Watercolor 2018

For our last hurrah this summer before first grade started for Winn, we vacationed with my family at Watercolor, FL on 30A. It is a charming planned seaside resort community where the people are encouraged to bike to the beach and explore the many trails that crisscross the landscape.  We cooked in a lot, played lots of board games (thanks to Annie), and upped our tent game on the beach.  Winn had a stomach virus preceding the trip so Roberts came down with him seperately on Sunday. We celebrated my 42nd birthday with a rainy day and egg-free strawberry birthday cake and dinner at Bud & Ally's.  After dinner we went down to the beach and chased sand fleas and crabs.  It did end up raining 2 days of our trip, but the last day the sun was out and even though there was a red flag, everyone was swimming in the rough surf.  The waves were huge! Unfortunately, mom and Ann Elise got caught in the riptide and Eustace thankfully saw Ann Elise struggling to keep Mama afloat and rushed into the water to rescue them.  I was just going out there to join them and Mama came staggering into the shallow water looking like she had almost drowned and she had!  It was a very frightning experience for her and for us! I had gotten caught in it earlier that day; it was like being in a washing machine. While I was trying to escape its pull, Roberts was standing about 5 feet from me and that kept me from panicking and eventually I was able pull myself out. Riptide is very deceiving because it looks smooth and calm because that is where the water is returning back out the sea.  The best thing to do is to ride out to sea with the current and then swim back in. Easier said then done, which is why so many people get into trouble in a riptide.  Besides the scary near-drowing episode, it was a fun, busy week of biking, playing, eating and swimming.