Winter Travels 2024 Fl and TX

 Our winter travels took us to a few destinations. The first part of our winter trip was to Florida. Mark fell in love with Marcos Island, so he chose the location to celebrate our 25th Anniversary. I planned the trip to see our friends that moved to Florida and visit our baby Colt too.  Our 5 Days in Marcos were quiet, peaceful, and restful. We had perfect weather everyday. We would wake in the mornings, pick a spot on the beach in a lounge chair with an umbrella, then take a walk on the beach. The sand was white and sea shells scattered the edge of the shore. Many people walked in search of shells all day. The area was 70% snowbirds. I enjoyed a morning walk, then I would plant myself in the beach chair with a book and read, nap, walk, and repeat until the sun went down. Mark told me over and over prior to our trip that he just wanted to do a whole lot of nothing. He got his wish, but not in the best way. He spent a good portion of the trip feeling crummy with a nasty head cold. Sometimes he would just stay in the room and nap on the couch. I had a completely plugged ear the entire time we were gone, annoying but I wouldn't let it get me down.

 In the evenings we would find a place to eat. We made reservations one evening at our hotel restaurant, Sale E Pepe. It is a popular, fancy, Italian restaurant near the beach.  I wore the same outfit (bought at a Marco's Island Boutique) I wore in 2021 when we ate there. The waiters treat you like VIP, white linens, formal attire, good drinks, fancy appetizers, and a lovely environment outside on the veranda. We also celebrated, not only our 25th anniversary, also Valentine's Day (Mark got me a dozen roses), and it was Super Bowl weekend. 

2021

 I stumbled upon the perfect Super Bowl event in the area. There was a Super Bowl watch party set outside at a sports complex where we could set up lawn chairs (which we bought), and buy food from food trucks. It couldn't have been more perfect. It was a great night, perfect temperature, and our boy Brock was playing. I had a hard time deciding between my Purdy Niners shirt or my ISU Cyclone jersey of Brock's college number 15. I packed both and wore both. The ISU jersey resembled the KC Chiefs colors and QB Mahomes same number, which is not who I was rooting for. The 49ers played a good game and came so incredibly close to a win, going into overtime to lose to the KC Chiefs. It was super fun to watch outside sitting in front of a gigantic screen. That is a Super Bowl I wont forget. and it is probably the only super bowl I have watched beginning to end. 

In 2021  when we first visited the resort, few people were traveling and the resort was fairly empty. On this trip, more than half the resort was now vacation rentals making for many changes. Our room was ocean view, a must for Mark, with a separate bedroom and living room and kitchen. We did some shopping at the area shops and Mark visited the Walk-in medical clinic to get some medicine and start feeling better We enjoyed our stay. The second part of our trip took us to Sarasota, a couple hour drive to see our friends that  moved into their second Florida home. They are super excited about their new home in a gated community on the edge of a Golf Club. Itis a swanky community and they have a lovely home. We got the full tour, with a pool in the middle and a walking path pond and golf course just outside their yard. Angelia has an amazing kitchen, but has planned to have a cabinet maker come from Iowa to refurbish and renovate the entire kitchen. I am sure it will be amazing. Abigail returned from school and went to share some Valentine candy with Mark on the tree swing. While with the Buhr's, we enjoyed a Valentine's dinner at their country club, ate out, rode scooters, and played our first game of pickle ball. We absolutely loved pickle ball and the scooters!  Abigail was busy decorating her Valentines cards for school and Angelia was involved in her designing work. It was busy yet relaxing. It was super nice to see them.

From Florida, we flew to Dallas, rented a car and drove to see Jayden and family. 2 1/2 days in Texas was not enough. It was great to see Jayden and her little family. They are still living with Noah's parents as their house continues to be worked on. Noah got Jayden a giant Valentine balloon with candies and stuffed animal. I thought that was sweet and well deserved. There were wine glasses and wine in his Valentine basket too. Neither of them had wine before and we decided to crack it open one evening with our spaghetti. We had to laugh as both Jayden and Noah cringed with disgust. They do not care for wine. It was a red wine and I do not care for it either. It was so great to have Colt in my arms again. He is so precious and has filled out and grown so much since we saw him last. He sure smiled when he saw his grandpa. We just want to hold him all day. Noah and Jayden's house is not finished yet, as Jayden was certain and hopeful we would be staying with them in the new house. We stayed again with the in-laws who were gone all week at their other home. Jayden and Noah's house is coming along and has made lots of progress. We got the tour and saw all the kitchen cabinets, bathrooms, and plans. Jayden sure does have her hands full with the new house, Colt, and her business. She kept telling me she doesn’t have anything to compare motherhood to, so she doesn’t know what is normal. Colt is not an easy baby. He just doesn’t want to sleep. Sure babies are up at night for feedings and that makes mamas tired, but this is all day everyday. Colt wakes around 7 am and then takes a handful of tiny 5/15 minute naps all day. It is wearing and frustrating. No wonder Jayden is always exhausted and can get down. Being here I helped her and so often we would have Colt all fed and rocked and comforted into a nice sound sleep. Then just a few short minutes later he was bright eyed wide awake. Wowza. I realized how fortunate I was to have good napping babies. It was so nice to spend time with Colt. One day Jayden and I were going to do a little shopping while Mark went to the museums. Our rental car that Mark was driving had a flat. We spent most of our time dropping off and picking up. We did go out for some meals with Jayden and Noah. He and Mark don't talk a whole lot. We got lots of time with Colt and Jayden.

The airplane travel was hard on Mark because of his cold and ears and he has decided he will not fly again for a very long time. We did really well this time. I feel like I am becoming more comfortable and starting to fly with such ease. I used to hate it and years ago I would get sick and anxious. This year, I  obtained Gold status on my frequent flying card and that gave me lots of benefits. We had priority checking our luggage in, priority boarding, got bumped to FIRST CLASS on all 3 American flights, and our luggage was labeled priority coming off the conveyor belt first! Pretty sweet. I can see how quickly one could get used to that, and maybe get a little spoiled. We did it all on this trip, had some quiet time, visited our friends, and stayed with Jayden. Luke was our super trooper at home and took care of everything back home. He did all the chores and stayed at the house. He is so responsible.