New Years Eve

 We started early this morning, right after breakfast the group went to a playground and played both pickup basketball and volleyball. Some even played tennis. Stephanie took the video below.

.The day was cloudless and hot. After the park they all jumped in the pool to cool down.

The ladies left for a very important appointment so the guys stayed out with the kids. Around 2:00 pm Nolan grilled hamburgers as we were going to have a late supper. When the women arrived and finished their lunch we loaded up for the beach,

We were shocked to find our bright sunny day was only sunny at our house. The closer we got to the beach (which is less than 2 miles from our house) the more foggy it became. They still had a lot of fun.

A family wanted pictures on the beach so Anna volunteered. Below they are just getting ready. 

See that blue sky, it didn't stay blue very long. That fog just kept rolling in. While we were there we saw 2 dolphins swimming pretty close to the shore.

The pelicans were diving for fish not far from where we were sitting.

We were hoping for a dramatic sunset but that didn't happen. We came home and jumped back in the hot tub. David and Stephanie's family came with over 80 glow sticks. David threw them in the water and the kids dived.

We all came in when it started raining and had lots of appetizers.

After eating Nolan and David brought out the fireworks. I took lots of videos but this was the

final.

We came back inside to have the countdown. This happened at 9:00 pm instead of midnight but the little kids didn't know any different. They were all exhausted from the full day and SO were WE!

If you would like to see the rest of the pictures from today click HERE,.

Another Beach

 Today was a fantastic beach day. There was fog coming off the Gulf water but not thick enough to keep the sun from shining on us. 4 of our group went early to crossfit leaving before 7:00 am so while they were gone we had eggs, pancakes and bacon for breakfast. They got the leftovers. After breakfast our entire house of people, all 13 of us piled into the truck Phil rented and left for the beach. Phil dropped us off then drove the truck back to the house and rode a bike the 2 miles back to the beach.

Today we chose the Wiggins State Park beach. After spending the day there we voted this the best beach EVER. There were dunes to play in, a dolphin came swimming up within a couple feet of the shore. It must have been chasing a fish. We have never seen a dolphin that close to shore. We also did a lot of swimming today in the Gulf. The sun was hot and the cool water felt great. They played a game of football way out in the ocean on a sandbar. Even Zion and Eden made it all the way out. That group of people behind Bexley and Zion are some of our group.

Below are the cool dunes. They made a throne, planted palm leaves around and then some of the girls waved palm leaves to create a cool breeze for those 2 princesses.

They also made a huge turtle, a pyramid and a cool volcano.

They spent hours designing and building before breaking for lunch.

After all of us were done with the sun Phil took the bike back to pick up the truck while we hiked back to the pickup point which had an outdoor shower so we could clean the sand off. Below we are waiting for the truck.

As soon as we got back the girls jumped in the pool. That heated pool is great. The hot tub felt wonderful after swimming in that cool salt water. This evening we went to a burger joint for supper. The 9 kids had their own table.

The burgers were really different. Some were made with 2 glazed donuts which were used for the bun. I ordered the Reuben burger which was made with corned beef and sauerkraut. Phil ordered an herb burger which had cream cheese mixed with herbs. I'm not sure what some of the others ordered but everyone really enjoyed their food.

 

Dave and Stephanie left the restaurant and drove back to the beach for some sunset pictures.

Israel found a perfect spot for us tomorrow. There are some huge dunes farther down the beach.

They left the beach and drove to our place and joined us in the pool and hot tub.

They are still playing in the pool but I'm heading to bed. Another amazing day in the sun.

Naples Sunday

 I had such a good night's sleep not waking until 5:30 am, and very quietly changed and slipped out of the motorhome to go into the house to start the coffee Philip had it already done. As I was drinking the first cup something moved on the couch that startled me. It was Taegan who I thought was sound asleep in the motorhome. It turned out both Taegan and Kensley were too hot and went to sleep in the house to cool down. I had set the thermostat on 80 as I didn't have Mark or an electric blanket to keep me warm. Tonight I'll run the air and keep them comfortable. It rained most of the night and was still raining. The group here looked up the weather and found Sarasota area had the sun so after breakfast they drove the hour and a half to visit the beach at Venice to see if they could find any shark teeths. First though we had a hair salon going on. All 7 of the girls got bubble braids for the beach. Both Sarah and Kattie were doing hair.

The group from here left for Venice around 9:00 am. Since I didn't need want 2 sun days in a row I chose to stay and listen to church. We are an hour time difference so it was really only 8:00 am at home and I had to wait an hour. I read one of the books while waiting. Tim Funk had the morning message. Click HERE to watch that message. I had just started watching the afternoon message which was Gregg Rumbold Click HERE to watch that which I will want to do later as just then David and Stephanie's family arrived to go swimming. The storm last night had blown lots of leaves in the pool. Israel and Elisabet both worked on cleaning up the pool and the cement around the pool.

About that time we started getting pictures back from the group at Venice. They were having a really good time FINDING the shark's teeth. They dug down and found lots of big shells too.

They found quite a few but Nolan found the largest.

They had a nice morning and afternoon in the sun on a fun beach.

Israel, Elisabet and I watched a flock of White Ibis land in the neighbors yard. They were busy grazing then flew off. Below is a video of that.

Sarah and Nolan decided to pick up Indian food on the way home for our supper tonight. They got a few different dishes for us to share.

Some was pretty spice and some was really good. We enjoyed tasting everything. This evening was a  of pool party. All 17 of us were enjoying the lighted hot tub and heated pool.

 

After all that swimming we came inside for ice cream for dessert. We had cookie dough, peanut butter cup and moose tracks. That hit the spot. The picture below was taken after River went to bed and missing Taegan as she is in changing.

They are now all on a sugar rush high and bouncing off the walls so excited. I'm really thankful for that motorhome about now.

Long Drive to Naples

 No post yesterday, I was just too busy in the morning and we left right at noon for Naples Florida. We drove 20 hours and arrived at the closest Waffle House for our first 'real' meal of the entire trip. From there we went straight to the beach because it was too early for our airbnb check-in. We arrived before the beach was terribly crowded but there was no parking for the motorhome. Philip dropped us off the exact time that David and Stephanie's family arrived. Phil took the motorhome to a shopping center a little more than an mile away then took a bike to the beach. Sarah and Nolan arrived before he got back.

The water was a little too cool for much swimming although some of them did, mostly they played in the sand and searched for sea shells down by the sea shore.

Taegan and Zion practiced a few fun vaulting moves.

This afternoon the beach became very crowded and the clouds rolled in. We even heard some thunder. We were able to get in early and were pleasantly surprised at our new accommodations. They found the toys in the garage.

Then we found the back yard. WOW were they happy about this yard with a heated pool and hot tub.

We ordered Chinese for dinner tonight. Sarah and Nolan picked that up but also went to shopping for more groceries.

David and Stephanie's family came over after supper and joined in on the hot tub and swim fun.

Zion was SO happy to see her long lost cousins she hasn't seen for a whole week.

Mark sent some pictures of parking lot of the barn. Today was a wedding and it was a very large wedding. With all the rain and warm weather I'm sure parking was a problem.

The cars were parked all the way around the barn.

Hopefully all the cars will be able to get out without getting stuck.

We will probably want to go to bed pretty quickly, at least I will, we have more fun planned for tomorrow.