Changes in Latitudes

We just got back from a trip to Indian Rocks Beach, Florida. It is sort of our halfway point before Craig returns and we deserved a vacation. Indian Rocks Beach is about 40 minutes west of Tampa Bay. The whole trip was a blast! We thoroughly enjoyed the Gulf of Mexico and the fantastic weather. Although there were hardly any waves, the kids enjoyed snorkeling and searching for all the beautiful shells that the tide didn't bring in and I didn't have to be a lifeguard every minute of the day.

Owen and I started the trip by making shadow puppets on our tray tables. These are a goose by Kris, a duck by Owen and a dinosaur by Owen.

Here is the condo I rented. We were in the lower right unit. It took us all of one minute to get to the gorgeous beach. There was a swimming pool as well right before we entered the beach.

We spent most nights walking on the beach enjoying the glorious sunsets and shelling. We were never disappointed with either activity.

King Owen and Queen Mother

Finn with fins

We went to Weeki Wachee to see the famous mermaid show. It was as expected, but a must-see nevertheless. The highlight of Weeki Wachee for us was the reptile show and the resident peacocks & peahens. There were at least seven of them, probably more.

Cane Toad

Ball Python

The Omnipresent Peacock

The day we left, we stopped in St. Petersburg to see the Sunken Gardens and to pay a visit to Great Explorations, a hands-on kids' museum. It was somewhat geared to younger kids, but had a lot of building activities.

Evan is building a race car out of K'nex. The car was good; the racetrack was not working. Total bummer. It was like a bumper car racetrack with metallic pads fitting along a slot, all curvy and angled. We need more money spent on upkeep of science museums or at least funding for good repairmen or women.

Finn and Owen are watching pictures on a disc with a strobe and a fan spinning the disk. Kind of like those flip books. I can't remember what it was called....

The kids at the wishing well in the Sunken Gardens.

Owen (The Lizard Hunter) displaying one of the many lizards he caught on our tour of the Sunken Gardens. I think he caught about six or so. Each one was a little different. Some were black, others had stripes, frills, etc. It was neat to see the variation of basically the same lizard. This one had white dots and stripes with a little bit of bumps along its back.

Well, that's about it. Have a great day!