Black Friday

Ahh vacation. We woke up early for some unknown and got going. We did a quick training run along the beachside mansions. Jackson was kind enough to slow down to my pace. I think it felt like a giant warmup for him. Whoops. I'll get better!

Then it was time for the main event: a morning at Bad Ass Coffee. We love this place. They have awesome iced coffee (complete with coffee ice cubes- a Jackson favorite) and amazing blended white mochas. We sat on their patio and I gloriously caught up on my backlog of blog entries and Jackson sat around looking handsome.

Back in his happy place: Bad Ass Coffee Company

Once I'd finally caught up on my backlog, we headed to the beach. It was not crowded down on our favorite area so we established our homestead and got to work soaking in the sun.

Loungin' 

Not a bad view

I love to shop on Black Friday but I'll take the beach over a store all day, everyday. After a couple hours of sun we decided to get smoothies and share a wrap before going out to Target to get necessities- not do actual, fun shopping. Kathy helped me convince Susie to give me a little storage space in the condo since I'll be visiting so often so I went out to grab shampoo, soap, deodorant and the such. Our first step to moving to Naples full-time. ;)

My happy place: Tropical Smoothie Cafe

We went back to get cleaned up and pick up the girls for sunset and dinner. Susie's birthday is December 5th so we opted to celebrate that evening since we were all in one place. This meant she got to pick the restaurant and set the evening's agenda. She selected The Dock at Crayton Cove which is our favorite place to dine down here- nice work, Susie! (I'm sure she was free from influence- ha!) One of her other requests for the evening was to ask a stranger to take a family photo. We all begrudgingly agreed.

Sunset with the family on Naples Pier 

Before you ask, yes, Gracie is taller than both Susie and me. She's almost as tall as Kathy!

There she goes...

Jackson threatening to steal someone's fresh catch

Aunt Jenna makes Grace laugh
(I LOVE this photo)

Fine, fine a normal photo

Petefish.

Good looking mother and son!

Petefish, Petefish and former Petefish

"Can I get lip injections?"- Me
"NO." -Jackson

Susie got a little carried away with photo requests so blame her for the abundance of similar shots.

Dinner at the Cove: Rock Shrimp Nachos- YUM!

Grace and Kathy had not been to the Cove and didn't love it as much as we do. Bummer. We still had a nice time, though. After dinner Susie wanted to walk down 3rd street (one of the shopping districts in town) so we obliged. They had snow soap coming down much to people's delight. The five of us laughed our butts off at the people's glee at soap snow. People who wish for snow in warm places annoy me. :) 

Naples had "snow" which was actually dish
bubbles. We found this to be hilarious.

The town Christmas tree- lovely!

We explored the city, checked out cute boys with Grace and just hung out. It was a great time. Grace also rode in the front seat most of the night so that Aunt Jenna could giver her driving tips. (Note: I cannot believe that she'll be driving soon. Where does the time go?!) I shared wisdom such as: "Stare people down at 4-way stops and you'll get to go first no matter when you arrived." and "Don't trust people when they waive for you to turn in front of them. They're not looking out for you like you look out for you. I learned that the hard way." and "If you get caught speeding mention that the area didn't feel safe so you were making a hasty exit." and "Do not be afraid to use your horn. It is a very powerful tool." and finally, "Parallel parking stinks. Keep going until you find an easier place to park." I told her that getting driving lessons from me was like a painter studying under Picasso. Jackson disagreed and didn't think she should listen to most of my advice. He's no fun! ;)