Something good.

We have had so much fun in Florida I am really behind on my blog posts.  On Monday, August 5th, we had a gross breakfast at the Waffle House (Dave's choice) and packed up the RV to drive a little farther south to Punta Gorda (fat point) which is between Sarasota and Fort Meyers.  Punta Gorda is the home of Jody and Dave Anthony.  We haven't visited this area since their wedding in 2001.  Jody and I have been friends since the 7th grade and she is like a sister to me so I have really been looking forward to this time at her house.

We arrived in time for dinner and a very fun swim in their pond.  The Anthonys' pond has a zip line, rope swing, slide, and diving platform.  Pond swimming is very fun for a bunch from Colorado.  The kids have had so much fun together and they are whooped every night.

Tuesday, August 6th we split up for the first time in 2 months.  David and Alastair went fishing all day with Dave and Hayden.  Dave owns his own boat and all the requisite gear and the boys had a great day.  They caught about 25 fish (snook, red fish, trout), and Dave caught a seagull.  They had some fish in the live well to bring home for dinner but unfortunately an otter stole their fish while they were docked for lunch.  Lame!

The girls (Addie, Dagny, Magnolia, Jody, Dylan and I) declared beach day.  Jody took us to Boca Grand beach and it was AMAZING!  It was the first day of school for that area of town and the beach was deserted.  We might have seen a total of 10 other beach goers the entire day.  We played in the surf and collected sea creatures all day long.  We only took a break for lunch at a cute place just down the beach.  It was so great to spend the day with Jody and Dylan and we had such a great day.  I even spotted a manatee swimming close to us.  We had to drag the girls back to the car at 4:30 so we could get home in time to meet the boys.

Last night we had our first baby sitter of our summer.  Jody and Dave made plans for a sitter for the 6 kids so the 4 of us could go out for a grown-up evening.  We enjoyed a drink from a roof-top bar near the water which was really pretty.  We went to a yummy dinner at the Perfect Caper.  By far the best calamari of the trip and everything else was super delicious too.  We really enjoy time with Jody and Dave and it was good to be sans kids for the night.

All day today, Wednesday, August 7th, was all about Dagny Tess and her 7th birthday.  Adelaide and Dylan made her a big happy birthday banner and card signed by the whole crew.  She had a birthday muffin with a candle and singing this morning from us all to start the day.  We took our time getting ready for the day and then drove to our second breakfast at Smoky's Smoke House to find David's biscuits and gravy.  He has been talking about them for a few days so we needed to check it off of our list.  They were delicious.  Dagny had grits with butter and salt for her breakfast and I think she is a fan.  I am sure she will find some more to eat in Alabama or Louisiana.

The big plans for the day were Gatorama.  Yep, a field trip an hour inland toward the everglades to a place that houses hundreds of alligators and crocodiles.  We arrived just in time for the "show."  The gator lady spends about 15 minutes talking about the differences between crocs and gators all the while dangling pieces of cut up raw chicken over the tops of the animals encouraging them to lurch toward her to grab the raw poultry from her hand.  Yep, that was what we expected and it was amusing.  The kids also had special little croc biscuits they were allowed to toss through the fences to the crocs and watch them fight over them.  Amusing also.  In addition to gators and crocs Gatorama also had turtles, raccoons, peacocks, a leopard, bob cats, and parrots.  All of the kids had a chance to hold a baby gator (as did I) and I think Dagny had a really good birthday field trip.

We spent a few more hours on the pond this afternoon.  Dagny decided to learn how to do a front flip off of the diving platform today.  So now she has tackled that life obstacle.  While Magnolia can now swim we decided to put her in a life vest today so we didn't have to eagle eye her all day long.  She bobbed around like a cork for hours.  Dave and I even took turns on the zip line, rope swing, and water slide.  We had lots of family fun until the rain rolled in.

The Anthonys put together a really great birthday dinner for Dagny.  We had grilled steak (special request from Dagny), grilled tilapia, corn, water melon, and salad.  We had fun party hats and horns and she loved all of the gifts.  She is such a beautiful 7 year old and I think she will always think back on this birthday as a really great birthday.  We concluded the evening with cake and ice cream and a final round of catching frogs and lizards.  The Anthonys have hundreds on their property so Dagny has been in heaven.

We will begin our drive north in the morning and our children will need many quiet hours in the RV to rebound from our fun week in FL.  We have had a blast and look forward to our next visit to Florida and to the Anthonys.

Jll