Fun at the beach!

We just returned from our annual visit to St. Augustine, where Ricky's parents live. What a great (but all too brief) vacation! Ryan loved the pool, but wasn't a big fan of the rather cold ocean water. Annalise adores the beach and the pool, so she was eager every morning to get her swimsuit on and hit the beach! She made us laugh in the pool as she pretended to be eaten by an alligator (video clip below).

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Ryan on the beach

Annalise with a starfish that Ricky found in the sand

The most exciting part of our trip was when Ricky, my sister-in-law Meg, her husband James, and I rented a boat and went deep sea fishing. The fishing part wasn't exciting (at least not for me), but there were countless dolphins and porpoises swimming and jumping around the boat. So, Meg and I moved to the front of the boat and sat with our feet hanging over the edge in hopes to see more. We certainly did! Each time the boat accelerated, porpoises would gather right around the front of the boat and swim their hearts out. They were directly below us, perhaps four feet below and we could hear them communicating with one another, which was absolutely amazing. At one point there were eight of them surrounding us. They were so close that when they would jump up, we would get sprayed with their blowholes. I'd never been so close to this type of animal in a free environment, and it was wonderful. Here are some pictures and videos. These were NOT taken with a zoom lense - they were actually this close! It was spectacular.

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Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books