Florida 2011!

This spring break we headed back to the land of our honeymoon - Ft. Myer's Beach, Florida.  My mom, Missy, & Kyle came with.  We are SO BLESSED that my mom's cousin lets us stay at their vacation home there whenever we're able free of charge!  It's located in southern Florida along the Gulf of Mexico.

Excited to find our old game we made up years ago - "Flexi-sticks"

Ah...

Brad took advantage of the vacation from work. :)

Normally we go over Christmas break or earlier in April, so we love the warmth experienced in early May!  It was also fun because it was sting ray season, so we got to see tons of sting rays in the water (don't worry - we didn't get stung! - They stay away from swimming humans!).  We also saw some dolphins (normal), and manatees (not normal!).  We found a boat landing area in the bay (between Ft. Myers and the main part of FL) where they hang out in the early morning.  We rode bikes several times to see them.  They are amazing, slow, gentle creatures.

So, picture this: 90 degrees, sunny, not too humid, 84 degree ocean water, 82 degree pool for cooling off... that was pretty much my life for seven full days - AMAZING!  We went to the beach every morning, came home for lunch, then spent the afternoon in the pool.  We played some games, saw some sunsets, ate out a few times, and slept in, relaxed, and pretty much did not have any stress.  Now I know why some people choose to run those little stands that rent jet skis and cabana chairs on the beach.  It's the life!

Glorious!

We rented a pontoon boat in the bay one day - SO GREAT!

 We lunched at Lovers' Key State Park!

Riding bikes to see the manatees!

This guy was literally feet away from us!!!

Not surprised to find Packer fans in Florida! :) 

Sting rays!

We'll just say that coming home was extremely hard.  Don't get my wrong - I love our life here in WI, but it's sooooo nice to not have to work, run errands, check email fifty times a day, mow the lawn, etc. etc. etc!!!  I am really looking forward to summer vacation - it can't come soon enough!

Traditional last day picture :-/