Silver Shells

 

(If you've been reading this blog recently, you might have put two and two together and realized that YES, I did travel to Florida while suffering from a colitis flare-up.  Holy cow?!?  It was certainly a frightening prospect, but I plunged ahead and actually managed quite well.  Without going into specifics, the first half of the week was touch-and-go (with lots of breaks), but by the second half my meds had really kicked in, and I was nearly back to normal.  While it's never easy for me to attempt these things with my condition flaring, I'm glad I did in this case.  We had a great time, and I felt like less of a victim and more of a normal mom on a trip with her family.  So I at least wanted to acknowledge the miracle of that situation before plunging ahead with more chipper details.)

First up: our resort, Silver Shells Beach Resort and Spa.  My in-laws planned this trip and graciously invited us along, so we had none of the usual vacation stressors and instead simply reaped all of the benefits.  Not a bad little deal. ;)  Our resort was right on the beach with a private area for guests only, so it was never crowded and felt very lush.  We had glass walls in our bedrooms with full views of the ocean, plus a lovely balcony with rockers, chairs, and tables.  We were on the eleventh floor, which of course the kids loved.  There was also a magnificent swimming pool; both Ava and Hudson actually preferred spending time there.

Now, much as this vacation was luxurious and decadent, it nonetheless required some kiddo consideration.  It took us a couple of days to create a schedule that would work for us in terms of keeping the kids rested and happy.  Most days, we ended up having breakfast, then swimming in the ocean or pool in the morning.  We usually came back to the resort for a light lunch (although we did go out for lunch a couple of times), followed by a rest/nap as needed.  Ava had more energy and often returned to swim in the afternoon, but Hudson was usually wiped out and spent most of his early afternoons watching TV, playing on his Leap Pad, or taking a nap.  Erik and I traded duties between overseeing these activities, and that worked out really well for us.   

 

Once our swimmers returned in the later afternoon, we took our showers and got ready for our evening festivities.  This always included eating out (my favorite!), plus other fun stuff like shopping, exploring, and playing putt-putt.  More on that later.