Marco Favorites

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I'm dedicating this post to some of our favorite things that we do in Marco every time we visit. First of all, this is our top spot:

Don't ask me why this is our top spot. Honestly, I'm not really a fan of this homemade ice cream. The owner's son says it well...it's pretty much the chocolate or nothing. The cookie dough is lousy. The chocolate chip is icy. The chocolate is good. Kate thinks it's the best chocolate ice cream she's ever tasted. I don't know about that!  The place isn't very clean. It's crowded with lots of breakable junk that distracts little men named Jake. (This is the spot where he broke something 2 years ago.) It's staffed by the craziest cast of characters you could ever imagine. There is the Englishman owner, his precocious young son, his brother, and some guy who looked like he got the crap beat out of him recently.  Dan and I are laughing right now as I type this and we reminisce. Don't get me wrong. They are the nicest bunch of guys...very welcoming and friendly. The son kept us in stitches. He was sitting at a table, and there wasn't another one available. His father yelled at him to get up, but we just joined him instead. He had the most random pile of stuff with him...a calculator, some library books, those stretchy plastic bracelets that are so popular now, and various little trinkets. He kept insisting that he was the owner and the gray haired kid (his father) worked for him. You probably had to be there, but we will be laughing about that first visit of this trip for a long time.

Another favorite spot that we visit every time we are in Marco is:

The food is always yummy. Jake, of course, blew out the candle on our table the minute we sat down. I had to laugh because he was turning his head to look through the above window at the salad bar when the waitress clicked her lighter to relight our candle. I've never seen a child's head spin back so fast in my life. He loves his candles and sure knows his lighter noises!! Dan and I are still laughing about that, too!

Our favorite thing to do for lunch is the beach bar at our resort. There is nothing like having lunch under an umbrella, with misters blowing on you, and seeing this from your table:

The food is fabulous, too!

Don't you always sit backwards in your chair to eat??

This may not be a Marco favorite, but I have to go on record thanking Richie for drinking Slurpees for me. He thinks I'm a little nuts now, but who cares! I had to have the codes for my Farmville game on Facebook!

More Marco - Beach Time

We weren't sure what to expect when it came to beach time with Jake. I was afraid that sand or salt water might immediately hit his eyes, and then it would all be over. I was so wrong. Jake loved being on the beach! We were so relieved.

If you know Jake well, you know that he is a bit obsessed with washing machines and dryers. He found a way to bring that obsession to the beach. This kept him occupied for a long time. :)  Jake turned the drink holes in our beach table into mini washers and dryers. All of his shells were thoroughly cleaned!

The fact that Jake was occupied meant that there was plenty of this:

We were really shocked. We expected to spend our beach time chasing Jake. I never dreamed he would sit in the sand between our chairs and just play. It was heaven! I actually read a book on vacation!!  I didn't even bring one along because I didn't expect to relax. I had this on my iPhone Kindle App:

 

click here to check it out at amazon

We were one happy Mommy and Daddy.

Jake played and stayed well hydrated. We were constantly grabbing lemonades and waters. He mostly wanted to play with the ice and use the lemonade as his washing detergent. Here are a bunch more shots you have to see just because he has the yummiest cheeks ever.

Sissy thinks he is pretty yummy, too.

What did I get myself into?

Look what is demanded every time the young man poops.

 I know what you are going to say. I started this. How do I stop it? I'm afraid if I don't agree to it, he will poop in his pants the next time.  It's really ok if he goes just once a day, but there are days when it's two or three times. Oh brother!

We made cupcakes for our July 4th neighborhood party. I used pasteurized eggs, so I wasn't too worried about this:

I had to laugh at the end result. Notice anything?

We used a cake mix with red, white, and blue sprinkles mixed in. We used those same sprinkles on the top. There was a time when my cupcake liners would also have been red, white, and blue. That time has come and gone. That, my friends, would require way too much effort, planning, preparation, and memory. This is how we roll now...post-Jake. The Toy Story liners would just have to do.

Right after I had Jake, I found a Pico game on Ebay. Pico was Kate's big-time favorite game. It hooks to the tv, and there are various cartridges you can purchase that just snap in the game box. Kate spent so much time in front of Pico. I thought it was time to get Jake's game out. Let me just tell you...the technology has changed quite a bit since Kate was little! I had to laugh at the poor quality graphics and sound. Jake didn't care. He still seemed to enjoy it. He does tend to get frustrated easily and probably just needs a little more time to mature.

Tomorrow I promise round two of Marco Island!

Fun Saturday

I spent the day at the zoo with my guys. Believe it or not, I didn't take my camera. I decided this was a day to focus on Jake while not working on focus on Jake! There were a few times when I wanted to kick myself but just a few. This was the first time we can actually say that Jake totally got it. He knew where we were. He knew what he wanted to see. He didn't care if we had to wait in line for the penguin house or wait for the sea lion show to start. He was patient and just wanted MORE animals. He loved the monkey house and the reptile house. He bought 2 snakes at the gift shop. (We buy 2 of almost everything. He always has to have one for Izzy.) We stayed at the zoo for 4 hours. That has to be some kind of record for us. After the zoo we made an ice cream stop. We let Jake sit in the back of the car to eat. He thought that was the coolest thing ever and asked if he could do it again sometime. I did get some shots of that on my iPhone.

The news from Kate is that, after a accidentally canceled reservation and a flight delay, they made it to NC. It's going to feel strange not having her around all week. I guess I'm getting a taste of what it will be like when she moves out for college soon.

Vacation 2010 Marco Island Part 1

The four hour drive to Marco went far better than we anticipated. Dan was really hesitant to do Marco because of the drive with Jake in the backseat. Jake's never been in the car for longer than 1 1/2 hours, so we had no idea how this would go. We were hopeful that Kate and Richie could handle things and keep him entertained. I actually think it was Jake who entertained them! He was a trooper...a noisy one. We made it and did our usual stocking up on supplies.

Check out the new sunglasses. I totally splurged! I usually buy my sunglasses at Walmart for $10. Then end up on my head most of the time...or lost. Jake ends up sporting them around the house. I decided to buy myself some nice sunglasses for this trip. It's amazing how much better they feel on than the Walmart cheapies!  Can you see the floral print on the inside? They were screaming my name!! 

We picked up a pizza at one of our favorite spots and took it back to our place.

It was still early enough after dinner to squeeze in some beach time. Jake needed it after the 4 hour car ride. It was time to blow off some steam.

He loved the beach!!

He ran...

and ran...and ran...

Oh...and did I mention that he ran?

There was also the occasional pit stop to use Daddy's shirt for face wiping.

I want to go back right now!