St. Pete Beach: Day 3

Best beach, best day! This will be a day that will stand out in Joshua's mind for a long time! It will be hard to live up to. 

We found a park where we could play for a while until our pirate ship was ready to board. 

The boys enjoyed the salty air and the ability to run wild.
















At the edge of the playground was a pier looking out over the beautiful beach.

Over the trip the boys did a great job holding hands and watching out for one another. We made our way to the pirate ship. The boys were thrilled!  

When the we got on the ship the boys were given water guns. For the water gun fight. 

 Parents were told if your child didn't need you, then please go enjoy some "child-free" time.
Silas is still at the point where he needs a parent near, and it gave me a chance to watch Joshua's eyes sparkle in pirate glory.

We went out to sea and Silas got a bit grouchy, but we didn't let his crabby face ruin our fun. 

There was music and dancing. 

Joshua loved the limbo (even if he stepped over the pole.) 

By the end of the cruise we were all smiling. 

What a fun day!!!

We went back to the hotel for nap time. 

We went out to the gulf to check out the beautiful sand and water. It was lots different than Palm Coast sand.

 Silas had never been mini-golfing. It was a fun experience. Joshua had golfed once before, but was convinced he was an excellent golfer. He told was about how you needed to aim, concentrate, and hit the ball.

 We did take his confidence down encouraging him to be a better sport and reminding him that although he knew how to play, he was not the greatest golfer ever.

 We walked back to the room loving the relaxing calm of a wonderful day of family time.

The last thing we did before bed was a dive in Movie at the pool. The boys were plenty confident in their swimming abilities after 2 days and they swam around watching the Smurfs. 

Dive in Movie

St. Pete Beach: Day 2

The sky's awake, so I'm awake. So we need to play!!! 6:30 peering out of the blinds. 

The office building where we bought the tickets was next to a children's museum. I couldn't help but question if we were making  the wrong choice taking them to the sunken garden rather than the kids zone. But not everything we were doing was "for them".

The garden was beautiful and the boys did have a great time. There were parrots and a tortoise and lots of fresh air and room to run. 

Oh yes, and butterflies! 

And fountains! 

After the sunken gardens we headed to the Dali museum. The gardens alone outside made it! 

The spiral staircase we walked up the enter the art gallery. 

View from the inside looking out at the labyrinth, and garden outside. 

Looking out into the bay. 

One of the things Dali is known for is his moustache. There was a giant moustache we all took our pictures with. 

One of the reasons we could make this trip happen was because Michael goes to the resort every year for work. He agreed when he went in January that we would sit in on the time share meeting. The rest of day 2 was saying "no thank you." 

I got to hang out with the boys for a while at the kids' club. While we were there they got to paint a ceramic shark and turtle. 

Sleep came much easier the second night. 

St. Pete Beach: Day 1

School's out and we went to enjoy some time just the 4 of us as a family.  

We jumped in the car after church and headed west.

It wasn't long before the boys were asleep. 

We hit some rain and it slowed us down a bit. 

Memories came flooding back to road trips with my dad: feet on the dashboard  alternating between sleep and singing  at the top of my lungs.

When we arrived at the hotel Joshua said, "Look at this lovely chair! It looks perfect for sitting and knitting a blanket." 

Where does he come up with this stuff!?!

Our view of the Gulf. 

Elevator selfie

The 1st of the 5 pools we tried out was wonderful. I was nervous about the rainy weather but it held up enough for us to go try out some swimming.

Silas enjoyed some dancing in the moonlight before we headed back to get jammies. 

Slugged up in bed watching a movie before sailing off to sleep.