Pompano Beach, Claire's birthday

We knew we would be spending Claire's eighth birthday on the road, and she had a simple wish; to spend her birthday at the beach.  Fair enough!  We figured we would be in Florida and could manage a beach party!  As her birthday drew closer, the details of her dream continued to form.  

A beach party with fruit smoothies on the beach!  Absolutely!  

A beach party with fruit smoothies and a tiki hut! Uh, I think we could find that.

A beach party with fruit smoothies, a tiki hut and surfing.  Um, maybe?

As we meandered north along the east coast of Florida in mid December we had not calculated peak season traffic and the difficulty we might find securing a spot amidst all the snowbirds (people from the north who spend the winter in the south). The night before her birthday we found ourselves calling parks along the beach without success.  Finally we found a spot and gratefully booked two nights so we could at least have a day at the beach.  

Pulling in after dark we were escorted to three different spots before we found a spot we could fit (we aren't that big, but this place was crowded!). We felt discouraged at how crowded things were, and being further than a walk to the beach, until we realized our spot was just across from the pool. With a tiki hut. We fell asleep dreaming about a birthday wish coming true!

We woke up to find an eight-year-old in the house.  This girl has fabulously rocked our world!  Her strength, confidence and brightness are an inspiration.  She plays hard, loves deeply, knows and speaks her mind, is a friend to all, loves going to bed at the end of a full day, dresses with flair, and is always up for an adventure.  

After breakfast waffles and presents, we headed over to the pool.  Shortly after we arrived, so did many other visitors for a morning swim aerobics class.  We learned that many of the guests at this park were snowbirds from Quebec.  Right in the middle of class they burst into birthday song, in French, for Claire.

After a swim, we packed our bags and Uber'd to the beach for the day.  She got her wish, they had paddleboards for rental (everyone wins!), the sun was warm and the sand lovely!

The kids worked on a sand version of Fort Jefferson.

Camped just across from the pool and tiki hut made it easy to get to know our neighbors from Quebec.  There was a language barrier, but we figured out a way to join in the billiards games.  Jackson was out there first thing in the morning, working on his game, learning from these men who clearly play a lot!  Steve ended up joining in their tournament, which turned out to be a rainy day. The entry fee included dinner for two, drinks and all day long entertainment. We lounged around the poolside, trading French and English lessons, the kids swimming in the pool. By dinnertime, we ordered a pizza for the kids and set them up with a movie.  Our French friends cleared the area, laid out table cloths and paused the tournament to share the meal.  One of the couples runs a french fry stand up north, and fried up potatoes for everyone.  Who knew we'd share a date night with fifty strangers, and have a blast!

Steve and his partner, Jasmin, nearly won the tourney!  

When it was time to say goodbye, we had invitations to visit Quebec some time in the summer, when our friends are in the north.  Sometimes traveling on the fly is stressful, but times like this one brought an opportunity we could not have planned.