The Beach '13: More Sand and Surf and a Bit of Sun

Friday was kind of on the rainy side, but we saw an opportunity for a break in the rain and headed for the beach! It was raining all around us, but there was a perfect circle of sunlight over us, so we soaked it up while we could!

The Beach '13: Just Relaxing, Taking In A Show

The Beach '13: The Warf (The Place To Eat and Play)

I would like to say iPhones really are a wonderful thing sometimes. Using said iPhone and Open Table app, I got us a reservation at an Italian restaurant at the Wharf for dinner instead of waiting for Lulu's. I made the reservation at 7:15 (while still at Lulu's), we were seated by 7:45 and Sarah and I had some magnificent cocktails in hand by 7:55. Ahh, wonderful! During our yummy meal, the lights show on the main street of the Wharf started. After dinner, we went out to dance and let the boys run around. Ben got a straw from the Tervis store which then became a whistle. Awesome.

The Beach '13: Lulu's (To Play, not Eat)

Thursday evening of our vacation, we headed to Lulu's for dinner. We left later than planned because Ben fell asleep 15 minutes before we were going to leave and we let him sleep for a bit. Well, Lulu's was packed. We had a 2.5 hour wait, which was a bit long when you thought that we wouldn't be seated until 8:30 and probably not eat dinner until 9:30. That's not necessary the best course of action with a 2 and 4 year old. So, while we contemplated life and dining options the boys and grandma played in the sand at Lulu's. We tried to take a family picture, but I forgot to tell Sarah how to focus my camera, so they are blurry, but I still think they are cute. 

The Beach '13: Just Floating Around the River

Thursday afternoon, while Adam, Sarah and my dad played golf, Nick and I went over to the lazy river. Nick really liked it. At first he sat in my lap as we floated around. After a few circuits around the pool, I let him float in the water by himself with his turtle floaty. He thought it was awesome. I just floated around, sometimes kicking his legs a bit, but just relaxing.  

The Beach '13: Ben's Round of Golf

Thursday morning, Adam and I took Ben to play putt-putt. We found a Pirate course with a Jean Lafitte theme - right up our alley - our Pirate Alley (haha!) Ben was very excited about playing golf. He didn't really 'get' the rules, but he had fun. There was no one else on the course, so we let him do his thing. 

The Beach '13: Condo Basketball

Nick did nothing put play football/basketball/golf/throw something games all week. 

The Beach '13: Fishing for Some, Dry Land for Others

Wednesday afternoon Adam, Sarah and my dad headed out to the open sea on a party fishing boat (seen in the middle of the picture below). The boys, grandma and I stayed home and ran to the outlet mall to get the boys some shoes. I sent the camera with Adam on the boat, but it of course never left the bag. The waters were a bit rough that day. They were pretty much the only ones on the boat that didn't get sick. And as Adam put it, they were 'lightly salted' when they got back. They sat on the bow of the boat and got pummeled with sea spray on the way out. In the mean time, the boys and I went to the Stride Rite/Sperry outlet with Grandma and stocked up on shoes for very large feet. Ben is now wearing a size 13.5 W and Nick got 9W. I found thee cutest pair of Sperry's for Nick, though! I love them! He calls them his boat shoes and looks so cute wearing them. Ben got a pair too, but right now would rather wear his flip flops. After suffering through shoe shopping, the boys got to ride one of the games at the outlet. For them, that was the highlight of the trip. 

The Beach '13: The Dolphin Pool!

Wednesday morning we spent at the dolphin pool. The boys loved playing with their noodles and nets and goggles. I wish they could swim a bit underwater so I could take cool underwater pictures! Maybe next year... Aunt Sarah got the boys blow up swords - BIG HIT! And the goggles that Ben picked out. Crack my up!

The Beach '13: Yoga Anyone?

Grandma centering her chi, or something like that, on the beach during her (coincidentally private) yoga class.

The Beach '13: Dolphins?

So, we really did see quite a few dolphins during our boat day - we even saw a few from the condo early in the mornings. The dolphins proved to be anti-pap this year and very difficult to photography. This is pretty much the only video/picture we got of the dolphins (look toward the top of the frame for the splashing). We did see a few babies, though. And they were pretty small. The boys had a good time looking for them and got all excited when they did actually spot one.

The Beach '13: A New Game - Catch the Ben!

Ben didn't know what he thought of this game. The big splash in the center is Ben. No one caught him that time...

The Beach '13: Time to Swim!

You can't have a boat day without stopping to swim. We didn't make it over to the island/beaches area, but the nice wildlife area we found was perfect. And we didn't see any snakes. The boys and I had neon nail polish on our toes, so the fish didn't bother us. Aunt Sarah, however, did not have on neon nail polish and had a few curious fish investigate her toes and legs. 

Here is a video, but the wind canceler was not on, so it's a bit static/noisy. 

The Beach '13: The Wildlife at Tacky Jack's

Our plan was to stop at the original Tacky Jack's for lunch, but the water was a bit rough getting there. Luckily, Tacky Jack's was forward thinking and built a new restaurant on the Intercoastal, which was perfect! They had a nature/wildlife show going on that day and we docked just in time to catch most of it. Ben was a bit tired at first, but Nick was LOVING it! The lady had alligators, snakes, preserved turtles, a one-eyed owl and other critters for the kids (and grandmas...) to touch and pet. Nick loved the snake. This first picture was taken by the girl at Tacky Jacks. I just found it on their FB page. After the animal show we had a yummy lunch and headed back for the boat for more sight seeing, dolphin watching and swimming!