More of July...

While the big boys went offshore fishing one Saturday, me and the other 2 went to the Crayola Experience!! We loved it!!

Some of the catch!!

It's become a summer tradition to go to the Orlando Science Center and we love it!! The kids literally spend the entire day (from open to close) completely entertained and engaged in wonderful, interesting, educational and fun activities! Good for all ages!

Daniel had the itch for another Daddy daughter date... this time with 3 of our cuzzies. They went to Noodles for dinner, Academy for some shopping and the traditional night cap at High Five Frozen Yogurt!

We enjoyed Wilbo here for a week while Uncle Cupcake and Sam were in the Keys with Daniel. Lots of playdates with all our favorite people. 

Ivy's Top Tooth

This girl's top tooth was getting a little wiggly!! Of course that puts me into panic mode because once they lose those top teeth.... it's all downhill from there!! No more babyness about them!! Well she was trying real hard to get it out but it was stubborn and stuck in one spot so we gave it a rest for the night. Leave it up to the girl gang to get together the next day and get that tooth out for her!! So it's gone!! And looks like she'll be starting school without a tooth!

The night before... the last pictures of my baby-toothed girl.

4th of July in Crystal River, FL

A few friends of ours were planning a trip to the Gulf Coast in Crystal River to scallop on Monday the 3rd of July. We decided to join them and make a small extended trip out of it and headed out Sunday evening after church and stayed until Tuesday. Monday we got up bright and early, grabbed breakfast and loaded our boat in the water to head to the scalloping grounds. We met up with 7 other families so it was quite the party on the water. I really love scalloping. You're only in about 4-6 feet deep water and you snorkel around looking for little "treasures" aka scallops! It's relaxing, refreshing and an activity the kids really enjoy. We didn't hit our limit while we were there but we found plenty of scallops to feel good about! Benny was a great little boater this year (last year... not so much). He was happy to bob along in the water with his floatie, ride along on our backs or just hang out on the boat and play with our finds. Ivy was a grand champion companion scalloper and Jackson, who was far more interested in fishing, gets the prize for the best catch of the trip... a shark!!! Monday afternoon we made a stop at the Three Sisters Spring (I stayed behind with a napping Benny in the boat) and we closed down the evening at the hotel pool eating pizza. Tuesday morning we started off with some trout fishing, caught a few snapper (it was super hot on the boat but luckily Benny was sleeping so I wasn't wrangling a grumpy toddler). We hit up the scallops after that with a bit more success than the day before and just had an all-around wonderful day! We did a quick dip in the hotel pool before changing, grabbing dinner and heading home. We caught a few fireworks on the drive home but think enjoying the beauty of the sea was an excellent way to celebrate Independence Day. Maybe it'll be our new tradition.

Night Stay in Cocoa Beach, FL

Daniel had to chaperone girls camp again this year. (I think he's gone more than I have!) I decided while he was away for the night that I would go somewhere too! I booked a room at the La Quinta Inn right on the beach in Cocoa and we stayed the night and beached it all day the next day. It was perfect. We stopped at Epic Burrito Co (one of our favorites) for dinner, checked into our room, got in our suits and swam the night away! We had a night-cap at a local ice cream shop and then hit the hay! The hotel continental breakfast in the morning was a perfect way to start the day and then we hit the beach about 10:00. We beached for a couple hours, went up to the pool for a couple hours, went back down to the beach for awhile, then back up to the pool. It was pretty dreamy. My kids are beach lovers and so am I! We packed it up around 6:00... that's a good 8 hour beach day. We drove through McDonalds for dinner and got home at just the right time to shower, jammie, and go to bed! I might not be an all day fisherman but I am an all day beach goer!