Something Old Something New 2013 - Days 9 & 10 Rotonda Pool & Shopping At Ellenton Outlets

[Ariel's Mum]

Link to Day 8


From now on in the Report, I’ll maybe roll 2 or 3 days into one post, I’ll see how things go.

So Day 9 – 5 July.

Today was our first full day in Rotonda. We had discussed with the teens last night and agreed that we would leave them in bed whilst Philip and I went shopping. So once we were up and ready it was off to Walmart. We did a huge shopping in here – mainly groceries and drinks. But I also bought a skirted tankini set a couple of maxi dresses and some pyjama trousers. Philip bought some shorts. I was quite grumpy with Philip as we had split up to look at clothes and then he wandered off and I couldn’t find him. It’s so frustrating :angry:

After Walmart, we went back to Winn Dixie to get some fresh meat. We were barbecuing tonight and Philip had plans to make homemade burgers.

Shopping complete we drove back to the villa. The teens were still fast asleep and didn’t actually stir from their beds until after the shopping was unpacked.

The rest of the day was spent by the pool. We watched Andy Murray in the Wimbledon semi-final on the outside TV by the pool bar. It was great to have an outside TV as we really wanted to watch the tennis but didn’t want to go indoors to do so. Philip and I were delighted when Andy Murray.





In the evening we barbecued as planned and all sat outside simply enjoying the totally chilled atmosphere. After dinner we watched Die Hard 4 in the cinema room.

Apart from my grumpiness earlier in the day – it had been a lovely relaxing day.

Day 10 – 6 July

I am afraid I have only 2 pictures from today. I’m not sure how that happened but I think I may have forgotten to put the memory card in my camera or it was full without me realizing – I have no idea why I didn’t use my phone to take more pictures. Blonde moment perhaps ?

Anyway on with the day….. We had agreed the previous night that today would be a shopping day. We wanted to take advantage of the 4th of July sales and decided to head to Ellenton outlets. We were up early again as with it being a Saturday we knew the outlets were expected to be very, very busy so we wanted to try get a jump start on the crowds.

We left the villa around 8.15 and stopped at the local Denny’s for breakfast. Once again we probably had our usual choices. Tummies full we set off on the hour long drive to Ellenton. We got there just after 10 am and decided to split. Rachel and I headed to Vans via Kenneth Cole and Bath and Body Works, Luke and Philip went to Nike. In Vans I bought Rachel her school shoes for and her school bag, she got herself another 2 pairs of shoes, a backpack and 4 t-shirts. The total price was $175. Bargain. The boys in Nike bought a pair of football boots, 2 pairs of trainers, a football and training cones for a total of $120. We met back at the car to drop the purchases off then split again.

Rachel and I went into a perfume shop where I found my Ralph Lauren Safari and the original Van Cleef. Both of these have been discontinued so I was delighted. I paid $170 for them. I then got chatting to the male assistant and said I may return again to buy another couple of bottles as I normally have to buy them via ebay. He told me if I bought today he’d do me a good price. Of course I was tempted and bought another 2 bottles – this time paying $130. $300 is a heck of an amount of money to pay for perfume but as they are discontinued I was really pleased to find them.

We left there and visited Perfumania where Rachel bought a perfume and I bought a couple of special purchase after shaves as gifts. Next up was Wilsons Leather and Fossil but we didn’t buy anything here. In Converse, Rachel bought shoes for $25 then we went to Nike where I bought her a pair of Nike Blazers for $65.

We met the boys in Adidas. In the time we had left them they had only purchased a pair of Bose headphones for Philip - $120. In Adidas, Luke bought 2 t-shirts, 2 footballs, running top, shorts, Adidas Gazelles and another pair of trainers all for $180. Our next shop was Coach. Whilst I browsed I was given a 50% off voucher. I ended up with a bag that had originally cost over $500 for just $125. I was delighted and I’ve used it several times since we got home. He’s a stock picture.



