Cape Coral visit

Over a month ago, we took a trip to Cape Coral to visit Jimmy's parents and also have a mini summer vacation. We were able to visit the beach and also a fun zoo in Naples (along with other local outings).


Below... notice the helicopter. Apparently, there was a search for someone who disappeared. There was a boating accident, we later learned, and one person didn't make it.

This was our little set up that we enjoyed for several hours. I have about decided that you can't really enjoy spending much time on the Florida beaches without a beach umbrella! Jeneva was asleep in the stroller. She actually had a fever for a few days on our trip, with no other real symptoms. So we did our best to keep her cool and out of the sun.

The girls had a blast building their little pool. The first pool they made was washed out with the tide (sadly), but they regrouped and built a new one (pictured below).

Pap with his grandbabies...

Pap and Nana trying to get their newest grandbaby to like them! :) Sadly, Jeneva is just like our other girls...she doesn't go to new people very well.

Pap and his icecream. If there is one thing the girls will remember about their PapPap is that he likes to treat them to icecream! :)

Naples Zoo and Botanical Gardens: This zoo was really nice. It was so well landscaped so it was really pleasant to explore. For the summer, they had a Cat in the Hat theme which made the zoo even more fun for the girls.

When we entered the zoo we were given a scavenger hunt page that was fun. The girls had fun finding all of the different "fact" signs that gave them the answers to their scavenger hunt questions.

There was a little "cruise" you could take which explored a few man-made islands that housed the monkeys and apes. It was fun, but shorter than I expected! :)

In addition to the activites pictured, we also enjoyed swimming in the pool at PapPap and Nana's condo and a few other local outings including a visit to a REALLY cool pet store with monkeys and other various animals. There were also lots of exotic birds and an iguana (I think it was, that was about 4 feet long) that were not caged! The pet store was sort of decorated like a Rainforest Cafe, if you have seen one of those before. Overall the trip was really fun. However, Jeneva and Jewel both had a fever at different times and we had a flat tire about an hour from home.

St. George Island

This past Saturday we had fun with our friends the McCords at St. George Island. Despite our efforts to use sunblock, we all experienced a little bit of sunburn. Thankfully the girls only had a little red on their nose and cheeks...I am really liking their rashguard swimsuits that keep their little bodies safe from the sun. We spent about 4 to 5 hours straight out on the beach! It was a hot, but breezy, day so it was pretty pleasant. If it wasn't for the McCords beach umbrella I am sure we would have not stayed as long as we did. The water was pretty calm, and we all enjoyed cooling off periodically.

The Beach

St. Augustine is such a great place to visit. Not only is there seemingly endless things to do around town, but there is also the BEACH! Out of the three days we were there, we only made it to the beach once, but it was a lot of fun. The weather was PERFECT...slightly breezy and warm. The girls (and I) had a great time playing in the sand, and Jimmy had a ton of fun flying 3 kites. The wind/breeze was perfect for kite flying.

Beach Trip

On Saturday, we left early for Panama City Beach to visit with some friends from Conway. The man was a friend and co-worker of Jimmy's from Conway School District. They had a great time talking math and Bible. It isn't everyday you meet someone passionate about both of those things! The family had two children that the girls enjoyed playing with on the beach and in the condo. I had a great time visiting with Brad's wife, even though she stomped me at a game of Phase 10! :)

St. Pete Beach

Sunsets

(If you were wondering, I was holding a wet little girl who transferred much of her water on to me!)

Sharks!

So the last morning at the beach, we were enjoying the nice calm waters. We weren't planning on getting in so none of us wore our swimsuits. Not five minutes before the sharks were spotted I said to Jimmy, "Now this would be a good morning to go out deeper in the water since the water is so calm." The sharks were well within the swimming area. I think Jimmy was out at that spot the evening before with both girls. YIKES!

CRAZY PEOPLE!
The sharks drew a crowd. Supposedly a 10 foot bull head shark (or something like that) was spotted just a few minutes earlier. The ones we saw were probably called black tip sharks and were only about 3 or 4 feet long. However, we did see something quite bigger swimming with the sharks that never seemed to surface.

Two little fish

We came across these two little fish playing in the water.