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. :)

Little Pink Houses for you and me....

Saturday I worked on a new idea for a bag and I love the way it turned out! It's a funky little pink house with an apple tree. The house has a little window box with flowers and the apple tree has a little birdie sitting in it. 

We also went to Hank and Diana's for dinner on Saturday along with the Bowlings. It was such a nice day and probably the first day in quite some time that it didn't actually rain!  We all sat out on their deck enjoying the evening...until Brian informed me that he erased the Greys Anatomy finale I DVR'ed on Thursday and had not watched yet!  Lucky for him I was able to watch it online and didn't have to divorce him.

Sunday I fell on my BIG BUTT after getting out of the shower!  I can't believe the size of the bruise on my bottom.  I told Brian that is was one "BIG A$$" bruise...literally!  Thankfully I didn't hit my tail bone.  But boy oh boy does it hurt to sit on it. I won't post a photo of it....that would just be wrong.

Here are my words of wisdom for this week:
 "Life is too short to dance with ugly boys"