, and have a nice dinner at The Melting Pot. We plan, God laughs.

With everything focused around my Grandma right now, scheduling anything else is falling secondary, but we ended up with the day off thanks to my siblings and parents. We would not have babysitters but we would have an entire day to ourselves which was fantastic. After the long hours of telling the kids to be quiet and sit still, they needed some sunshine and activity so we decided to head over to Clearwater for the day. I packed chicken salad lunches and coated the kids in sunscreen and off we went!

Up first was a visit to the Pierce Street Market to see our sweet friends who run a craft booth there. They have a daughter, who is Haven’s age, named Mac and the kids had a blast running around and playing bubbles and chasing each other and tackling Michael and Philip. Lystra and I had a nice chat and caught up with each other a bit and I bought some beautiful wooden seagull art that her mom had made to go in our living room. It’s rare that you meet people who so quickly become such precious friends and stay close even though we seldom see each other. We originally met them at the Ybor Market when I had my cupcake business and we have been buddies every since, about 6 years now.

From there, we took the Clearwater Ferry across the water to the marina. It was a small expense to buy the tickets to ride, but it was really fun and it saved us from the gridlocked traffic between downtown and the beach. Jonah wasn’t a fan of the boat and stayed glued to Michael but the girls seemed to enjoy the ride.

From the marina where the ferry dropped us off, it was about a 5-10minute walk to the beach at Pier 60. We got to walk by all the yachts and charter boats and all the interesting themed tour boats. Jonah liked the one shaped like a shark and the pirate ship which we saluted with a “shiver me timbers” and a “ahoy!” Laelynn loved all the ducks (pelicans) hanging out by the fishing charters and Haven just liked everything.

The beach was busy but beautiful and the weather was just perfect. It was hot in the sun but there was a steady breeze and a few fluffy white cloud dotting the clear blue sky. I had a bit of a humbling moment as we walked down to the water that I have already written about (here) so I won’t review that now. The sand in Clearwater is some of the cleanest on this coast and powdery soft so I thought we would spend most of our time playing in it but the kids preferred the water and ran straight to it. They take after their mama. 🙂

That water was freezing cold but the good side to that is that after your toes get numb, you don’t mind it anymore! Laelynn was a little wary at first but just minutes later she was splashing away. Jonah had fun watching the skim boarders zooming by and now wants his own for Christmas. Haven busied herself with collecting beautiful shells and filling Daddy’s pockets with them to take home. We had a blast but I am looking forward to the water being a little warmer the next time we go. I had to take Laelynn’s wet swimsuit top off at one point because having the wet fabric on her skin had her little chin chattering. We had a blast splashing around and there were more than a few cries of protest when it was time to leave, but Michael assured me that we could come back again, so I tried to be brave.

We road the ferry boat back to the downtown parking lot where we loaded up and headed down to our favorite spot, Frida’s, in Largo. If you haven’t been to Frida’s, you must go. It is a small, family owned deli and bakery and they offer the best homemade, fresh sandwiches you have ever had. My favorite is the grilled cheese BLT on gluten free bread…my mouth is watering just thinking about it! The kids chose regular grilled cheese and PB&J on gluten free bread and for $3.99 they came with chips and were big enough to feed an adult! It is the perfect, fresh food for a day at the beach.

Anyways, we got home and washed off the sand and tucked the kids into bed. We had a wonderful time and it was good for us to be together and to be outside in the sun. The ironic thing about it is that it was Michael’s and my anniversary, but I don’t have a single picture of just the two of us from the whole day, haha! Oh well, that is indicative of our stage in life right now and we wouldn’t change it for anything. We might sneak in a date night when things settle down a little. I need to write about my fantastic hubby sometime soon, I don’t know what I would do without him. Michael is my best friend, the other half of my heart, my foundation, my playmate; the love of my life. Happy 11th Anniversary, babe! We are a mess, but I love our mess. <3

Laelynn at the Beach

 

About the Author

Holly

I am a homeschooling, stay at home mom of four amazing humans which I co-created with the help of my husband of 15+ years, Michael. We love family, good food, big laughs, and getting into trouble together. We have no idea what we are doing, but we love each other and we love Jesus!

"We may not have it all together; but together, we have everything."

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