Hawaii in 2008...lots of lobsters, hammocks, pretty water and a minivan with 11 people and bags squished inside.
The Bahamas in 2009...One tiny plane, one boat, lots of golf carts and one broken toe.
There was Mexico in 2010. Kaden learned to say "Meh-xi-kooo", we caught to pelicans while deep sea fishing,and ate the best key lime pie ever!!
This year we went to North Captiva Island in Florida. This sounds easy, Florida. But because it was a small island, it was a little more difficult to find. It involves a plane, a 90 minute drive, a ferry, a golf cart. Or, in our case...
23 people. 3 different flights. 2 airports. 4 rental cars. One RV. One boat. 3 houses. 4 golf carts.
My flight was a few hours earlier than everyone else and at a different airport so I spent 3.5 hours waiting for the Bogetveit clan. I got a little impatient...
Finally, we were all together in one place, with a few different rental cars and one RV. We squished 13 people into the RV (Big Rig). This deserves a small explanation. A family very close to mine decided to leave their house in Colorado, move into an RV with their 3 kids and dog and explore the world. I have known them now for over 14 years. I used to babysit their babies, when they were babies. Now, they've become a part of my family and I've learned so much from them. This big adventure of theirs just reminds me how wonderful they are! We all knew the trip was off to a good start after our amazing trip in the RV.
So after a few cocktails in the Rig, we were at the dock, only 90 minutes behind schedule. By then, it was dark outside and riding the boat to the island was kinda scary. After making it to the island, we squished everyone's luggage on our golf carts and went to our vacation houses. We rented two houses, one for 12 people and one for 4 people. 23 people, 16 beds...this did not add up. This is not unusual situation for the my family. We are well known for fitting twice as many people in rental cars, sleeping on blow up floats, couches or even bathtubs. Just as long as we're all together, nobody seems to mind. Without getting into all the details, I'll say the owners of the houses were less than friendly and not happy that more than 12 people might be in their house at once. We gave in and rented a third house. Even with the third house, mom still slept on the air mattress in the closet, I slept in the kids room and there was a lot of driving golf carts between houses.
With a group as big as 25, we had to take turns making dinners each night. My uncle is a chef, and with my sisters and friends who love to cook, we were all in for a week of great food!!
Homemade pasta, meatballs, stuffed fish, and fruit salad.
Other dinners included...bbq chicken, coleslaw and salad, thai curry and pad see ew, fish tacos and the list goes on.
Believe it or not, we did more than eat. Fishing on our boat, or on the beach!! We even caught a flying fish and three sting rays!! I spent days on the beach with everyone and soaked in everything!!
The week welcomed many interesting events and adventures. There were serious spoons competitions, paper airplane races, getting stranded at sea during a rainstorm, hiding from the landlords, getting stung by a catfish and sneaking into swimming pools. Each story was equally fun, but there was one that topped them all. One morning, as I was waking up, I heard my sister come into the house and say "Um...we had a little bit of a situation happen last night". She explained that they drove their golf cart from our house to theirs last night. When they parked it at their house, they noticed someone had left something not so pleasant on the back seat. That's right, someone took a sh*t on our golf cart!!! (Sorry, no picture was taken of this particular event, you can use your imagination if you'd like).
So yet again, another amazing Christmas vacation and a perfect way to say goodbye before my Norway move.
Thanks Mom and Dad!!
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