Explore Florida Trip 2: St George Island

Several years ago we started doing day trips around Florida. Then life got in the way--soccer, basketball, baseball, swimming, Explorer's activities, band practice and competition and so on. We still have some Saturday activities, but not as many, so we are making it a point to visit state parks, springs and other areas. Whoever is available is welcome to go, but no one has to. Not everyone is equally interested. We also have the problem that I traded down from an Expedition to an Edge, and the van is in need of repairs, so only five people can go.

Our second trip was to St George Island. There is a lot to do in that area. We stopped at the free Apalachicola Estuary Nature Center. 

There was an outside nature trail, but we didn't see any wildlife.

Then we went to the Cape Lighthouse. In 2005 the lighthouse collapsed into the Gulf of Mexico and had to be rebuilt.

Then we went on to the nearby St. George State Park.

River wasn't sure what to think of it!

The water was cold, but she didn't fuss.

Did I mention that the water was COLD?

We cooked hot dogs on the grill, but I didn't get any pictures. It was a fun day and River's first visit to a beach. I look forward to warmer water, but at the same time that means the beach will be a lot more crowded.

We are looking forward to visiting another state park this coming Saturday and possibly canoeing.

Blog Updates

I haven't updated this blog in a few days because I have three other blogs. Please take time to follow them.

On my family blog, I talked about the best movies with African American actors for African American History month. There is also a post about knowing if your child is ready for camp. planning the perfect birthday bash and how to make baked broccoli. HERE

My blog for teens has reviews of several books-- City of Ember, The Fault in Our Stars, Thirteen Reasons Why, Hunger Games and All the Bright Places. It also has interviews with several Christian authors who write books for preteens and teens. It also chronicles our adventure at Escape Manor and others things. HERE

My blog for girls has had a lot of crafts, edible and holiday crafts, devotions about Sarah, quizzes and recipes. You can help me choose which photos to use for our final photo class, and right now I am giving away a copy of One Year Devos for Girls Starring Women of the Bible. Simply leave a comment on each Sarah devo. HERE

If you visit the blogs, please leave a comment. This lets me know you were there. And also when publishers are considering a book, they check the author's online presence to see if they have a lot of followers. Followers means potential sales. I have some followers, but without comments, they can't see that. 

I also have a face book author page. Same thing, please comment if you drop by. I often ask questions on it and get zero answers. One reason is that after you click like, you need to click the arrow on the like button and select to see the posts. That's HERE

So if you don't see me on this page, it just means our family is having a quiet week. And I'm probably busy posting on the other blogs. 

I will be posting about our St George Island trip on here soon.

Jasmine is 15

Jasmine turned 15 yesterday!

Adam and Jessica joined us for supper.

Adam held River for the first time. Unfortunately she has bad gas pains and was very fussy most of the evening.

Jasmine got a lot of cool stuff. Some of it isn't shown here.

Happy birthday baby girl. You are my joy and song. Parenting you is a wonderful life long adventure.

Valentine Graham Cracker Houses

On Sunday we made Valentine houses with left over candy from Christmas our 14 Days of Kindness.

We had lots of collapsed houses. But we finally got our village put together. Rick did the best with his church for our village.

I think it would be fun to make houses for Easter, but I think my kids may be tired of graham cracker houses :) They never complain about eating them afterward though!

People Pictures

I've mentioned that Jessica and I are taking a photo class on Fridays. This week we went to a small zoo nearby. My actual zoo photos are here. (Please go tell me the best three because we can only send three for critique). But I took several of Jessica, and the teacher took some of both of us. River didn't totally cooperate, but she is only six weeks old.

Here are the people pictures from the zoo.

If you have time, hit the link to go to the girl's blog and let me know which three pictures you'd send for critique.