Just Keep Swimming

The drive to Key West took about 4 hours, which is a long time to be in the car with 3 kids. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised at how good they all were. It was actually quite relaxing. Tina and I sat in the back and chatted away, keeping the kids under control by throwing out a few snacks every now and then. When the kids started to get antsy we stopped and swam, which was wonderful for all of us. That warm water was heaven.

Have I mentioned that Lyla loves the water! She loves the tub, the pool, the ocean. She splashes in the cat's water bowl and runs, ok, crawls really fast, whenever someone turns on the bath or shower. She wants to wash her hands every time I do and tries with all her might to turn on the hose whenever we are outside. Well, needless to say she had a lot of fun every time we stopped for a swim break.

The first beach we stopped at was surrounded by mangroves and had a great little reef you could hike out to. The kids loved that and exhausted themselves running around looking for shells and fish and eating seaweed(Lyla). We snacked on PB and J's and soaked up the sun. It was fabulous! The kids fell asleep almost immediately upon getting back in the car and Tina and I continued chatting.

On the way home, we stopped at a different beach that was so secluded. It was beautiful! The sand was so white and so fine. It squished between your toes when you walked out into the water and was great for making drip castles. You could walk forever but watch your toes. We discovered pretty quick that there were lots of curious crabs waiting to get a pinch. Erik was the only one that braved the long walk out to the drop off for a real swim.

A little hike.

Surf lessons.

A family picture.

Eating seaweed.

Beautiful Alaina!

Our own private beach.

Water Baby!