My brother asked me the other day when I was going to do another blog update. I was only sort of joking when I told him, “Ummm, when I sober up?”
Guys, being in Florida has us acting like college kids on spring break. And it’s not even our girls’ spring break until next week. When I last posted, we were guests of some dear friends at their winter home near St. Pete. Last Friday, the adults went out to their favorite watering hole, the Saltwater Hippie, for some live music. It got to be one of those nights when we had to check the Uber receipt to see what time we made it home! Yikes! The next day, the four Broullires packed up our van and made the quick drive to our rental house in Bradenton, Florida—right on the Braden River. It’s a little slice of heaven for Tony, who’s seen a gator and a manatee swim by while he’s been out fishing on our private dock.
I thought our livers might have a little chance to recover, but then college friends from Chicago and Tampa stormed the castle, and shenanigans started all over again in earnest. (Face palm.) On Sunday evening, we convinced the teenager who has his license to drive all the adults to a nearby bar called Last Call … which, we decided, was when we’d finally make it home. Once again, thank you Uber. Whenever we get together with this crew, it always means late nights, cribbage games and lots of laughs. It’s probably a good thing we don’t all live in the same state! (Love you all and can’t wait for Delavan!)
On Tuesday, we decided to rent a pontoon in Bradenton Beach near Anna Maria Island and explore some of the beautiful waterways. Tony and his 10-year-old fishing buddy hooked a Spanish mackerel and a Blue Runner. Later in the day, my brother Seth and his family joined us on the boat, and we inadvertently took seven kids to a nude beach. Parents of the year, right here! Naked people notwithstanding, we had a fabulous time but got waaaaaaaayyyyyyyy too much Florida sun. Time for a Walmart run to get some aloe vera!
The next day, we met up with some spring break-ing friends from Milwaukee, who are staying this week on Siesta Key. Their beach condo is amazing; we spent the afternoon standing on a sandbar in waist-deep water, and Tony was able to hook another pair of Spanish mackerel. And even though we were coated in SPF 50 all day, we still managed to turn into crispy critters again. My sunburned lips feel like they got caught in a pool drain!
Wednesday saw Tony and me taking Alayna to Clearwater Beach (Bella is on Siesta Key still, staying with our good friends the Dehn family from De Pere) to hang out near the ocean with Seth, his wife, Erin, and their three kids. Man, do I have hearts in my eyes for this family! We hadn’t seen the Kaste crew since July 2020—far, far too long. It was fantastic to lounge by the pool and get all caught up. I still can’t believe how much those kids have grown and changed in less than a year. Carson (age 10) is now officially taller than Alayna (almost 12), Marissa (just turned 13) is taller than Bella (15), and my nephew Braden (14) is taller than all of us!! We are already looking forward to spending time with them again this summer.
Speaking of summer, we have started to (slowly, begrudgingly) put together an exit strategy to get ourselves back to Green Bay by early May. The girls are dying to go home, and Bella has asked to try out for the high school soccer team. So plans are in the works to fly them home at the end of April, where my mom (love her!) is going to pick the girls up at the airport and stay with them at our place for a week or so while Tony and I drive the van back to Wisconsin. Though I have to admit, that’s a bold move on my mom’s part—with no kids and an open road, I cannot make any guarantees on when we’ll make it back to De Pere! Spring break shenanigans continue!! (Just kidding, Grandma Cookie!! We’ll come home. We love you!)
Tomorrow will see us actually starting to head north for the first time in many months, and soon we will be reunited with Tony’s parents. Just like last week, my heart is filled to overflowing when I reflect on the many dear friends and family members who have either joined us on this journey or sent their prayers and well-wishes for our health and safety. (I would also say that my cup is overflowing, but in all honesty, it is empty—which is probably a good thing!!! Time to rest and rehydrate. Shut up liver; you are fine!!!)
Sounds like Florida is great! Keep the updates coming ❤️😎