Etsy Inspired Challenge

This week I was honored to be the featured shop in the Etsy Inspired Challenge.  Take a look! EtsyInspired  I am so amazed at how each person took some idea from one of my items and made such beautiful cards.  I was so inspired by their cards....they gave me tons of ideas!!

Happy Father's Day

Today I would like to thank my father for...well...being my father.  So here goes.....

Dear Dad,

Thanks for being a great dad! Thanks for letting me stand on your feet while you walked....I loved that!  Thanks for chasing me around the kitchen and pretending that you didn't see me hiding in my hiding spot underneath that old counter top we had while you pretended to look for me.  Thanks for letting me play with your hair and put clips in it while you would watch t.v.  Thanks for letting me sneak candy out of your secret "goodie bag" (which really wasn't a secret, we all knew where it was and we all went in it when you were not looking!) Thanks for leaving me $2.00 on your dresser every morning for my lunch (people....$2.00 a day back in the day was a lot of money for lunch) Thanks for asking me to pull you finger...back then I thought it was funny. Thanks for being the best Pop to my children.  But most of all, thanks for always loving me.  I love you Dad. 

Farmers Market

Our farmers market started while we were on vacation, so I missed the first two weeks.  But I made it today for a quick trip.  I only had a short time since Conner had a swim meet this afternoon....but I was able to get a few great things.  My FAVORITE part of the market is the flower sellers.  I just love fresh flowers in my house, especially ones from the farmers market.

Jackpot!!!

This whole week I've been keeping my eyes peeled for alligators! I kept saying that this vacation will not be complete until I see an alligator.  We drove through the mangroves the other night looking for Wally Gator, but nothing.  Tonight we were on our way to dinner and....presto....an alligator was sunning outside his little lagoon down the road.  JACKPOT!

Wonderful Wednesday.....

                                                          We woke up to a perfect day...there was less humidity, the temperature felt a little cooler and the gulf water was significantly cooler.  And to top it all off, we had a great beach show today.  We were treated to a dolphin show....about 4 or 5 dolphins feeding close to shore.  BUT the icing on the cake was the manatee we saw!  Just slowly making his/her way down the coast. 

Lazy day

Here is how day 4 went:

1) woke up and took a walk on beach and found some great shells.

2) Hung out at pool.

3) Ate some lunch.

4) Took kids to Rec Center to practice.  Cait worked with Conners flip turn....she has the most beautiful flip and his is in need of a little work.

5) Ran into grocery store.

6) Went to the Mucky Duck and had dinner....by the "window".

7) Stopped at Blind Pass to search for some more shells.

8) Came back to condo and sat and watched thunderstorm.

9) Chilled.

Oh how I could live this life!

I could live this way....

Another beautiful day in paradise. Beach in the a.m., quick dip in the pool, lunch then a nap.  We had dinner at Island Cow,a little local restaurant.  After dinner we took a drive through the mangrove looking for a gator.  No luck on finding a gator but we saw lots of wildlife.  It felt like we were on Animal Kingdom. It was apparent that a lot of the Bach goers this weekend were off island folks.  Today the beaches were not as crowded.  Just enough for me to do some good people watching.  

Vacation....day 2

Day 2:

I woke up very early to go out "shelling".  I don't understand...but no one wanted to go with me.  When I returned, Brian was up making breakfast for everyone.  After we ate, the guys and I went down to the beach while Cait slept a little more.  (college life is good) 

I am posting this photo for Diana.  I want her to know that I actually went out FAR.  Conner and I went out to the sandbar....and I wasn't even afraid!  Cait came down when she got up and that was around the time the guys went to the pool to cool off.  It was a perfect day. :) 

Cait and I went to the local recreation center to find out about the swim team schedule.  After getting the information we went to another beach I heard had great shells.  And we were not disappointed!  We had to go home and change since we didn't have our suits on and we got SOAKED looking for shells. 

In the late afternoon Cait, Conner and I went exploring a little.  We found the fishing pier and this bird followed every move we made.  I think he thought we had some bait for him to steal.  No such luck for him.

Now we are just relaxing in the cool condo...contemplating going to get an ice cream....

Ahhhhh 1st day of vacation

Day 1:

Got up at 4:00 a.m.  It's amazing how I can get up without any problems at 4:00 a.m. when I want....but getting up at 7:00 on a work day is torture!

Arrived at Fort Myers at 9:30 a.m (after flying 1st class!!!) and purchased some goods for the week.  Luckily the condo was ready and we didn't have to wait until 3:00 to get in.

The condo is WONDERFUL and we are right on the beach.  The views from our unit are perfect.

Quick change and we were off to the beach for a while.....then we hit the pool for a relaxing dip......then we all had a gooooooooood nap.  Much needed. 

Nice dinner out....another trip down to the beach to shell search, and now the boys are in bed and Cait and I are watching a little t.v.

Good 1st day. :)