Potty Training in Paradise

We made it to Boca Grande this morning.  We were once again offshore, only this time in the Gulf of Mexico as opposed to the Atlantic Ocean.  What a difference the prevailing winds make!  It was a relatively calm, peaceful passage with nice winds and following seas.  It was a refreshing change from wind and waves on the beam, rocking and rolling all night long.  No one (especially me!) got sick, and we really enjoyed some quality family time yesterday afternoon in the cockpit.

Boca Grande is a beautiful, very family friendly little town.  We just love it here.  We rented a golf cart and toured all over Gasparilla Island today.  My longtime best friend, Tonda, drove up from Ft. Myers to meet us this afternoon and have dinner with us.  It was so great visiting and catching up.  She and her daughter are going to meet us tomorrow in Sarasota, which will be even more fun.

Potty training continues, in paradise.  For the record, potty training is my least favorite thing about parenting.  I like this less than getting up every 3 hours and the massive sleep deprivation that comes with that.  Success comes and goes.  Just when I think things are going great Evan has a huge accident.  As with most kids, it's the pooping in the potty that's the real challenge.  I'll spare you the disgusting details, but Zachary will happily tell you all about it!  Evan does have a few false alarms, mainly because I think he likes how we jump when he says "I gotta go pee pee."  Or perhaps he just gets performance anxiety.  Sigh.  At least we're in a tremendously family friendly environment.  After the fourth such attempt, Evan ran from the bathroom in the restaurant tonight proclaiming for all to hear that he went pee pee in the potty!  I got some friendly and supportive comments and general laughter all around.

Tomorrow morning we rise and shine and head up the ICW to Sarasota.  I've got so much boat cleaning to do.  I wanted the boat to be sparkly clean for when Tonda got here, but it wasn't.  Tomorrow I'll be scrubbing toilets (especially now with one more person using them), floors, sinks, and the infinite crevices on this boat that just collect dirt.  We'll relax a couple of days in Sarasota and then head to Clearwater, we think.   From there it's offshore again, a quick overnight to Appalachicola.  We should be home before my birthday.  A couple of days ago I was SO ready to be home, but now I'm not so sure.