Afternoon in Cocoa Beach

We drove out to Cocoa Beach to go to an art fair, walk on the beach and visit Kelley's friend Marie (from AT&T).  The beach won out over the art fair.  Pelicans were all over the place!

It was a very windy day, but that didn't stop the kids from running into the ocean.

It wasn't quite as warm as Clearwater Beach, but that didn't stop the kids either.  :)

We didn't stay very long.  Owen was still really sensitive from the sand & salt water in Clearwater roughing up his skin, so we headed to Marie's sooner than later so he could take a shower.  Marie had shrimp ready for baiting hooks so the kids could fish off her dock in the backyard into the canal.  Papa was kind enough to bait the hooks for the kids.  Thank you, Papa!

The kids didn't catch anything.

But they had fun fishing and watching the bobbers jump as the shrimp were sneakily eaten by the fish underwater.

Chloe was a little chilly, so Marie's daughter loaned her a sweater.  To wear over her swim suit.  And Marie's son DJ helped the kids with fishing and baiting their hooks, too.

Afterwards we enjoyed a great dinner together with Marie's family.  Awesome day all around.  Until Todd drove us back to Orlando and his navigator fell asleep in the back seat and he drove an hour out of the way.  Whoops.  Sorry honeys!

Day 5 Up North

Every day up here is just perfection.  The kids get to do so many things, including playing volleyball in the sand court just in front of Papa and Grandma's.

They get trained by the best card sharks there are in the family (I've heard Grandma LaVonne is THE bets there is!).

Even Chloe is learning to play and love spending time with the Grandmas and Aunt Louise while the guys go out fishing after Todd and I have left.

Owen challenges Uncle Roger to some Tae Kwon Do moves.

Bean stole cousin Lisa's sunglasses.

As the sun is getting close to setting, we head out for our last night of fishing.

Owen is held close by his Daddy as we soak up these last few hours Up North.

My toes are an excellent fishing rod holder.

Owen has been catching a lot of fish and is again getting the hang of removing them from the hook by himself.

A campfire with S'mores has been long awaited since we arrived Up North.

Day 3 Up North

Another day of perfection.  Jogging/rollerblading on a quiet trail.

A game of catch before eating dinner.

Delicious food where waaaay tooooo much was consumed in one sitting!

Hanging out with family.

While trying to stay cool.

The day ends with a another fishing trip.

Every time we go out on the boat, it seems we have herons flying overhead.

This boy loves going barefoot.

Uncle Roger took his girls out fishing, too.  There might have been taunts, teases and promises tossed between our two boats.

Itty bitty dragonflies liked the fishing rod.

As sunset moved in, we headed back to the dock.

We constantly ask how we can make these days last longer.  All of the fun and relaxing passes us by too fast!

Day 2 Up North

The morning started off with a run (or Todd ran and I rollerbladed next to him) along the trail that used to be railroad tracks.

 

We had a boy patiently waiting for us to get back so we could go out fishing.

 

He couldn't wait to help lower the boat.

 

Dragonflies hung out on our rods.

We waited patiently for fish to jump on our lines.

We had happy captains.

With a beautiful view.

Life doesn't get much better than this.

Long leggity beasties flew overhead.

And we fished some more.

Some of us take a more laid back approach to fishing that others.

First Day Up North

And we made sure we got out on the boat under gorgeous blue skies!

The fish weren't biting much, but someone got to drive Papa's boat!

More Fishing

But first, the day started off with snuggles and all I could see were little feet poking out.

Once everyone was awake, I was out on the boat with my guys.  Owen sat on Todd's lap as we rushed to the fishing spot.  It was our last day to fish before our licenses expired, so there was no dilly-dallying!

It couldn't have been a more perfect day for being outside.

These two were enamored with my fishing rod and then my shoe.  I tried to get their pics when they landed on my left hand a few times, but they were faster than my picture-taker-finger.

I caught a little sunny that was a keeper.  If I have ever caught one before that was a keeper, it's been many years.

After 45 minutes of fishing, Owen was bored and wanted to go back (read as: fishing was slow and it's no fun if you're not reeling them in every two and a half minutes).  But he was stuck because with only an hour to go on our fishing licenses, we weren't making any runs back to the dock.  So the boy took stock of his tacklebox inventory.

I don't think I caught any croppies this afternoon, but I did pull in three baby perch.  Or perhaps it was the same baby perch and just not very smart, so he got caught multiple times.  Either way, I like the vertical stripes.

We also saw the heron again poking around the shore and walking slowly with legs bending backwards.

I love how the lily pads grow so close and pile on top of each other.  I love their roundness and how the edges curl up a little.

It wasn't until thirty minutes before our fishing time was to end that we drove up to 9th Crow Wing Lake.  I alway love crawling through the little channel that connects these two lakes.  Either side is lined in lily pads and cat tails.

When we got back to the dock, Owen was quick to jump out of the boat and begin turning the wheel to raise the lift and the boat.  He's getting so grown up!