July 4th Vacation

I mentioned earlier that our July 4th vacation is still on!

Our friends have 4 beautiful boys whom we've watched grow up since the very beginning. I've known their dad since he was a 19 year old boy himself!

So we've known this family for a long time. Their oldest boy is 8 months older than Mila. Their second boy is a year older than Ava. The twins are a month older than Ava. (So me and Trista, the mom were pregnant at the same time!)

So they rent a condo every year (I think) and this year they asked us to come with! Our other friends (whom we've also known pretty much our entire lives) is renting the condo right next door. Each condo is water front (so we can dock our boats) and each condo is 3 floors.

It's perfect.

Especially now. We've all been quarantined for 3 months now. 

Our group of friends is ready to hang.

Here's why we decided it was ok:
- We're sharing living quarters with friends who are like family to us - who all have been quarantined themselves.
- We've already seen these friends here and there sporadically.
- For a majority of the time, we'll be on boats on the water

Steve and I decided to rent a boat for the entire time we'll be there.

Our friends have a boat. And could fit our family of 4 (with his family of 6!) but we all thought for everyone's comfort (the only way to get around is by boat - er, the easiest way to get around is by boat) we'd get another boat.

The original plan was to actually rent two jet skis, so our group would have a couple of "toys" along with a couple of boats.

Alas, due to FUCKING COVID-19, many marinas didn't bring the jet skis out this season. Not sure if it's due to maintenance, cleanliness, or what. So no go on the jet ski.

So we went with a 24' Pontoon Boat! PARTY BOAT! With the 4 of us, we'll have PLENTY of space to relax on the deck. The girls can bring their toys and can play. We'll have shade...

I can't wait.

We're getting a discount since we're renting it for the 3-day weekend.

I can't wait to watch the fireworks from the boat.

We will be staying here:

We are renting the left side unit (3 floors). Well, our friends rented it. We are staying with them. Our other friends rented the place next door. 

And we are renting the boat from Aqua-Mania.

it's a 2017 and includes Bluetooth speakers and GPS. 

Since our friends are being so generous and aren't asking for us to help pay for the condo, we are going to make sure the group is fed well during this trip! For anyone who knows me IRL, knows that I love to menu-plan and cook for people. 

Last minute our other friends were added to the trip. So I'm just that much more excited! These friends are friends we've literally known almost our entire lives. Steve and Nick have been friends since childhood. So it's only natural.

They have a little girl who is 4 days older than Ava. We've done a ton of family shit with them, obviously. They are family to us and we absolutely can be 100% ourselves with this entire group.

I absolutely love them and cannot wait for this short vacation. We were even talking that since the one family goes up every year, we might as well book next year's trip while we're there this year. That's what they did last year!

So we'll see what happens. I always wanted to have an annual trip somewhere, but never figured it out. This may be it!