Boating and Beaching

Happy sailor

Thursday was our last full day in Florida. Uncle John has a small river boat which is fun to go on, we we spent about two hours riding around the river. Crystal River, Florida is a nature preserve, so there are all kinds of birds that have made their nests in the marshy land islands on this river. We saw lots of turtles sunning themselves on rocks and even caught a glipse of an alligator in the water.

Using their Sea World souvenirs to enjoy
the sights and sounds of the river.

Heading up the river

John let each of the kids, and myself have a turn to drive the boat. Brave man!

Neta the naval navigator.

Nate did a pretty good job steering the boat.
He had to stand up to see over the gauges,
but that's okay.

Graigry does a little directing on the river.

Aurora almost ran us into the lily pads
and an unseen rock. Uncle John shut it down
and put it into reverse. All little too much power turns
for the little boat.

Xela was smooth and steady.
Neta is sitting in the little bit of shade
sipping a juice box.

This was much easier than driving a car.
So relaxing with a light breeze. Perfect.

We drove home and on the long driveway into the house, John stopped the truck and we got out to see the...

TURTLE!!!!

John tapped it's shell and the turtle pulled right in.
The kids each got to pet the shell
before he was put back on the ground.

We ate some lunch, played a little Wii and then packed up for a few hours at the man made beach. It was on the Gulf of Mexico, and we didn't get to do a beach last time because our trip was shorter and it rained. The kids enjoyed playing in the water and sand and searching for shells (which they suprisingly found a few).

We worked hard to build a sand something,
but the sand was hard to work with and
the tide came in after a while & washed half of it away.

Water was a little chilly, but they all had fun.

Goofing off in the Gulf of Mexico

Nate in the sand.
This sand was harder to manipulate into anything.

Beached Momma

Kids tried to cover me up, but the water wouldn't allow it.
Later I found sand in spots where sand ought not be.

Neta the sand mermaid
(You can kind of see her tail on the right side)

Eric spent his time under an umbrella
reading a book and he still got burnt.

Nate had a fun time chasing these birds around.

Sibling bonding in the water.
I hope their relationship strengthens.

Their sand creation.

Killing the creation.

Xela backing on the sand.
Her shoulders matched her swimsuit pinkness.

After a few hours, we were burnt but had a good time. We got home and then sanded off in the pool while dinner was being prepared. My kids don't get sick of the water.

When Xela got out of her swim suit, she was CRISPY. It was hard to see until you had the rest of her skin to compare it to.  She and Ro got burnt, all the other kids, who I sunblocked, were a little red in the face, but not too bad. It was a good day and they were all very, VERY tired by scripture time.