A week with the Purcells!!

So this past week Brett's parents made the 1,052 mile trek down to Florida to camp and visit us! We met them at Holiday Cove, a lovely campground just across the bridge from Anna Maria Island, on Monday night.
On Tuesday, I took them to the causeway to let Chloe go swimming! She LOVED it! She fetched and swam and rolled in sand so much she nearly fell asleep on the way home in the car!
On Wednesday I took Don and Deb out to the beach. We found a great little place to set up our beach chairs in the water and relax!! We all got burnt and resolved to put sunscreen on EARLIER before jumping right in the water!! That night we all went out to eat and then to the Fudge Factory out on the island for some awesome dessert!! We started playing Euchre the night before and continued Wednesday evening. The girls are now 2-0! :)

On Thursday Deb and I made our way down to Sarasota to St. Armand's Circle for some shopping. We found so many cute things to buy!! Deb and I started our own Pandora bracelets!! My friend Melissa from Allen Pet Clinic had some when I worked there and I loved them!! You choose your bracelet, then add beads every so often. There are SOO many beads that have different meanings and symbols it's so hard to choose! We got one to match, the Journey of Life bead, and then she chose a seashell bead for being on vacation in Florida and I chose a letter "P" bead for just getting married and becoming a Purcell. We can't wait to have an excuse to buy more!!

On Friday Brett was able to take the day off of work so we all got to spend the day together! We all went and saw the new Harry Potter movie that afternoon. For dinner we bought some steaks and Brett and I bought the Brown Derby Cake from Publix! We'd had it years ago and had to introduce it to his parents! A fruit filled chocolate cake with crumb topping, DE-LISH!!! That night we started playing Scattergories, making for a HILARIOUS evening!

On Saturday morning we all got up early and went to Rotten Ralphs for breakfast. They have awesome pancakes with the crisp edges and the most amazing french toast I've ever had in my entire life!! After stuffing ourselves we took Chloe to the Dog Park! This was her first experience in such a place and she went wild!! She had never really been with another group of dogs and didn't quite know how to take it but she ran and played and rolled in the baby pool and just exhausted herself!! Again, she nearly fell asleep on the car ride home. After a bath and treat, she hit the hay! We all decided for another day at the beach! The Gulf was quite rough that day but that didn't stop a Manatee from swimming by!! After enough sun we all got cleaned up and went to Mangrove Grill for dinner! This was the restaraunt that Brett took me to while I visited in March. We had a HUGE storm that evening, but it didn't stop us from enjoying our amazing meal!!

On Sunday we headed to the Outlet Mall in Ellenton. Don and Deb picked up some fun vacation items and then we all headed back home to Joey D's for pizza!! After another rousing game of Scattergories it was sadly time to say farewell!
It was a fast week of great food, fun activities and time together!! We enjoyed having the Purcell's here and look forward to more visits in the future!!