Happy Sunday! There is officially one more day of spring break left. Technically spring break should be over but tomorrow is a teacher work day. Almost time to get back to our usual routine. I can't imagine it should be that hard this time around waking up early, because these kids have been waking up early every day! Serena can sleep in, but the other 3 have been ready to go around 7 am every day. I've been going to sleep late too because my husband got me into watching Narcos on Netflix. It's so good! Some scenes are tough to watch but the story line is so good.
We had talked about going to Sarasota for a couple days for spring break about a month ago, but hadn't decided on anything. Last Sunday morning, Hank sprung it on me that we should go that same day. We waffled for a bit with either doing Naples, or Tampa, but settled on Sarasota. It's only about a 3 hour drive from Boca so not too much of a long drive for the kids. Because it was such short notice, we literally booked the hotel on the way up there. The weather was great while we were there, and we all had a good time even though we just sort of winged it without a plan or even deciding early on where to eat. We stayed at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in the arts district. The beds were very comfortable, the rooms were clean and the heated pool had a great view!
On our first day there we drove over to where the opera house was along the water and just explored. We noticed that Lion King was there and had a showing that was going to start in an hour, but it was too late to get tickets and there were no cancellations. We noticed two men that were stretching nearby and were wearing matching t-shirts. They looked like they might be in the show so I decided to ask them if they were, and if they knew how to get any last minute tickets. One of the men was actually Simba in the show! Still we weren't able to secure tickets. They mentioned that in some cases 30 minutes before the show a person might try to sell a ticket if their companion doesn't show up, but trying to secure 6 last minute tickets was going to be really difficult. So no Lion King for us, but it was still neat to have run into a cast member. We also explored the area by Mote Marine Laboratory which has a neat little park and nature walk area, and then drove through St. Armands Circle before going to downtown to find a restaurant.
On our second day we ate breakfast at the hotel and then headed to The Ringling. It was beautiful and on the grounds they have a very fun park for the kids and a few flower gardens. Every Monday the museum of art including special exhibition galleries are free to the public. Regular admission pricing applies if you wish to visit the circus museum or Ca'd'Zan.
After the museum we headed to Siesta key beach, but just to walk in the sand since it was still a bit chilly and the water was cold. The sand was so clean and amazingly soft! Ava said it felt like flour.
After the beach we had a very late lunch/early dinner at a local seafood place and then stopped for ice cream at Crystal cream rolls in the nearby town Osprey. The girls and Hank loved it! I unfortunately couldn't eat it because I'm dairy sensitive, but I did have some of the toppings like a marshmallow and graham cracker.
All in all we had a great time. Going on a trip without a plan is completely doable because we are still all together, and I know it sounds cheesy but we can have fun anywhere. Lately I feel like I'm really cherishing our family outings more than ever, because in two more years Serena will be done with high school and she may not be living at home if she decides to go away for college. It all just goes by too fast, and I'm hanging onto these moments where my 4 are still under the same roof.
