Chad and I were lovingly invited by Aunt Donna and Uncle Mark to stay with them in Vero Beach for Labor Day. We packed up the kayaks, fishing gear, various beverages, and headed south for the long weekend. We got an early start on Friday, as my office closed early and Chad took a half day. After a quick stop for lunch and an important stop at ABC, we arrived at the beautiful condo on Vero Beach. Donna, Mark and Reagan arrived as well, and we headed up to the 13th floor of the building, we had the top story facing the ocean (amazing). We quickly dropped our stuff and headed out to 
check out the city and get directions to the home of Mark’s parents. They live on the river in Hell’s Pocket, a perfect launch for our kayaks from their dock.
We got back to the condo later that afternoon and cocktail hour was upon us. We spent hours on the wrap-around balcony talking about our lives,
our family, and how amazing it was to be together in this special place. Reagan interacted with us so wonderfully, she is a really good girl and I am really impressed by her manners and ability to talk with adults. Eventually, we ordered pizza and then proceeded to talk into the night. What great family time together. At one point, the moon was perfectly positioned in the night sky and we took a million pictures of it. Reagan took the best one with her learning pad device, despite the fact I had a really nice Canon camera! What a great start to a great weekend.
EARLY Saturday morning, we headed out with kayaks in tow to the river. Sometimes, we are so impressed with our stealthy ability to get the kayaks off the car, loaded, and into the water. This morning, stealthy we were not! It probably took us an hour to get the yaks assembled and off the dock, a funny thing happened that the sprinklers were on full blast in Mark’s parents backyard, so we were soaked by the time we launched! Also, my spinning rod snapped in half as we rounded a corner, leaving us with only 2 rods. What a morning and it was barely 8:30!!!! We finally got it together and set out on the beautiful river – we decided that I would use Chad’s spinning rod and he would cast on his fly rod. You make due! 
We spent hours within a mile of the river house, the fishing was so good, we didn’t want to leave! I caught a fiesty Jack Crevalle and Chad caught 4 trout. We took a break off the kayaks on a beautiful spoil island preserve called Indian River 36 for a few hours. Chad shore fished and I read. I am part of a book club at work and we are reading _Life of Pi_. Chad and I are a great pair, we are so comfortable together, we both like to be outside, we just go with the flow of the day and relax.
The heat of day set in and it was time to cool off and rejoin the Baileys. We headed back to the condo and settled in for an afternoon of Gator football. Donna’s two sons, Parker and Peyton also joined us that afternoon. The evening was really nice, we decided to stay in and cook spaghetti. We all stood in the kitchen and talked shop, it was really enjoyable to just spend time with the Baileys.
Sunday morning, we launched super early again to an epic day of fishing. The bite was on! Chad caught 9 trout, 2 Jack Crevalle, 1 mangrove snapper, and (drum roll, please), his first snook on the fly! This earned him a grand slam for the day! He was really happy! I didn’t have a shabby day myself, 6 trout, 1 of which was the biggest fish I have ever caught! I made a great stride in my fishing career this morning, I am now un hooking the fish ALL BY MYSELF! Yes, you would think, really Marci, this is a big deal??!?! It is, I am now comfortable enough to grab the line, unhook the fish, and do it alone.As we rounded the corner back to the dock, the whole Bailey family was fishing away. Donna and Parker caught fiesty Jacks, Peyton caught a small Bonnethead shark, and Reagan caught a honker-sized sheep’s head. The morning couldn’t have been more fun, we are a world-class fishing family!
After some lunch back at the condo, we headed out to the surf. Chad and the kids eagerly swam out to the waves and started body surfing. Mark, Donna, and I hung back on the shore to watch. After a while though, we decided they were having WAY to much fun, so we all decided to get in the surf. SO MUCH FUN! I haven’t laughed so hard, or drank so much salt water, in a long time! We finally tired and headed to the pool for a dip, then headed back to the dock for some evening fishing. Finally, after an awesome day, we retired back at the condo for a quiet night of take out pizza and conversation.
Monday morning, Labor Day, we decided to get an early start out of town in order to beat the crowds on the roads. We got out by noon, leaving the Baileys with the rest of the day to play. Unfortunately, Mark later that afternoon was bodysurfing and tore his Achille’s tendon – poor Mark, his MS 150 was in a few weeks and he was trained and ready to ride. As of this posting, his surgeon successfully repaired his tendon and he is recovering well.
Labor Day weekend 2012 will go down in the books as a great weekend with family. It is wonderful to know that we are surrounded by loving people – we are blessed!
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