Final Days in Sanibel

I returned to Sanibel on Saturday night, and arrived home in time to kiss Jack and Kate before they fell asleep. While I knew they were in the best of hands, I had still missed them quite a bit - so it was great to get some big hugs and kisses before they fell asleep. Ami, Bapa and I had a nice evening catching up, and then we all headed to bed (actually, I went to bed with Jack, who was still wide awake) by 10pm.

We spent most of Sunday morning indoors, as it was still quite cold outside. Kate showcased her Cinderella dress (pictured above) for some photo ops. The kids were thrilled to be playing in the grandchildren paradise, and it gave me some time to set up Bapa's new computer. The configuration and installation consulting were gifts from all of us - so I was really happy to be there to help out. Everything went really smoothly, and it was done in less than an hour.. new computers are such fun!

Afterwards, we went out for lunch at the Island Cow, which was fantastic. It was nice to get a break outside, and the food was terrific. We then returned home, and Ami, Kate and I went for a walk on the beach.

Once we were bundled up, it really was enjoyable - and felt great to get outside for a bit. We ran into my cousin Jimmy and his girlfriend, Tia, on the beach. Jimmy, Tia, Aunty Lill and Uncle Jim were visiting my parents, staying in the condo next door that we had used. It was nice to catch up with Jimmy -and to meet Tia.

That afternoon, Aunty Lill, Uncle Jim, Jimmy and Tia (Jimmy's girlfriend) came over for dinner. We had a really nice evening - Kate found a willing "Old Maid" partner in Aunty Lill, and Jack was thrilled to find some new (and more talented) competition for Mario Wii, having "beat the rest of us like a drum." Ami made a wonderful dinner, and it was nice to catch up with everyone.

The next morning, it was time to pack up... which, fortunately, was MUCH simpler because the previous day, Ami had packed up three HUGE boxes for us to ship home. With all the toys and goodies out of the way, the clothes packing was quite easy - and all was done by late morning. Ami and Bapa took the kids to the local park (and mailed all of our huge boxes), and then I joined them at the park for some play later. In the spirit of running everyone around, we then followed the park with bike riding and soccer playing... keeping those legs moving until our long flight home!

Sadly, it was then time to drive to Miami. It was really sad to say good-bye to Sanibel - we had had such a wonderful vacation there... Ami and Bapa made everything so easy, so fun, and so enjoyable for us - hard to go back to life solo. We had a tearful good-bye at the airport.

Fortunately for me, the rest of the journey was quite smooth. For the FIRST time in my life, both children slept on the plane - at the same time! Kate logged 5 full hours, and Jack got in over 7 hours of sleep. This was incredible, and made the trip go by much faster... while both were still really groggy when we landed, they could at least walk off the plane - and remained fairly civil the whole way home. Jay met us with the car (a huge help!), and after we dropped him off at work, we headed home. Unfortunately, Kate did get sick on the way home - but what would an arrival to Zurich be without a car, child and car seat to clean? :)

The kids were happy to see the house, Chopper, and their rooms. We had a very quiet afternoon at home, and managed to all stay up until 6pm - which put us in great shape for heading back to school the following day. Which we did!

This was a really fantastic trip back home. It always takes me awhile to get back into the swing of things over here - the people, the language, the shopping, the driving... and this time was probably the hardest. We had such a great time with everyone, and everything was so easy - that it was quite a wake-up call to realize we were back on our own. Lots of reprogramming for the kids - to say the least!