Last few days on Anna Marie Island

We enjoyed our last couple of days on Anna Marie Island.  We went out for dinner at the Sandbar, and had a few too many cocktails.  The kids loved walking home on the beach

I think this holiday really did show that we are beach people.  Well, just holiday people.  We certainly work to live, and not live to work.  We loved the beach here, it was so beautiful, and the water was always warm.

The kids got really into swimming in the pool.  I am so pleased that they can now all swim without any type of flotation device.  Granted, Isaac swims best when he is snorkeling, and Sebastian does a bobbing type of swim, but thats cos he loves being under water.

After last years crazy holiday, and the trips to the UK that followed it, it was nice to go and relax as a family.  I loved being able to spend time with my husband and my boys.  We have built such a close family unit.  Yes, we have our issues, but who doesn't?  We are learning to work together as a team, and are constantly refining our techniques and strategies of dealing with the boys.  As they grow, we learn......

See, water babies!

OF course, we had to get some souvenirs. I was advised by a girl in the bakery to head up to Holmes Beach area, as there is a huge shop that sold every kind of souvenir you could wish for.  She wasn't wrong.  The kids loved these delightful pirates out the front.

And then, we had to leave.  No one wanted to go home.  We left on a saturday, and managed to be out the door by 7.30am.  We should probably have left earlier.  We hit dreadful weather around Tampa, with a massive thunderstorm, where we had to drive at 35 mph.  We then got stuck in traffic on I75 due to the Interstate being closed.  A man shot at a highway patrol officer who had stopped to assist a disabled vehicle (more details here).  We ended up being stuck on the interstate for about 3 hours, barely moving.  We even had to pull over and do the wee at the side of the road thing for the boys.  We eventually reached an area where we could do a U-turn through the median.  Once we were off the interstate, all the roads in the area were choca-block, due to it closure.  Absolute nightmare! 

But we did see a cool Army convoy.  

All in, it took us about 14 hours to get home.  Given how long we were stuck on the Interstate, and the fact we stopped for lunch and dinner, this was not too bad.  

We are absolutely in love with Florida.  It is still fairly wild, yet touristy enough to cater for what we want. Anna Marie Island, and Tampa area in general are heavenly.  I would quite like to go back there, possibly while we are still living here, or I would be more than happy to make that flight from the UK.....