Judy, Jeff and I rolled onto the beach around 10 AM to join the others already surfing and boogie boarding. All did not go well today but, spoiler alert, it all ended up OK after all.

The beach and waves were, again, perfect. The sun was warm, even in the early morning hours but the breeze and warmish but refreshing water made for a pleasant day.

Then, just when things were looking fine, Esme came from the water with her surfboard, crying. I found her first and was soon joined by two surfing instructors and her mom, Rebecca. Blood was streaming from her right eye. Quickly, Rebecca determined that there were two cuts, one above and one below her eye but that the eye itself was OK. Turns out, a rouge series of waves bounced Esme’s board into her face, causing the damage.

After cleaning Esme up a bit and giving her a chance to recover from the emotional shock, Rebecca took her to a nearby clinic for treatment. Seven stitches later, four above and three below her eye, she was back in action. But obviously water activity for her on this trip was over. She took it in stride and with great maturity. We were all proud of her, for sure.

I didn’t exactly distinguish myself boogie boarding. I was out with Carter but a combination of offshore wind and water current took me out over my head. I started paddling toward shore, but my progress was slow. A trio of lifeguards on boards came to my rescue. One pulled me for 10 or 20 yards until I could touch the bottom and make my own way.

Griffin, the football guy, challenged us to a football competition: who can throw the ball the furthest? Big guys like Jeff and Carter would seem to have the edge, girls and the old guys not so much. But you guessed it, Griffin won by a comfortable margin, scoring extra points for directional accuracy and the quality of his spiral.

We all had a great beach-side lunch at what had become our favorite spot. We even scored a great photo of the eight of us.

Trouble comes in threes and this morning was no exception. The ladies in our group took one golf cart back to the house to change and go shopping. They arrived without a key to the house. Meanwhile, Carter, Griffin and I had decided to go for ice cream. Jeff wanted to stay and take a nap in the lounge chairs. I hadn’t originally planned on going home but when the SOS call came from the house, I said, “No problem, I’ve got a key.” But guess what, I didn’t so I had to return to the beach, at which point Jeff and I took all remaining gear home, ending our beach day.

Back at the house finally, we all enjoyed pool time outside and pool time inside. I wouldn’t have guessed it, but this turned into a pretty competitive group. In the swimming pool the contest was to see who could push off and glide the length of the pool. Carter was the winner in this contest. Then, at the indoor pool table everyone had a go at cue stick and ball competition. No clear winner here, but Jeff’s hard to beat.

Finally, lobster tails and steak for the fish types and chicken quesadillas for the others, prepared by Claudia and her assistant. Griffin balked at the tuna tartar (actually, quite delicious). There was a minor halt to the proceedings: Mom insisted Griffin take a bite, he vehemently resisted until I showed him the time-honored technique of taking a big gulp of water to wash down the required bite.

Here are the pictures from this day. Keep reading afterward for the next day, Saturday.

We’d all been giving our high points and low points for the trip. Esme’s injury was the universal low point. Time at the beach was the high point, closely followed by the zip lining expedition. But today, for me, there was a new low point: Rebecca, Esme and Griffin headed home, being picked up at noon. They, thankfully, made it home without incident but I missed them almost immediately.

Before they left, we headed down to the Ocho Beach for breakfast and a photo op on the beach. The strong sunlight made for a few squints, but we got the job done with the help of a volunteer from a nearby group of tourists.

After the Longos left, the remaining five of us decided on an afternoon nap, since this was New Year’s Eve and we planned on watching midnight fireworks from our rooftop lounge.

Then, around four, Jeff, Reagan, Carter and I headed back to Ocho Beach for a final round of body surfing. It was great fun and we, as now seemed natural, started a game of seeing who could body surf a wave the furthest. Hard to declare a winner, but, let’s say, I didn’t contend.

Claudia had made reservations at La Boca, a restaurant at the end of our road. It specializes in a pig roast. We had two servings of it, a serving of a beef rib roast, two risottos and a pasta dish. The roasted pork was delicious. However, Carter hates anything associated with a pig. He had his moment when Dad insisted that he try a bite. He followed Griffin’s technique. A great New Year’s Eve dinner, nonetheless.

More pool table contests and cards while we waited for midnight. And indeed, at the bewitching hour we could see fireworks, at a distance and partially obscured by trees, competing with a bright moon, at virtually every point of the compass as the beach communities vied for the honor of entertaining tourists and filling them with beer.

Next morning it was all business: finish packing, English muffins for breakfast, van to the airport, burgers for an early lunch, three-hour flight to Miami and, for Jeff and his crew, a two-hour plane change and three more hours to Boston. All went well.

Judy and I retrieved our car and drove from Miami to Naples where our Minnesota friend, Linda Cummings and her friend, John, hosted us for a great salmon dinner. We stayed overnight with Linda. She is a fine artist and, in addition to painting, she creates beautiful jewelry. After a nice fruit and blueberry muffin breakfast, Judy relieved her of a significant portion of her inventory. We drove on north, stopping for lunch and a pass through our favorite grocery store, Detwiler’s to load up with vegetables, fish and meat.

So, our fiftieth anniversary celebration is now officially at an end. It’s been a great year but the last event, with our whole family, was by far the best of the best. One of the kids asked us if we ever anticipated what our children and grandchildren would be like, fifty years ago, when we started this journey. Of course, we had no idea, and couldn’t have dreamed of things developing as well as they have. We are truly blessed.

And for those who want more zip line pictures, here are a few of the 412 pictures taken by a kid I paid $45 to photo our adventure. Oh wel.