After we left Coach we popped into Saks 5th Avenue, I was looking for flip flops but I couldn’t find any I liked. We were all feeling tired and hungry by now do we left the outlets and decided to go for lunch. I had spotted a Ruby Tuesday on the drive into Ellenton so we thought we’d eat there. In the event we couldn’t find it but we did spot an Applebees so we decided on there instead.

Philip ordered the Fiesta Lime Chicken, Luke had a burger, Rachel had chicken tenders and I had one of the Summer Specials which was a Wedge Salad with 4oz Sirloin. I made a mistake here as the wedge salad came with some sort of blue cheese which I loathe. The manager heard me saying to Philip that I’d been an idiot not realizing that and offered to change to for me. I thought that was really nice of her but I told her it was fine I’d be happy with the steak. She told me if I changed my mind to let her know. I had ordered Pinot Grigio to drink and it came in a cute wee carafe. I had to take a picture.



After lunch we drove back to Rotonda. Once again the teens were in a great mood and we all laughed quite a bit on the way home. Rachel’s favourite put down this holiday was to describe someone as a “Ninny” so I know there was lots of calling each other “Ninnies” we were also teasing Luke about his mis-pronunciation of words. He had at the start of the trip described something as a fiscasco rather than fiasco.# We found this amusing all holiday.

Once we got home I took a picture of the shopping bags on the couch.



Then Philip and I took a siesta whilst the teens watched some TV. Philip and Luke then went to the sports park in Port Charlotte to play some football. Rachel and I meanwhile played in the pool. When the boys returned Philip had a staved finger – which is still sore and oddly shaped 6 weeks later. He managed to battle through his pain to barbecue some chicken – so we had barbecue chicken wraps for dinner – sitting outside again. After dinner we settled down to watch Identity Thief in the Cinema Room.

Days 11 & 12

[Mrs Disney]

I'm so pleased you've added more instalments!
Your villa looks absolutely amazing... ! Love the TV outside... perfect for watching Andy Murray!

[mick]

A great couple of days shopping and relaxing

[Fuellady]

It's great that you're all just enjoying spending time together in Rotonda as a family. It sounds so relaxing

And all that shopping!

[Guest]

What villa were you staying at was it a dibb one

[shirley]

Great day, I loved the outlets.

[Milner]

Great read again Lynn love your bag do like I Coach bag too.

[smedley]

Excellent shopping purchases! Even better the chilling out by the pool tho

[granmags]

some great shopping bargains - love that handbag.
nice relaxing days - apart from losing your DH in Walmart

[Ariel's Mum]

Originally Posted by Mrs Disney

I'm so pleased you've added more instalments!
Your villa looks absolutely amazing... ! Love the TV outside... perfect for watching Andy Murray!

See more...

Hi Catherine. The TV outside was a real bonus. In all honesty Philip and I only used it to watch the tennis but the teens put it on a couple of times.

Originally Posted by mick

A great couple of days shopping and relaxing

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Thank you - two of my favourite things

Originally Posted by Fuellady

It's great that you're all just enjoying spending time together in Rotonda as a family. It sounds so relaxing

And all that shopping!

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We really did enjoy our time together. It was so nice to reconnect with the teens. They certainly know how to shop those two - can't think where they get it from - I've got them to start saving for next year already.

Originally Posted by Minnie 157

What villa were you staying at was it a dibb one

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Hi. Thanks for reading. The villa was lovely but it wasn't a dibb one so I can't say on here but if you PM me I can send you the details if you are interested.

Originally Posted by shirley

Great day, I loved the outlets.

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I think those outlets are some of the nicest Shirley.

Originally Posted by Milner

Great read again Lynn love your bag do like I Coach bag too.

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Thanks Carole. I have to say I love my bag - I've been using it quite a bit

Originally Posted by smedley

Excellent shopping purchases! Even better the chilling out by the pool tho

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Thank you. Nothing nicer than chilling by your "own" pool

Originally Posted by granmags

some great shopping bargains - love that handbag.
nice relaxing days - apart from losing your DH in Walmart

See more...

Thank you. I've used the bag quite a bit - it's lovely to carry.

I think maybe I need to put an alarm on Phil to stop me losing him