Our First BIG Trip (part 4)

Day 6- Laura's 30th Birthday

On Thursday we woke up to a glorious morning!  It was sunny and beautiful outside.  It was Laura's birthday present from the Lord.  We were definitely SO thankful for a warm, sunny beach day, which was what we had been expecting the whole trip would be like!  We spent all morning and afternoon on the beach and it was AWESOME!  We all did some boogie boarding, and Abby became the queen of the sport!  Oh, and the Webber children got their first sunburns!  Abby pretty much thought she was going to die!  She was so dramatic about it.  Seth looked like a raccoon because he kept rubbing his eyes and it rubbed all the sunscreen off!  And I realized that when I re-applied the sunscreen after a couple hours at the beach I think all the sand that I rubbed around with it ended up scrubbing it off.  That east coast sand is so fine and it just doesn't rub off!  I can assure you that they all survived the sunburns!

That night for dinner we went to the best restaurant EVER!  It's called Saltwater Cowboys and it is like a southern dream.  It's on a marsh and it looks like you stepped into the bayou!  There was a stuffed raccoon holding a fishing pole right as we walked in, and all the chairs and tables looked like they were made of random branches someone found on the ground.  We sat out on the deck and had yummy fresh shrimp, sweat tea and fried gator tail!  Our waiter was a darling southern boy and Abby really liked him.  At one point during dinner Abby said (as she was looking straight at our waiter) "Mom, I miss Pete.  Pete the Pirate.  Our dog who's at home in California."  I asked her if she was talking to me or the waiter and she said "Okay, I'll tell the secret.  I like when people pay attention to me."  Not such a secret Abby!  We all burst out laughing!  

A little tired after a long day at the beach!

Day 7- Our Last Full Day

On our last full day in Florida we spent our time at the beach and the pool.  We had another wonderful morning on the beach and this time went back to the condo for a little break from the sun and for lunch.  We visited our turtle friend (there were some gopher tortoises that lived in the dunes) and collected lots of fun shells.  In the late afternoon we went to Fort Matanzas, which is a fort that was built to protect St. Augustine against someone...I forgot who it was and when it was built.  It was super hot and I was not feeling very well!  Anyway, we rode a little ferry boat out to it and explored a bit.  It was the kids' first time on a boat.  As we left the fort, my cold was getting the better of me (I had been fighting a cold the whole time, but trying to be in denial of it), so we went back to the condo and Laura and Carey took the kids to the pool and I rested in quiet!  Not really the way I was hoping to spend our last night there, but at least I could hear everyone having fun down at the pool:)

Outside the fort!

Seth was really into the cannons and wanted to play pirate the whole time we were at the fort!

On our very hot ferry ride!