Darren's Week Off

Darren had a week off! We started it off with a bang by leaving at 5 in the morning last Saturday to drive to Key Largo.  We were there by 8 to catch a quick snorkeling tour at 9.  Honestly, the snorkeling wasn't that great.  Don't get me wrong- the fish and coral were beautiful, but the water was cold and choppy, the visibility was bad, and there were lots Jellyfish.   We still had a fun time- just being together.

Me and Darren.  He hates wearing those jackets.

Angel Fish

Moon Jellyfish- they were everywhere- you had to be very careful not to swim into them.

Beautiful Coral

I love these fish- Parrot Fish.

The Barracuda were amazing!  I saw at least 6 or 7 of them about 5 feet long. It is hard to tell in the picture, but this guy is at least 5 feet long.  I have never seen them that huge!  The captain said they have never had one bite a person in the 20 something years he has been doing tours. They sure do look scary though!- and I definitely kept my distance! 

Another Barracuda.

See- A Barracuda and Jelly fish in the same picture!

Look at that thing!  It just looks mad!

After snorkeling- the kids got cold and scared of the jellyfish- so they spent most the time on the boat. Gabe was at home with a babysitter. As much as we missed Gabe- it was a great break to have just the older kids. 

Paul acting like Superman- he doesn't have to act much, he is already super!

After the snorkeling trip we headed to John Pennekamp beach and just hung out.   I have to admit, it was the most relaxing time at the beach I have ever had!  Without worrying about Gabe- I was able to read, and relax!  It was amazing!  I had to get this picture of Kyle reading with his "friend".

There he is.

I'm in HEAVEN!! Shell World and no toddler!  I actually got to look around!

KYLE!  This picture is too scary for me to even look at!

Shell World was amazing.  I could have spent a very, very long time in there.  But even on a good day Darren's patience for shopping is about 9-10 min. long. I hurried and took it all in as quickly as possible.  All the shells were amazing, and I could have spent an hour in there.  Easy.  There was a wall of specialty shells.  Ones that are collectors items.  Check out this shell for  $750!  I love shells- but seriously??  It's looks like a normal shell!

    After  a fun day at Key Largo we headed home.  We were all so excited to see Gabe.  I left a little sad- not knowing if we will be back there for a very long time, or ever.  Our time here is quickly coming to an end, and it makes me want to soak in every moment.  Which I did this day, and it was wonderful.

Colorful

 After the Fishing Derby we headed to Sanibel and Captiva Islands and spent the day at the beach.  I love those islands!  They are so fun.  I had to stop and take some pictures of the outside of this fun Art Gallery.  Gabe was asleep in the car or I would have dragged my kids in.  Come with me for just a moment!

Don't you just want to sit in one of those chairs and read a soak in all the colors?

And the flowers?

It's like Inception.  A flower within a flower. 

Fun birdhouses that made me think of my mom and dad.

Look at all the details- the blue scalloped trim, and the fish cut outs along the railing. 

I always love to see the American Flag flying.  Especially in such a fun place.

Thanks for coming with us! I hope it makes you smile:)

Fishing Derby!

Paul saw an add in the newspaper the read, "Free Fishing Derby For Kids!" that was all he needed to see when he knew we HAD to go! I didn't know this, but a Derby in "fishing" terms pretty much means a contest.  Darren needed to study and couldn't come, so I was hesitant to get up early on a Saturday and drag all 4 kids 45 min. away to Sanibel and Captiva Islands.  But the thought of being so close to my favorite shelling beach was alluring.  Ellie didn't want to go, Kyle didn't care, but Paul was persistent.  We went and boy am I glad we did!  We cleaned house!

The fun thing about living here as opposed to Utah or Idaho is that kids are... well...more special, rare, unique?   I don't know how to put it,  but there were about twice as many adults as kids at the Fishing Derby.  Compared to an event like this in Utah the adults would be outnumbered 4 to1!  LOL   There were so many judges, and volunteer fisherman there to help the kids, I didn't even have to bait my kids hooks or touch a fish the whole time! They all bait my kids hooks, and cast they for the kids, and then got the fish off the hooks.  We got right to work and a couple of very nice men came right over and got all my kids ready to fish. 

Now the way this Derby worked is the kids could fish for 2 hours in this one certain area.  There would be prices for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Biggest fish, Smallest fish, and the Grand Prize was the total of inches from all of the fish caught by one person during the time.

Right away Ellie caught this Sea Trout- it measured 9 inches.

Ellie caught another Sea Trout at 10 inches

The judge came over and measured her fish for her- 10 inches! What a beauty!

Soon after that Kyle caught this awesome Puffer Fish!  They look like a normal fish when you catch them- but then when they get mad or scared- they blow up like this!

Happy kids!

