Florida 2015: Living on the Beach

Hello to all our faithful blog readers :). How are you enjoying your winter days?

To sum up the way we've enjoyed this past week, would be way too hard with just words. So I'll have to use pictures :). It's been an amazing week- we picked the perfect week to come to Florida:). We had a little bit of a drizzly morning on Tuesday, but otherwise, it's been sunny skies, and mid 70's. Absolutely lovely. 

Monday we packed in a big morning at the beach, spent the heat of the day relaxing in our condo, and then went out to watch the sunset in the later afternoon. Grandpa and the boys spent a long time on a sand castle. In an attempt to beat Todd's replica of the Mayan ruins, they built a replica of the Taj Mahal located in India. They got a lot of compliments from the public and several people took pictures of it!

he's the best at building with sand - and a lot of other things :)

smiles in the sunshine!

I wasn't patient enough for this job :)

bad idea - start a water fight when he has his swimsuit on and I don't! :) actually... he asked for it.

the finished product! actually, on Tuesday, Grandpa added spires on each side, but no pictures of that :(

the architects :)

this is the front of our condo - we love it! It's three stories high and even has an elevator!!

we found a cute little seat for Kenan in the garage!

it's not as cold as they are making it look

Monday night we celebrated Jared's birthday. Here is Marvin one and Marvin two :) over a nice cup of his chosen "dirt dessert"

Tuesday morning, we went out and tried another photo shoot (since the boys asked for it of course). I think we got some better ones this time! Since the weather wasn't the greatest, Dad, Mom and us older kids did some shopping together, and Grandpa and Grandma took the younger ones out to lunch and to a really great playground. Then we spent a warm afternoon at the beach again! We were ready to venture out just as the sun made its appearance!

 you'll have to wait to see the rest of the photo shoot :)

out for frozen custard!

Tuesday night we celebrated Kenan's birthday!

Wednesday we spent one big day at Sea World!! We had to travel two hours to get there and then didn't leave till the park closed. We were really tired by the end of the day, but it was worth it!

one of the first things we did was watch a little pet show... and we all loved it!! It was adorable :)

next was the killer whale show - One Ocean. They are huge!

We went a adventurous ride through the arctic as a family. When the ride ended, we arrived at the penguin area which brought cooler temperatures! It reminded us of what back home feels like :)

We are not roller coaster types of people, but as a family (except Jared) we tried a smaller version of a roller coaster! Kenan absolutely loved it - it's his highlight of the week! He's turning into a little dare-devil :).

he liked this one too!

We don't have any pictures of the dolphin show, but that was another favorite! If we would have been able to visit another day, we would have loved watching the shows again. But instead we'll have to cherish the memories we have and enjoy the rest of our week on the beach :). 

another great day!! :)

Today, Thursday, was another perfect beach day! Living the life of a beach bum ain't so bad... all things considered!! 

Tomorrow is our last day, and we are all going to make it count. We have made plans to get up at 6:30 and go out on the beach to find some shells :).

I think I could stay here forever. However, I would want my own room again, I would definitely need a piano here, and I would want all our friends and family here too. So, you know... I think we better just come back home. But at least we have one more day... better head to bed so I can fill it full tomorrow! :) -Faith