With Michael coming home for Labor Day Weekend, we decided to go to Clearwater Beach for some fun and sun!
The shoreline at Clearwater Beach is undergoing a temendous change, with the old Mom and Pop hotels and motels giving way to serious condo development and hotel construction as you can begin to see below.
The water was as warm as ever and the sun was HOT! If you don't use sunscreen in Florida it is generally assumed that you are a tourist from Germany so out came the SPF 45.
Joining us that day for the girls was Rachael's Volleyball Teammate Angela Diamantakos, or Taco for short. (She's also been known to answer to "Diamond Taco" but only when ordering Mexican food from the Tiffany's Drive-thru window.)
From left to right here is Taco, Rachael, CJ, and Diane Von Fursten.....oops, I mean Stephanie!Behind Steph you can see the Skee-Doo rentals and far in the distance the Clearwater Pier.
Joining us on the boys side was Michael's roommate at UF and Palm Harbor graduate Kyle Bernet who despite every attempt to capture his picture, resisted at every turn.
He not only went back well fed but he DID need a lot of sunscreen.
This is as close a picture as you're going to get of me on this trip.
The shoulder surgery was still in full rehab mode on this visit and I was able to slip off the sling briefly for a quick dip in the Gulf.
Stephanie came for one thing only.....Skim Boarding!
After everyone cooled off a bit in the surf, the gang decided that a volleyball challenge was the next course of action, guys against the dolls.
With Taco serving, and Rachael up front to block out the middle, the girls soon gave the guys a run for their money. And I mean running......
It soon became apparent that the guys needed a different strategery.
Michael soon focused on every serve, getting better with each volley while the girls refused to back down.
Volley after volley had been launched by the guys only to be deftly handled by the girls.
They weren't on the Palm Harbor Varsity Team for nothing!
Rachael ignited the girls with spirited serves that left the guys searching for answers.
With the game hanging in the balance and the sun scorching the players and the photographer alike, it was soon a do or die situation.
However, with one MIGHTY SERVE Michael took control and showed Rachael and Taco what he had learned over th past three years as the personal cheering section for the girls team. It apparently wasn't just about face painting!
The girls were defeated. Rachael was not impressed in the least.
Rachael and Angela were soon plotting their revenge, while Michael was left to discover that while he had taken great care to park his newly purchased Suzuki GS500fx in a no parking zone.......................
he received a ticket on his motorcycle for facing in the wrong direction on the left side of the street!(If you look closely you can see the ticket rubber banded to his throttle!)
Everyone had a good time ....................but
Kyle would still
not allow the
paparazzi
to take his picture... or was he checking out that babe over there??
So with the storm
clouds rolling in
we said goodbye to
Clearwater Beach and
our Labor Day Celebration of 2006!
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