Another Day or Days in Florida!

We tried a little homeschooling...

Journaling in our notebooks.

It was such a great idea!

BUT we only have 2 entries because...

we've been having too much fun!

We had big plans to get wwwwaaaaaaayyyyyy ahead on our reading, too!

But that didn't happen either!

Once again we are having tooooo much fun and enjoying our break!

However, those that love to read continue too! I LOVE to see a child reading!

And those that don't really want to read much have found a way, not to read.
Truth be told, I was way too busy socializing to spend time with my nose in a book.
Although my thoughts on that have changed, I can't blame those that would rather chat and play!

Oh well, soon we will be home and back to our schedule!

This crew does not take academics too seriously at this point ;-)

But they get a A+ in cuteness!

They are writing all their sisters and brothers first middle and last names!

Sam loves to write... and write... and write!

With every writing assignment he has at least 2 extra loose leaf papers he has written on!
There may be a few run on sentences- wink wink- but I have learned NOT to correct them at this point!
Just let them write and love to write!

It was a chillier day in Florida this day and we wore our capri's.

How does anyone get anything done in Southwest Florida-the weather is so perfect!

We enjoyed a moment on the beach at the Isle of Capri!

And a gorgeous sunset!

Sunsets are so hopeful!

An end to a good day with a feeling of anticipation towards the next day!

Our children say that the sun is setting here but rising in China!

This is what I see when I look to my right!

And this is what I see when I look to my left.

And when I look straight ahead I see-

 no no no not the beach!

This wonderful husband of mine!

Today is actually Sarah's Birthday- she is 14 yrs old!

I'll do a post on that soon!

The pics are not from her b-day.

Thanks to the Brady Bunch we are now building houses with cards!

Except, if you don't want your younger sibs to knock it down you have to find a secret place to build!

This is Mia's house!

And Sarah is working on her house in an undisclosed location!

Except the younger children found her!

Very funny little kids!

Wooooo! Three stories tall!

Later that morning we went to the beach!

We told the children-

Don't walk on the blanket!

Excuse me?

What does don't walk on the blanket mean to you?

To me,

it means don't walk on the blanket.

I really should have taken an after picture because very quickly there was more white than blue!

Love this little boy and love the progress we see with each day that goes by!

Love the itty bitty crack!

This was the swim in the ocean with Dad day!

It was also the day my children took every shell off the Marco Island beach...

And they brought them home for ME to clean...

Thank you children... 

kind of...

NOT!

Thankful to have this treasure home for just over one year now!

And that goes for this treasure, too!

They love to play and play in the sand!

They never tire of it!

And play in the waves!

Luke's turn for a spa treatment!

Once home we did some fishing!

Sam has been talking about this... I a pretty sure it's been FOREVER!

if ya know what I mean!

They used shrimp as their bate...

 WE had all good intentions 
but there is a chance that the live shrimp on their hooks were...

not really alive.

BUT, don't tell them!

We did catch something!

Ben caught a palm branch!

I think we might have quite a few fishermen and fisherwomen in this crew!

They loved it even if they didn't catch a thing!

This little guy was outside our place.

I have never seen the red fan before.

Our days are almost at an end and we will be heading back soon!
One more FLORIDA post and it's
BACK TO REALITY FOR THIS FAMILY!

Alligators, Crocodiles and Air Boat Rides!

What an adventure!

Last time we were here- about 4 years ago it was not looking so good.

They seemed to have made some improvements since then!

They gave us a deal on an airboat ride - so we couldn't say no!

We saw quite a few alligators!

This is a male alligator- which was evident due to his large size.

We drove though grass and mud- the children were so surprised that the boat could do that!

Our guide said that by next month this area would have no water and they could not drive through it- it is due to the season- a dryer time of year.

The mangrove trees are called walking trees- in some parts they are taking over the everglades.

Although they stop erosion(which is good) they are now changes the eco system of the everglades(which is bad).

This was supposed to be a rainy day so we decided to take an adventure.

It was our lucky day - no rain just lots of fun!

There were smiles on their faces the whole time!

Especially when we went fast!

And here is a female alligator- I am not sure if she is smiling at us or not so happy to see us?

OR

maybe she is very happy to see us and is thinking about LUNCH!

YIKES!

Then it was on to the exhibits...

Interesting but kind of sad.

The children were excited to learn about alligators and crocodiles and the differences between them!

This is not something we get to see in MN.

Poor kitty- had a hard time getting comfortable!

I think she was laying on the fan???

Beautiful but should be running free...

Baby alligators- the children commented on the fact that they would most likely win the quite contest and the "you can't move" contest!
I think they are right!

beautiful animal 

And now I would like to apologize to you!

This just happens to be the beginning of a looonnngggg line of pics!

You see those that have been here before really talked up the time that they held a baby alligator.

Soooo now everyone got to hold an alligator except Emma- who chose not too!

The only smart one of the bunch!

Whew!

Thank you for your patience!

There were ALL so thrilled to get their chance to hold Wally. 

AND,

they each needed several pics to document the experience!

(I'm guessin I never have to come back here again!)

Okay, JK! I have been here 3-4 times already so what's another 3-4 right!

Then of course we all had to touch Wally (the baby alligator) one more time!

Okay, maybe two, three, four more times!

Thank you Wally for being such a good sport!