HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!
We started our morning off with the continental breakfast at our hotel The Palms Retro. I think I have mentioned how much I loved this place. Look at this room they have created for breakfasts. Notice the patriotic balloons. They even decorated the court yard for the holiday as well. It is those little personal touches that I adored about this place. They even provided one of the better continentals that we experienced on this trip. BTW don't you just love the girls expression she is always such a delight in the mornings. hehe
After breakfast hubby and I decided to take a morning walk. We let the kids watch what ever Nick toon or Disney what not they wanted while hubby and I went for the walk. It was only fair since we ditched cable a year ago the only time they get their fix is when they are somewhere else, and it is a vacation after all. Look at that beach sunrise, breath taking. One of the things that I noticed is how in the morning it is people fishing and then as the day gets going that is when the swimmers and surfers take over. What a beautiful 4th this was going to be.
We were walking along heading back to the hotel by all the beach front gift shops and eateries when this evil looking turtle enticed hubby to come and sit on its lap. Look out honey I think he is going to ninja slap you into his knee. Who needs the kids for goofy tourist pics when the hubs will do. (snicker, snicker)
After her afternoon nap we spent most of the evening with this little cutie and her momma and daddy. Has anyone ever noticed just how fast a toddler can move. Out of the 50 or so pics I took of her this is the only one that is somewhat in focus. She had a blast playing with that box. Her momma and daddy were nice enough to hold a small get together for the 4th. E did some grillin and A did the rest. She made one of the best dips I have had. I had to use a whole lot of restraint from grabbing the bowl and yelling "MINE, MINE it is all MINE." Her skills in the kitchen have come a long way since she the day she tried to burn my kitchen down by mistake.
As the evening progressed we watched a party just down the block get disbursed by the police. Now this was some party. It was a corner house with a swimming pool in the back. They had removed several fence panels to allow people access. They rented several of those blow up party things like a slide and obstacle course. I bet there were at least 100+ people there. I also bet that at least 70 arrived there via beach bike. While all the action was entertaining I guess the police thought it was to much.
As the evening got later our little cutie needed to crash for the night. It was still pretty early maybe 8ish.. We took the opportunity to head back to our hotel.
Seeing that our hotel was so close to the beach we had prime parking and walked to the beach for the fire works. Let me just say WOW! We entered the beach by life guard tower. The large two story house to the north was having a huge party. Their sound system was plenty loud enough that we were able to enjoy it a good distance along the beach. Once on the beach I have never seen so many people in one location setting of fire works in my life. We saw everything going off both directions. It came to a point that my daughter and I stood in the water about knee deep and just watched. Everything from sparklers to huge in the air displays. Ooooooo Aaaaahhh. We probably stayed a couple of hours watching the never ending sights. An interesting event was that the house with the party was shooting off HUGE air displays off of their balcony. A small miss fire and there was a fire. Do you think it stopped anything? No. They put out the fire and kept shooting off more. I couldn't believe it. I wish I had taken pictures but I just plain forgot. It was all so fascinating. Around 9ish the Jacksonville Beach Pier shot off the city fireworks. They were great and when that was over the private individuals didn't miss a beat and set off more. It was nothing but fireworks as far as the eye could see both directions. What an awesome way to spend the 4th.
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