We had a great trip to St. Augustine, FL with my parents a few weeks ago! We love visiting because of the history, the food, the beach, and the shopping (and Phil and Dad like the golf!).
We stay at the World Golf Village using mom and dad's timeshare. The condos are very nice, and we really like the pool, too! It has a very large zero entry section and plenty of space that's only a little over a foot deep. Claire didn't know what to think about being able to walk/run in the water! She and Avery spent a lot of time "swimming" during the week and made quite a few little friends while we were there.
Claire was never far from her (well, someone's) cell phone, although she mostly talked to Mimi, who was usually standing near by. ;)
Avery got his own big bed, and Claire wedged herself in the pack and play for likely the last time.
Lounge time...
Daddy painted Claire's nails because he does it the best!
Mimi and Grandpa treated us all to a ride on a "real" pirate ship! Avery was so excited beforehand but told me he "might be a little scared" as we waited in line to board the big boat.
Claire also was a little unsure what to think about these pirates and their ship.
It rained on the way there, like it did every afternoon of our trip (yay Florida summers!), but we were so happy that it cleared up just in time.
Sissy on the stairs to the "poop deck."
Before we had even left the dock, one of Blackbeard's men stole the treasure chest off of our boat and took off! The pirates sang songs, told jokes and stories, and taught the kids how to sword fight (mine were too scared to participate but liked to watch from a safe distance) and talk like a pirate in case the mean pirates came back around with "the booty."
Sure enough, they came back in their boat ready to fight! The "cannon" fire exchange was pretty loud, and one surprised mom even tossed her alcoholic beverage in the air!
Here they are attempting to board our boat...
Claire doesn't look very prepared with her sword...
We saw some pretty scenery when we were able to take our attention away from the pirates. Here's a picture of the large cross at the site of the first Catholic mass in North America and a view of downtown with Fort Matanzas on the right. The nice pirates were able to recover their treasure chest and even shared with the kids. Each one got a small wooden treasure chest with play necklaces and gold coins.
Another of our favorite activities in St. Augustine is the Alligator Farm. Although Claire was too fussy to allow us to stick around for feeding time this year, we still had a good visit.
Avery watching the albino alligator...
Love this picture of Mom and Dad ;)
Daddy helped the kids to feed the alligators.
Hungry fellas! Yikes!
We celebrated Claire's birthday a little early with my mom and dad and grabbed some delicious Luli's cupcakes. We tried quite the assortment! The cookie dough was my favorite! Avery loved the sprinkles, and Claire ate whatever we put in front of her. ;)
Opening a few gifts from Mimi and Aunt Shelley...
Clearly, my kids are not excited about the history side of St. Augustine quite yet. They only wanted to shop for "soubiners."
They were excited about the beach! Big brother helped Claire out to the sand.
The sand wasn't quite as soft as what we have here in Pensacola, but it was still nice, and there were a lot more shells.
A man was fishing next to us and caught 2 baby sharks and a sting ray just in the short time we were there, along with a big shell that actually still had a creature inside (super neat for the kids to see)....maybe we'll just build sand castles instead of swimming this time. ;)
The old carousel was still there, and although Claire didn't appear to enjoy it much, she still asked to ride again.
The park next to it is a lot fun, too, and it's shaded (whoohoo!).
peek-a-boo!
Not only did Phil and Grandpa play some golf, but Avery got in on some of the putting action, too, at the World Golf Hall of Fame. He told Phil he needed to look at his map (a book of travel ads) to see where to hit the ball. :)
Thank you, Mimi and Grandpa, for such a great trip! We miss you already!
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