Historic Butler Beach

The first beach we tried was stinky and dirty. We only played for a little while then on to better beaches. I love to watch Reese play in the ocean or the sand. He loves to be outside.

Castillo de San Marcos

Reese and I took Troy to St. Augustine on a day that Dylan had to go to school. We visited Castillo de San Marcos. This is the first time Reese and I got to see the inside of the Fort. (Thanks Troy)

Reese had a fantastic time checking out all the rooms and cannons. It’s actually a National Monument. It was built to protect and defend Spain’s claims in the New World over 330 years ago.

Paines Prairie

This is the first turtle Reese touched it was at Egmont Key. I love his curled up toes.

Another fun place we like to take visitors to is Paines Prairie. It's a short little hike that's guaranteed to be exciting.

I love hikes in Florida Dylan never has to lie to me to get me to go. When we were dating he told me we were going on a short little day hike. It ended up being all day just a short 6 miles up Pine Valley Mountain. (I should have realized then that is was some sort of sneak preview into our life) Yep, I love hikes in Florida I just miss looking at the Mountains.

This is the second turtle Reese touched while Troy was here. We don't usually encourage Reese to touch the wild life. Troy encourages Reese to do a few things we don't usually support. I was just thankful he was teaching him to touch turtles and not the alligators.

We Love Manatee Springs

We visited Manatee springs with Troy and the Tripps. Reese and Zeeke had a great time riding the inflatable alligator. (Thank You Grandma and Grandpa Dave)

The big boys had a really great time snorkeling Dylan discovered flounders in the spring this time he was really excited.

The only thing I don't love about Manatee Springs is the snakes and banana spiders.

Egmont Key State Park

We took Troy on an exciting boat ride/snorkeling trip to Egmont Key. We had a great time the water was so clear we could see sharks, sting rays, dolphins and tons of big fish. Reese had a really fun time on the boat.

We enjoyed snorkeling around a sunken Spanish fort. Reese swam with us he entire time. I think he might be part fish.

After we swam for a while we got to explore the little Island. We saw the two other forts and the lighthouse that has stood since 1858.

excuses, excuses

I have two excuses for being so far behind on my blog. Excuse number one I am pregnant. That excuse really means I don't need any other excuses. The second reason or excuse is because we have been super busy. Both of my excuses are really fun. It just makes for slow blogging.

I am starting back in October. We had only been home from Utah a few weeks when Uncle Troy (Dylan's younger bother) called on a Tuesday and asked if we would pick him up at the Tampa airport on Thursday of that same week. Since we are the super spontaneous awesome people that we are, we said yes, yes , yes. We can't wait to see you.

Let me just say that when Uncle Troy comes he brings his super cool camera (along with his super cool skills) and we get a lot of really great pictures. So that means the next few or many post will be of the Troy trip pictures.

We spent the first night in a little hotel across the street from the beach in Tampa. We played in the waves and watched the sun go down. I love the beach!

It's a Boy

The day before we left on our Christmas vacation we found out It's a boy. We are so excited! I don't think Reese would have believed me if I told him it was a girl. I am so happy to have two boys, happy and a little nervous. This little one is always on the move.

Just before Christmas we found out that Dylan got a job with the Veterans Affairs in D.C. We will be moving sometime near the end of summer. We are so happy to know where we will be for the next few years. We are so grateful he has a job.

We are home from our trip and life is starting to get back to normal. I have a mountain of things to catch up on. Soon I will be posting lots of pictures. We have had a really fun, really busy last couple of months.