Florida Part 2

The majority of our last few days was spent at the beach.  On Wednesday, Deb joined us again and visited Clearwater Beach for the afternoon.  It was tons of fun and plenty warm.  The water was a little chilly for my liking, but Owen, Gracie, and Nick did not seem to have any issues with getting in.  We spent a few hours in the sun before Norm came to join us for dinner at a restaurant on the beach called Frenchy's Rockaway Grill.  They had crabcakes, which is all that matters.  And, of course a grilled cheese for Owen.  Silly kids.

Owen loves playing in the sand.

Gracie found the water!

She is also one with the sand.

She was performing for us and didn't seem to mind being covered with sand.

Nick was nice enough to build Owen a Hammerhead Shark.

Smoothies at dinner!

Another picture of the water.  Owen looks like he's freezing, but I think he was fine.

During dinner we played telephone while waiting for our food.

Awesome convertible!  We needed to rent a car for the last few days of our trip, I guess Nick went all out for us.  The kids enjoyed the top down until it got too windy.  As soon as we put the top back up on the way home, they were asleep.

And this is how Owen remained the rest of the night until we put him in his bed.  I had made cheesecake for dessert, but apparently that wasn't enough to wake him up for awhile.

Beach Day #2

After debating for awhile about how we would spend our last full day in Tampa, it was decided to go enjoy a different beach.  This time we went to the far northern point of Anna Maria for a great lunch picnic on the beach, courtesy of the Rod & Reel Pier restaurant.  Then the next few hours were spent wading in the water, looking for shells, and playing in the sand.  Deb took us to Anna Maria when we visited in June, but we went to a different location on the island.  It was fun to drive by all the houses and huge boats.  Being on the northeast side was different than having a bigger tide on the southwest.

Gracie waiting to order food at the pier.

Owen joining Gracie

Owen found some sand to build castles with.

Gracie in front of a wonderful backdrop

Perfect blue ocean to swim in.  However, the water was still not all that warm.

Look!  Owen stepped on a shell when he was out wading in the water and it had a crab in it! A fisherman on the pier also pointed out a starfish that was alive.  The kids were thrilled to find these!

Watching it move.  

Eating our picnic lunch on the beach.  Another great day.

We arrived back in Riverview after late afternoon naps in the car on the way home.  The kids had one last swim in the pool after dinner.  Owen actually woke up this time. Then we got ready for bed and ready for our flight home.  The next morning started early, saying our goodbyes before work and school for everyone.  With a short delay, we arrived back in St. Louis around 4:30pm and made our way home.  We had a great vacation! Thank you so much to Norm and Deb for hosting us for a week!

Gracie took about 25 pictures that looked exactly like this while she had my phone on the plane.  That'll teach me.