Day 7 . . . Reddington Beach Stingrays . . .

Awesome! These guys were in a pack of about 24. You could look down the beach and see the tips of their "wings" poking up out of the water as they propelled themselves down the waterline. They would come up to about 8 inches of the shoreline. The little ones would do a little flip when the waves crashed. It was amazing.

Day 7 . . . Reddington Beach Birds. . .

Today we headed just a bit north to Reddington Shores. The beach there is much more fine sand and the water was a bit rougher. It was a STUNNING day for our last full day here. The kids played in the sand, the water and OF COURSE Dustin tried to catch fish. (When haven't I seen him in the ocean with a net, or two?)

The birds there were beautiful and not quite as annoying as the ones down on Madeira Beach. They were more occupied with the fish in the water than with our treats on the beach . . .



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Day 6 . . . Part 2 . . .

For Henry . . .

Day 6 (Sunset Beach) . . .

Today we drove back to Sunset Beach to do some shell hunting. (it's only about 10 minutes south of where we are) It was gorgeous! We walked the beach looking for shells and saw tons of dolphins. Dustin has amped up with the constant chatter. I am pleased he is fairly compliant, as long as I find things to keep him busy with (far away from me) he is better. It was a beautiful morning . . . now for the pictures. . . .

Daddy and daughter walking the beach.

Nannie and McCartney with their feet being buried by the waves.

Harrison and Daddy

Looking for fish AGAIN. (whatever keeps him occupied!)

Dolphins!

Day 5 (So thankful for family) . . .

Before we came down here this time, Robert got back in contact with a long lost cousin through facebook. Her momma is Robert's aunt Elva. I have only met Elva once, at a family reunion way back in 1999. When we got here, Robert called her and they came by today. Elva was shocked to see "Bobby" since Pete (Patricia) brought her over without telling her who she was visiting. It was priceless, and it was a wonderful visit. My kids took to her immediately. McCartney was absolutely enthralled with Pete and never left her side. It was very sweet. What a joy to reconnect with family that you haven;t seen in a very long time!

McCartney and Dustin with who they know call Aunt Pete. (truly second cousins)

Robert and Aunt Elva

We spent the rest of the day at the pool. Harrison has a wicked sunburn on his face so we stayed in for most of the hot sun hours. We headed over to the beach at sunset and then came back home and ate over at the water of the inter-coastal waterway right outside our condo.







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Beautiful sunset on the beach.

Dustin had a much better day today. Other than the constant chatter that DOES. NOT. EVER. STOP. But the compliance and the impulsivity was much better. He did pretty well. I am certain he drove Pete bonkers with the constant talking, but she was sweet and patient and kind. He enjoyed the pool immensely today and even began to swim a bit on his own! It was a pretty impressive doggie-paddle when you consider he has never been able to keep himself afloat at all. He could doggie paddle for about 10 feet at a time. I think with practice he could actually swim fairly well. Cheers to accomplishments!

Day 4 . . . .

Major storms today. We spent the day shopping with Nannie. We hit the GIANT goodwill and a couple other places. We decided to head to another beach near here, Sunset Beach, that is known for its shells. We didn't get a whole lot, but the beach was amazing. We will definitely be heading there again this week.

For dinner we went to a place called Sweet Tomatoes. Holy Lord, it was amazing! It is a wonderful salad bad with soups and pastas and breads. Harrison woke up this morning and informed me that he wants to eat there again tonight! Yummo!

Day 3 . . .

Seriously. I should know better. I just told you how well Dustin was doing and today . . . well, today . . . sucked. By the upside is that when it sucks in paradise, you are STILL in paradise! We spent the entire day Monday at the beach. It was very windy since a storm was blowing in and the waves were awesome. The kids had a blast playing in the waves and building sandcastles.



Dustin drove me nuts. He was VERY impulsive and VERY indecisive. Here's an example: Dustin: Can I have a sandwich? Me: We have bologna. Dustin: Ok, can I have one. Me: Sure. Dustin: I don't want a stinkin' balogna sandwich!! and then he would take off running to the water saying fowl things to me. This lasted ALL day. I just got to the point where I was pointing at him to go back to the water as soon as he headed in my direction. He spent most of the day wandering up and down the beach mumbling to himself and yelling at his siblings that they just scared away the fish he was trying to catch. He was not a whole lot of fun to be around. But once again, how can you have a bad day sitting on the beach?

Day 2 (or The Tale of the Prodigal Croc) . . .

The Tale of the Prodigal Croc.

Today we spent some time down at the tourist trap that is John's Pass. It is beautiful down there and we strolled the boardwalk. We got prices on the parasailing and Robert and Harrison may do that later this week. I think he will be traumatized, but we shall see . . .

I forgot to tell you about the missing Croc the other day. When we were leaving the beach we could not find ONE of Dustin's bright orange Crocs. He loves his Crocs. He has a couple different colors and his orange ones at the favorite. We ONLY brought the Crocs and a pair of tennis shoes for the car. We looked everywhere and could not find it.

We spent the evening searching for a pair of shoes that would work for him. He is clumsy so flip flops are out and I really did not want to spend money on another pair of Crocs down here. I was dejected. We finally found a pair of flip flops on clearance at Kohls that worked for the pinch we were in. Today after wearing them for only 1 hour they tore up the tops of his feet because of the way he was holding his feet to keep them on. (He had no idea he had gaping sores onthe top of his feet because he has lessened pain receptors) I found him a pair of plastic slides that worked for him down at John's Pass for under $10.

Tonight we walked on the beach at sunset and I jokingly said to look for the Croc. I did not think we would find it. The beach was very empty this evening, but I am sure it was packed today! Lo and behold, we walked onto the beach and about 100 yards away, sitting all by his lonesome was a large orange Croc! It was hysterical! Dustin exclaimed, "My CROC!" and went running!

Thrilled as punch to get his Croc back! It was like he found a long lost friend. . . okay, he did!

Ready for the beach at sunset ( What? you don't bring a net to watch the sunset?)

Doing his version of the back stroke.

Looking for fish yet again.

So far . . .

Of course this post is picture heavy! :)

The trip down to Florida was fairly uneventful. Well, unless you count that our car DVD players died before we even got to Indy. Seriously. One and half hours into our trip and the main source of occupying the kids died. You better believe that we stopped in Anderson and bought new ones!

The roads were horrid. We were in stand still traffic crossing into Kentucky for about 2 hours. There was a crash on the bridge. Then we did okay until Nashville. Once we detoured toward Alabama instead of Georgia things loosened up considerably and we were moving! We got here in really good time. The kids slept awesome.


The first day in Florida was amazing. The weather was awesome and we had a full schedule. We swam in the pool, did grocery shopping, went to the beach. The sun was gorgeous and there was an amazing breeze to keep us cool enough to enjoy the sun. McCartney rarely came out of the water and Dustin run along the beach with his net looking for fish. Harrison dug in the sand and dug in the sand and dug in the sand. They had a blast. They were amazingly well behaved. I could not have asked for a better day from them (Robert was sleeping all day from the drive so mom and I were alone) and it was a MUCH NEEDED break from the crazy!



Now, of course since i said that, today will be nuts. But . . . . it will be nuts in the warnth of Florida!

"Hey mom! I can't find the fish. Have you seen any?" I hear this about 25 times per day. I tell him to go back out and keep looking. Sometimes I tell him that I saw them "over there" pointing away from me because I am rude like that!

And off he goes to find more fish.

A rare moment of cooperation.

Popping bubbles on the beach.