Puffer fish have this really cool beak- almost like a birds

So cool!  I love nature!

Soon after Kyle's Puffer, Ellie caught a Puffer too!  It measured in at 9 inches.

This guy would not puff up!  We thought about rubbing him in the sand to make him mad and puff up- but that would just be plain mean!  So we gently put him back in the water.

Towards the end of the time- Paul hadn't caught anything.  He wanted to catch something so bad!  He was getting so discouraged.  Ellie had caught 3 fish and Kyle had caught 1.   I prayed that Paul would catch a fish so he could get a trophy's- I prayed, "Heavenly Father, I know it's not a big deal, and I won't be mad if he doesn't catch anything- but please let him catch something.  Anything!  It doesn't even need to be big,  just something so he could get a trophy.  Please!"   A few minutes later Paul caught this small fish.   He ended up getting a trophy for the Smallest Fish.  And I had to laugh.- Heavenly Father has a sense of humor!   LOL  

Measuring in at a measly 7 inches.

During the fishing competition- they drew names of kids to come choose a door prize.  All my kids got prizes!  That's because they had more door prizes than kids.  They even gave me a life jacket for Gabe.  They had good door prizes too- Paul got a fishing pole, Ellie and Kyle both got a  fishing pole holder you put in the sand.

Awards Ceremony! 

Paul and his trophy for Smallest Fish!  YEA!! I love it!

Wait for it... Ellie was shocked when they called her name for the Grand Prize!!  She caught 3 fish for a total of 28 inches.  Everyone loved how excited she was!

I love her face in this one.

She won a great fishing pole with tackle box and this awesome trophy!

Look how sweet she is!!!

Paul and his trophy- he also won a fishing pole- so we left there with 3 new fishing poles a tackle box, and 2 fishing pole holders.

They gave Kyle a box of donuts since he didn't get a trophy- and he was thrilled!  Kyle will take sugar over anything else anytime.  If was such a fun morning and I was so happy that we went!  

Sea Shells!!

I have come to realize I have always loved shelling.  When we were kids and would go to the beach in California, I loved looking for shells.  I didn't really care to much to get in the water.  I just cared about finding shells.   Here are some close ups of some more seashells we got at Captiva Island.

This is what my kitchen counter looks like after an awesome shelling trip to the beach.

These are called Lightning Welks

They are the only shell in Florida that open up on the left side. 

Now this shell is a shell we found in some rocks in Cozumel with Bryce and Amy.  We rented a little car and drove around the island.  We stopped at a random place and walked along the beach and found this awesome shell.

Look how big it is!- This is a conch shell

Conch from Cozumel- next to it is a Lightning Welk we found here, next to a little baby Lightning Welk also found in Florida.

Calico Clams

Aren't these pretty!? Each one is so beautiful!!  I love them because they are smooth and shiny, not to mention the fun pattern on each one!

Now this is a fun one too.  This is also a Conch shell.  We got this one off the coast of Belize.  Darren and I went alone when paul was about a year old.  We wanted to go snorkeling- but missed the main tourist boats.  We found a local guy take us in his awesome boat I was afraid might sink at any moment.  The guy looked like a pirate.  Really- a pirate.  He was really nice and we had a great time.  After we snorkeled with sharks and stingrays, he needed to stop to "get dinner".  So we stopped in a spot in the ocean where the water was about 3 feet deep and crystal clear.  The bottom of the ocean floor was perfectly flat and sandy.  And these shells were EVERYWHERE.  He jumped in the water and threw a bunch up on the boat.  Then he got back in and got out his knife.  He would take each shell, and hold his knife on that spot where there is the hole, then hammer his knife into the shell to make the whole.   Then he would grab the animal inside and tear it out and throw it in a bucket.  Then he would throw the shell back in the water.  Except this one- which he gave to me.  He said he would be making Conch soup for dinner that night.  

Here is another one- but without a hole.

This is a fun shell called a Cats Paw.  Can you guess why?

More Cat Paw's.

Now, this is called a Double Cat's Paw.  Because it hasn't broken apart yet.  These are harder to find.

See?

A bunch of Doubles!

Look at all these pretty Scallops!  I love all the designs.

Cerith's and Augers

I love these Scallops with the orange stripe down the middle!

Look at this fun baby shell!  I am not sure what it is but I am guessing it's a baby conch.

A little Nutmeg.

More orange stripes.

A Dove Shell. I think.

We found this cool star fish.  Actually I found 2 of them but Gabe broke all the legs off the other one.

A Pen shell. These things are everywhere!

These one are really hard to find!  I only have a few of these fun Sunray Venus Shells.

And last but not least, a Double Disk Dosinia.  Love these.  Not only is it hard to find them, but it's twice as hard to get them home without seperateing. 

Man, looking at these pictures makes me want to go shelling, and start painting, and ......