Family Visit- Days 1 & 2

Yesterday, I picked my sister, her husband, and daughter up from the airport. We emerged from the airport, luggage in tow, ready to head into St. Pete, and get the vacationing started. This process was somewhat delayed, however. You see, I thought I had parked on level six of the parking garage, when I had really parked on level seven. A true blonde moment. I looked and looked around level six, and took a few moments to ponder the possibilities of my car having been towed... or if I had just lost my mind, altogether. At long last, I finally found my car on level seven. At least losing your mind is free, as apposed to having to pay towing fees, so hey, it can't be that bad, right?

We made it to the house, soon after that. We had a nice fish dinner, coconut rice, and grilled veggies, and then settled in for the night.

And then.... the sun rose, and it was BEACH TIME!!!!

(Left to right: me, Britany)

I really enjoyed being on the beach with my sister again. It reminded us of many family visits to Corpus Christi, in Texas. (although the water is prettier here)

As we were having fun in the sun, we spotted a manatee coming near the shoreline to feed. Or maybe he was lost...I have no clue what he was doing, though he seemed pretty content to hang around the shoreline for a while.

Kate

Kate had a lot of fun playing with her sand toys, making turtle and crab shapes in the sand, only to stomp them into unidentifiable bits. Then she became consumed in a game of chasing a sand piper all of the beach.

Later, she and I sat in the water, to let the waves to splash us pretty good. We both got loaded down with sand in our drawers. Thankfully the camera wasn't around for that.


A highlight of the day was when Kate accidentally called Josh "Auntie Josh" instead of "Uncle Josh".

Britany & Steve

After our beach visit, we went to John's Pass (a popular tourist attraction near the water) where we ate the most expensive ice cream ever, thanks to Steve.

Continuing our journey, we came across a fishing boat that had just docked. The fisherman began cleaning their fish, and throwing the left over fish parts to Pelicans who were eagerly awaiting their daily feeding.

Then, we had dinner at the Green Iguana. Kate had fun with "Uncle Josh", watching ducks swim in the cove below the pier. She fed them lots of tortilla chips.

Then we ended our day with a trip to the park. Britany really enjoyed it.


That's it for now. More to come soon!