Second Annual Family Camping Experience

When our family from Utah visits, we have a party here at the lake.  It has turned into a camp out, where we fill the house and pitch tents, and eat and visit for a couple of days.  This past weekend was this year's family gathering.

Gavin, Marcus, and Max enjoying the Mother's Day hammock my daughter, Amy, and son-in-law Dan gave me.

One of the many loads of children who jetted through the trails in the woods on the putt-putt.

The putt-putt also works as a gym tool....

Friends from high school annual get-together.

Amy calls this one "the Gap model" - when he's good, he's very good, but when he's bad he's horrid - typical 2 year old.

Kids are all getting older - still handsome though!

Another successful fishing lesson and time for uncle bonding.

Visiting,

Boating,

 Catching polliwogs,

playing horseshoes,

telling stories, 

taking the puppy for a kayak ride,

teaching a doggie to fetch,

toasting marshmallows for Smores - so much to do, and so fun to see all the cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends. 

Bye Bye Boat

Since we're selling our Florida home, we put the boat on the market too.  Sad though we are to say good bye to a boat that we've owned and loved for 14 years, we couldn't leave it on the dock if we no longer owned the house.

Fortunately, we found a friend who will love and care for it!  Our neighbors, Connie and James,

went out with us to see how it ran, and introduced us to

a new island, a new restaurant and a new friendship!

From the dock on the bay side of Palm Island, we walked across the mangrove swamp to the beautiful resort of Rum Bay.



We had a great lunch looking out to the Gulf of Mexico.

It was a lovely day for a boat ride.  We saw so many birds, dolphins, and a few other boats.

Truly a wonderful way to spend a December day in Florida!



Boat trip to Stump Pass

Our friends from Alabama are visiting us in Florida. 

Today we woke up to a beautiful day, so after we had a walk and a swim, we made lunch and took the boat out.

 

The water in Lemon Bay was calm, the sun shone, and we even saw dolphins occasionally.

We pulled the boat up on the bay side and walked across to the Gulf side of Manasota Key



where we set up a camp for our picnic.

Jesse was our captain for the trip back.

 

The 3rd Annual Treasure Hunt in the Maze

In spite of a miserable weather report, we decided to go ahead with our treasure hunt.  Ron and I salted the mazes with treasures we had been gathering all year on Friday afternoon in the sunshine, hoping the sun would be some miracle last through Saturday.  Since we were expecting 20 children and 10 adults, we really needed a break with the weather.  Nature stood by us, and the day that started out with rain suddenly cleared up and gave us sunshine.

While Ron and I were out in the maze, we ran across a beautiful patch of Chantrelle mushrooms.  Several of our guests were familiar with them, so we fried them in butter and added them to our meal after the hunt.

I carried my camera all around the maze and realized when we got back that I hadn't taken a single picture.  The kids all had a great time, and Kyler even found a treasure left over from last year's hunt.  When we got back, we ate and then the kids all headed for the lake and the hot tub.  

Since it was the day before I drained the hot tub for the winter, we decided to make it into a bubble bath.

Then we all jumped into the lake to rinse off and have one last swim.

Today, fall is here, but we all were happy to have one last day of summer!

Boating on Lemon Bay to Stump Pass

Monday we took the boat out for one last boat ride of the season.  It was a perfect boating day: warm without being hot, and sunny with occasional relief from a passing cloud.

Lemon Bay is about a 20 minute idle speed ride from the dock.  It's a nice ride, where we can look at houses and yards and all the boats and docks along the way.

Many mangrove islands dot the channel and cover more than half of the edges of Lemon Bay.

Captain Ron

That tiny fin is from one of the dolphins we saw on the bay.

One man's idea of "idle speed" - required for the vicinity of the bridges.

One of the resident pelicans watching for a fish.

Oh oh - sailboat being towed

This one took advantage of the light breeze.

So did this one

Lots of kayakers in the channel behind Stump Pass

Paddleboarders braving the wake from passing boats

Parasailing above the gulf

One of many osprey nests on an uninhabited island

The spit at Stump Pass had a lot of boats even on a Monday after the season is over.

On a calm day, we ventured out into the Gulf for a ways.

We pulled up on the beach on the bay side and then walked across to the Gulf side

Waves gently rolling in - Water Temp is up to 70 degrees already.