One more day at the Beach

We went to the beach one last time before Tiffany and Skylar had to fly home. She and Skylar will go home with a tan. I liked this picture because it looks like the wave is going to get them wet. Skylar had fun just sitting in the sand with her mom. We will miss them when they leave!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday Dad!!! My Dad's birthday is in less than one week away. Since he is leaving tomorrow, we decided to surprise him and celebrate his birthday in Florida. We took him to dinner at Smokey Bones a bbq restaurant. They were having a special where you could get all you can eat baby back ribs for $17.00. Andrew and my Dad got the special. Then we went back to our house and had cake. We love you Dad and appreciate all you do for us.

The cake says 58.

Mom and Dad. Andrew and Dad in their matching Shark Valley t-shirts.

Beach Fun

My parents leave tomorrow so we all went to the beach one last time. Skylar is used to the sand and the waves now. She and Madeline had a lot of fun filling up buckets of water and playing in the sand.
Fun in the sand.

Fun playing in the water.
Skylar is such a cutie.
Tiffany and Skylar.
This is a classic picture of my Dad. He rides a bike 11 miles to the beach and then falls asleep in the sun.
Me.

Shark Valley

Today we spent the day at Shark Valley. We did the 14 mile round-trip bike ride to the lookout tower. We saw a lot of gators and baby gators. Skylar and Madeline screamed the first seven miles to the lookout tower (my Dad was pulling them behind his bike in a carrier). They did better on the way back.

Here we are at the lookout tower. The scenery is beautiful.

Tiffany and I. We took a side trail and there a lot of alligators just hanging out. This one was blocking the trail so we decided to head back to our bikes.
I don't think we should risk jumping over this alligator to continue on the trail.
Mom and Dad at the lookout tower.

Andrew and I.

Tiffany and Skylar.
The mama alligator (we got to close to her babies and she hissed at us).

The baby alligators. We counted at least seven of them (you can see four of them in this picture). The baby alligators have yellow stripes and make the cutest sounds (almost sounds like they are gulping water or something like that).
Andrew trying to catch a gator.
My Mom and I.
Our little family. I love all the lily pads in the background.

Grandpa gator, Maddy gator, and Andrew gator.
My Dad insisted that we all get a t-shirt to prove that we rode 14 miles through Shark Valley. So here is a picture with all of us in our shirts.

Feeding the Turtles

We took our family to feed the turtles and ducks. It's so much fun to see all the turtles poking their little heads out of the water when you throw bread and crackers to them. Madeline and Skylar sure enjoyed eating the bread and crackers (i'm not sure who ate more, the turtles or them?).

Skylar is so excited to see the turtle and ducks.

Madeline feeding some bread to a turtle.

Who's eating more? The girls or the turtle and ducks?

Our little family.

Tiffany and Skylar.

Grandma and Grandpa with their grandkids.

Hollywood Beach

Today we went to Hollywood Beach. My Dad rode Andrew's bike all the way to the beach (he loves riding our bikes when he comes to visit) and we met him there. This was Skylar's first time ever visiting a beach. At first she didn't like the sand and the waves, but she got used to them and had a lot of fun. I really enjoyed watching Madeline and Skylar playing in the waves. They were so cute.

After the beach, we went to dinner at Bonefish Grill with a friend of my Dad's named Bo. She practices optometry in New Jersey.

Skylar covered with sand.

Skylar and Madeline playing in the sand.

Tiffany soaking up the rays.
I love this picture of Skylar and Madeline.

Fun with Family

My parents and my sister and niece came to visit us in Florida. We had so much fun. We spent the majority of our time at the beach and playing games. After my parents flew home, my sister and niece stayed an extra three days. We went to the beach and shopped. They picked a great time to come because the weather was so nice. It hasn't started getting humid quite yet.

Madeline and Skylar eating breakfast.

Madeline sporting her Dad's shoes. Skylar and her buck teeth.

So Wicked!!

Heidi and I went to see the Broadway musical Wicked. It was amazing. I have wanted to see Wicked for the last couple of years. I was so excited when it came to Fort Lauderdale. Andrew and Kevin got tickets for Heidi and I for Christmas, so we have been waiting to see it for the last three months. It was well worth the wait. The costumes and music were awesome. Heidi and I had a great time.

This is a picture of Heidi and I at Wicked.