Last week we took a much-needed fall break.

Everything seems like - at this point in my life - is done last minute.  But, that's not always so bad!  In this case, I found a great little house that was reduced in price because I booked it about a week before our trip.  It was definitely worth the price per night (except the last night the AC went out and Mercer / I couldn't sleep!)  Other than that - it was the perfect little spot for our mini vacation. 

We went down to Florida for several days.  Day 1 after our drive was comprised of checking out the features of the house:  the pool, the fire pit and the screened in porch.  We ordered pizza for the kids and chicken marsala for me for food delivery / stayed in.

   

The next morning, I went in search of groceries and easy to prep foods.

We went out to a nearby park later in the day - to the host's favorite beach.  Unfortunately, the kids are apparently NO LONGER interested in the beach?!   The only thing we did out there was rent a water bike and explored paddling around the bay for a little while. 

Then, they were getting h(a)ngry for lunch.  The host also mentioned in the book that there was a lot of great Greek food near that particular beach.  As it turns out, the largest Greek community in the US is minutes away from the beach where we were:  Tarpon Springs.  It's a "sponge" community... fishers go out and collect sponges.  (Apparently this is a generations-old tradition of collecting sponges.)  

  

More time was spent at the pool.

Then, Isabella and I went to sunset point and... saw one of the most unique sunsets we've ever seen.  It looks like a steamer ship (made of clouds) chasing a "real" freighter ship on the ocean.

The clouds move JUST to the right position to form this cool shape!

There were also 3 photo-shoots there at that time as well (kind of hard to find a spot to watch the sun go down without a pregnant person or a mermaid on shoot in the water)!

The next day: a visit from dad and Charlie... Grandma & Grandpa!  We were staying on the gulf about 1 1/2 -2 hours away from them.  They drove out to our little house for the day.

Isabella shared her butterfly release then swam while we caught up on the screened porch.

We ordered and picked up sandwiches to take to a nearby pavilion n the little town where the house was located. (New Port Richey)  It's the most serene part of the town:  the still waters of the Cootee river.  (Pithlachascotee is the real name)  

There's a linear park that goes along the water where bikes, runners, and dog walkers go.  There are houses on either side.  Such a cool part of the community!  My GPS would constantly have me take the more-direct route one block off of the Cootee River when we were driving places, but I would ALWAYS ignore and drive the scienic path!)  

Isabella picked a card game from the house and we played after lunch.  It was a nice afternoon, then they drove back home.

That evening, we went to play putt-putt.  Mercer won by 1 point.  Isabella was not far behind us.  It was a great great course!  And... they had alligators to feed... and to hold.

  

Of course, our little dare-devil wanted to hold one!

(she looks so old here!)

The next day was sort of a bust.  We went to Weeki Watchi Springs.  There's a water park and a pool that is fed by the natural spring.  There's kayaking.  It was warm in Florida, but the water park was closed... and by mid-day there were no more kayak rides?!  

Mercer did not get in the spring water, but Isabella and I got in for a bit.  It was COLD!   She braved the cold and swam out to the dock.  

We went to the mermaid show.  It was apparently big when it opened back in the 1940s and had famous people - like Elvis - even appear.  (It was a novelty at the time, as an underwater show had not been produced before.) Isabella enjoyed the show, but she realized they were not real because they kept having to breathe using an air hose.    Mercer was SOOO glad when we left after the show! 

We hung out again by the pool and firepit.  

I wanted to go out to the beach so I could walk around, but did not want to leave the kids in the pool, so I got up early the next morning and went by myself while the kids slept.

I had to at least walk on the sand and stick my feet in the water on the gulf coast.  It was peaceful... which was nice - since going solo and trying to entertain kids 24/7 is a bit tiring.

Here's the other side of the inlet -- the area where we rode the water bike.  

But - overall - glad we got to visit with family we haven't seen in TWO YEARS (since Sept 2019) and have a little change of scenery over break.

We couldn't stay the full week - and unfortunately - couldn't see my step-sister Michelle who was working but had the following day off... because we had baseball and horse-related stuff to do at the end of the week. 

We had purchased - back in June for father's day - an evening at the ballpark in some pretty good seats (observing the Mets bullpen where the pitchers warm up). 

This is when the Mets baseball team were on top of their game.  The seats were low and just on the foul-ball line at 3rd base.    The Mets won that game, but earlier in the week, the Braves clinched the division (it was not mathematically possible for any of the other teams to win enough games to take the division from them).  

So... this win - unfortunately - did not matter.

We stayed for the Friday night fireworks too.

Todd wanted to eat at the pizza restaurant that's in the Battery (just outside the ball field) but with rush-hour and being a work day... was hard.  

Luckily, we were back out the next day b/c the baseball league where the kids play were having their baseball fundraiser Saturday.  

We ate dinner outside, then went to the game.  We sat in the "nose-bleed" seats, but were with people we knew - which was more fun for the kids.  

We sat with Isabella's team, but Mercer got to see some of his previous teammates from the 13u team there - and hung out a bit with them. 

I took a photo of our seats from the previous evening... see by that yellow pole??  

The Mets lost this game.  We left a little early b/c it wasn't looking pretty and Mercer had a Sunday morning baseball game the next day.  

ONE final thing that happened (earlier) that day to help cap the end of Fall break:  the place where Isabella takes horse-riding lessons had a small horse show.  They were allowed to participate in 2 events.

Her 1st event was "Equestrian on the Flat"  - they had to show how they rode, turned the horse in circles, and trotted.  She rode Gizmo.  When Isabella rides, she gets so serious.  Her posture is great.  She is very focused.  She did well - taking 1st place.  

(One thing, however, is that she was in a competition with other able-bodied and disabled students.)  I was surprised they didn't separate the two groups.  She had only the 1 handler... which shows that she's more able-bodied than the other students.  (They asked for a 2nd handler on the trot - I guess for safety reasons?)  There were actually some older able-bodied and disabled students who didn't use any handlers.  I would imagine that at some point, she will be reaching that point too.

Her 2nd event was "Arena Trail" - like an obstacle course.  She had to lead the horse to weave through cones, walk on a platform / across a bridge, over a low hurdle (close to the ground), and through a corner turn with barriers.  They also trot on this one as well.  She rode a different horse (Waffles).  She had 2 handlers for this event.  She took 1st place in this event.  

She was very proud of her 2 blue ribbons.  Also, she was also happy that we had an event where both Todd and I went to spend just with her.