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Volleyball Banquet

Last night we had Goalielocks’ volleyball banquet at the high school. It was a nice dinner with both the boys and girls volleyball teams. He’s played volleyball the last two years, but there was no banquet last year due to Covid. Dinner was courtesy of Olive Garden, which was good. Fortunately, it settled in my stomach. I was a bit worried as my stomach had been quite sensitive lately.

While we ate, the coach, the senior captains and the underclass men gave their speeches. They were nice, brief and to the point. After the speeches came the awards. Goalielocks was awarded a letter in in varsity Volleyball. After the awards, the kids switched into active wear and the girls took on the boys. The girls beat the boys, which wasn’t super surprising given the talent on the girls team. A lot of Goalielocks’ team was relatively new to the sport. It was a fun way to end the volleyball banquet.

We’re currently driving to the west coast for hockey. There’s nothing I hate more than driving on state road 60. It’s honestly the worst road in the history of roads. In fact, the entire of state road 60 should be at least four lanes instead of one lane each way. There’s nothing more disconcerting than your car shaking as a semi speeds by heading the other direction.

My outfit for the volleyball banquet

We’re still a good two hours out from our resort. While we’re heading west for hockey, we thought we’d make it worth the parents’ while by booking an nice resort. Consequently, we’ll be staying at the Saddlebrook Resort and Spa. The resort has a couple of incredible pools, which is where I plan on spending my day tomorrow. Since we only have to be playing this year, our game schedule is nice and light.

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Turks and Caicos

Last month I spent six days in the beautiful Turks and Caicos with my beautiful Momcation friends. This trip has been three years in the making and delayed twice due to COVID. We stayed in the most incredible villa, Tip of the Tail Villa, which was absolutely beautiful inside and out. Moreover, the villa comes with a staff including a butler, maids and a professional chef. Needless to say, Chef and Sheldon spoiled us rotten. We ate like queens day in and day out. Every meal was better than the last one. I don’t think I could even pick a favorite if I tried because they were all that good.

Usually on Momcation, we hang out almost exclusively at the house maybe going on one excursion. This time we took several excursions and all were well worth it. Wednesday night we hit up the world famous Da Conch Shack, which has a live junkanoo band that night. Honestly, it lived up to expectations. Our food was super tasty and the atmosphere was phenomenal. Thursday night we went to the world Famous Fish Fry. It was okay, but Da Conch shack was better. Friday night we did a sunset champagne cruise, which was absolutely sublime. We even saw some dolphins. Lastly, saturday morning we went Kayaking in the mangroves, which was incredible. We saw a large amount of baby sea turtles and baby sharks, which were super cute. Our adventures this trip were awesome.

If you’ve never been there before you should definitely consider it as a must-see destination. The beaches and waters of Turks and Caicos are second to none. In fact, the water in Turks and Caicos is on a whole other level. The different shades of blue are breathtakingly beautiful. More than that, the people of Turks and Caicos are super hospitable and welcoming. We didn’t run into one rude person, which after living in South Florida is a nice change.

Things to do when in Turks:

  • Go to Grace Bay and enjoy the beautiful white sand beaches. It’s a beautiful spot. You won’t regret spending time here.
  • Visit Da Conch Shack (Wednesday if you want to see the Junkanoo band.) This restaurant is extremely popular, so make you make a reservation a couple of weeks before you trip.
  • Champagne Sunset Sail through Ocean Vibes was absolutely amazing. They have an open bar and plenty of food form local restaurants to keep you well fed as you drink.
  • Kayak tour with Rising Tide Charters. There are several kayak tour operators in the area, but what I loved about Paddle King Jennings and Rising Tide Charters was that our excursion was only us. We had a small intimate group whereas the other tours were quite large. Our guide brought a cooler full of water for us and was eager to share all he knew about the Islands, the mangroves and the animals that inhabit the mangroves.
  • Visit Mudjin Harbor on Middle Caicos. It’s not the easiest place to get to, but if you have the time I highly recommend it. We didn’t visit Middle Caicos this trip, but did visit Mudjin Harbor on our first Momcation in 2018.
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Took a Break

I took a break from the blog over the past month to focus on really living and feeling the emotions of the last four weeks. Since I’ve been gone, I had a fantastic vacation in the Turks and Caicos with my favorite moms and my middle son graduated high school. Many emotions come with high school graduation, ranging from relief they made it, sadness because a chapter is closing, happiness because a new chapter is beginning, and pride for all they accomplished.

This time around, we were missing Jake, which made the moment bittersweet. We were all so excited to see him walk at graduation, but definitely were missing Jake’s presence. And I think Jake was bummed he missed the moment as well. Nonetheless, Jake was with us in spirit through Flat Airman Jake. He skipped out on the graduation ceremony as he doesn’t like speeches. He didn’t however skip out on dinner as. Flat Airman Jake loves hibachi just as much as Jake and the rest of our family love it.

For graduation, we had my folks and Luke’s dad in town for several days. It was nice to see my folks and Grandpa Steve after not seeing them for a long time. In fact, this was my parent’s first trip to visit us since the pandemic. They had come down in 2019 for Thanksgiving to see Jake off to BMT, but haven’t been able to return until Goalielocks’ graduation. Fortunately, for our guests, the weather was absolutely beautiful for most of their stay. In fact, it was quintessential Florida winter weather. Beautiful temperatures and low humidity. Unfortunately, we knew the shoe had to drop some time and the heat and humidity would come roaring back. The weather changed while they were here, but thankfully only during the last few days of their trip.

On graduation day, the weather was actually perfect. It was overcast, which kept us a bit cooler as we waited to get into the expo center. The Mayor and I timed it perfectly and were able to get awesome seats right on the main aisle with an unobstructed view of the graduates walking. Hubby and the grandparents came a bit later because they had stopped to get gas. Nevertheless, they didn’t wait too long to get in. It would be helpful if the district had a line for the seniors and those with disabilities. My father-in-law uses a cane and I think those with cane/walkers/wheelchairs should have an expedited entrance and not have to fight through the larger lines.

The ceremony itself was absolutely divine. For once the speakers gave practical advice like saving money and investing in your future. The valedictorian’s speech, Goalielock’s (aka Colin) friend, was poignant. After losing his father unexpectedly last fall, his friend continued to persevere and kill it at school and on the volleyball court. Furthermore, it was cool to see how the graduating class supported him throughout his speech. They had a unique high school experience, to say the least with a pandemic upending a lot of it. Yet the class of 2022 persevered and made it to the finish line. Post-graduation we enjoyed a nice hibachi dinner with family. I’m glad took a break to enjoy and live in the minute of my son’s graduation.