Our early-April spring break was bittersweet. Over the past few years, we've made a habit of visiting GGPa & Marge in Ft. Myers for our annual spring break trip. In late December, we bought our tickets to fly there in April. We called GGPa on New Years Day to tell him the dates. He said, "Marge will put it in her calendar," and "Well, that's not too far from now," in his GGPa way. Little did we know that would be our last phone call. Looking back, I'm glad we called from the car and that he was on speaker, so all 4 of us could hear him and be part of the conversation.
So, GGPa had his stroke a couple days later, and passed away shortly thereafter. As the trip approached, it didn't feel the same, for sure. We went to Ft. Myers, as planned, because GGPa would have wanted us to. There was a cloud of sadness over our time there, even as we tried to make the best of it, and enjoyed some happy moments and memories.
I saw this picture of GGPa at his memorial service in February. I was glad to see it again, and took a picture of the picture during this April visit. I figure he can't be much older in this picture than Ryan & Evan are now.
Our traditional stop at Sun Harvest Citrus
We drove up to Siesta Key for a few days.
We love Siesta Key for its miracle sand. We discovered it last year. It's made of quartz, and reflects sunlight, so it stays cool. We are used to frequent foot discomfort when walking our Lake Michigan beach.
Our little Airbnb had a pool. The boys wasted no time inventing a basketball-type game.
Airbnb also had shuffleboard.
We were not lucky enough to have super warm sunshiney days. The first day, rain was on the way, so we walked up and down the beach as long as the boys would tolerate. They needed to stop here to rest their tired legs. As you can see by their faces (especially Ryan), they're energy was depleted. :)
Yikes!
My feet are stuck!
The sun came out, so we played in the awesome sand. Evan buries Ryan, a usual beach request for Ryan. It's his thing.
Evan's turn to get buried.
Aunt Mary drove down from Atlanta to spend a couple days with us. It was lovely, as always, to spend time with her. She took this photo!
Many thanks to Aunt Mary who took this one too! We have so few pictures of the four of us.
Lokeys in the Gulf of Mexico
View from the water, walking up to our Airbnb - Sea Crest.
The boys (especially Evan) collected many shells. Here they are lining them up, documenting, and choosing which few to bring back to Michigan.
Time to leave our little spot in Siesta Key.
We headed back to Ft. Myers as our trip came to an end. We spent some time in Lakes Park, where we'd visited with GGPa and Marge years ago. We rode a surrey bike around that time, played in the splash pad, rode the train, and looked at turtles. This time we went out on a paddle boat (not easy), and looked at turtles.
The train depot was decorated for Easter, so the boys (all 3) took a moment to pose. :)
We ate at Shrimp Shack for late lunch. It was Burke's idea, which he suggested as a tribute to GGPa. We'd always go there with GGPa and Marge, every visit. It was a favorite restaurant for them, and they were regulars. I cried on and off the whole time. Burke was sort of bummed too. It was a somber Shrimp Shack meal. Ryan paraphrased Dr. Seuss when I was tearing up at one point. He said, "Don't be sad because it's over, be happy it happened." His thoughtfulness made me cry more...then smile.
We were happy to spend some time with Marge at Calusa Harbour. We had a couple good meals in the dining room. We played Farkle, and this 50+ year old French card game called Mille Bornes.
Just like that our happy-sad spring break trip was history.
We sure missed GGPa, but we were thankful for time with Marge and Aunt Mary. We were thankful for the means to travel, and sunshine. We were thankful for additional time to focus on GGPa's life and legacy.
