Fishing Fun

The kids have been wanting to fish in the bay, so we made it out this morning, and Nolan caught two fish.

Coincidentally, both fish he caught were sail cats...fish you can't eat and that have strong pokers on their sides. Amelia had a bite, but it got away before she could bring it in.

We also made it to Johnson Beach today. The water was calm and beautiful.

Everyone had fun swimming, playing frisbee, and playing in the sand.

The tans and bleach blonde hair are making the kids look like beach bums!

Island Poetry Contest Winner

Nolan entered the Island Poetry Contest through the Orange Beach Library. He ended up winning first prize and was SOOOO excited. The children's librarian said three fourths of the winners K-12 were homeschoolers. Go Nolan, and Go Homeschoolers!

He also wanted to get a picture with his prize winning check!

Here's a pic of all three. When they saw Nolan get his picture taken, they couldn't resist posing together.

In case you are curious of what his winning poem was....here it is.

There once was a boy who owned a goose.

You could turn him into a moose,

and let him loose

to chase after a caboose

with Dr. Seuss.

Sailing Excursion

This weekend our neighbors sailed and anchored their sailboat in the bay in front of our townhomes. This is Amelia and Nolan greeting us from the boat.

Amelia being a deckhand, cleaning the walkway.

Nick swimming with Dale after he jumped ship.

A shot of the kids playing in the bay. They enjoyed juming off the boat and climbing back up the ladder.

Dale taking it easy.

These are our neighbors, and dear friends, Mark and Dot whom we talk about frequently. This is their sail boat. Thanks for letting us play, guys!

Boating

We're part of a boat club now, so we can take out boats for the day. This was a shot from yesterday on the intercoastal.

Dolphins came swimming by our boat yesterday, and you can see a bit of one of them. So, friends and family, you will have to come visit during these warm, beautiful months to go boating, and we can show you all of the beautiful beaches and waterways...and hopefully sight dolphins.

Catamaran

There has been a catamaran sitting on our beach for about a year. Dale got some sails for it and a bunch of other parts to rig it for sailing on the bay.

We all got to take it out one day, and it got us quite far, quite fast.

Camping

We camped on the Intercostal side of Johnson Beach this weekend and woke up to a foggy morning.

Quick game of sand hop scotch.

Climbing sand dunes.

Dale and the kids with Pensacola Pass behind them....where the Intercoastal Waterway meets the Gulf of Mexico.

One of Nick's many stops to look at a shell.

Amelia's clams.

Nolan forging the way.

Dale and the kids on our boat trip to Pensacola Pass.

Small sand pools provide lots of lasting entertainment.

Here is our camp during the day. The weather was perfect. Sunny and 80 during the day and 60 at night. It was pretty fun getting to spend a whole weekend without shoes.

Beach Buddies

This is a picture of us with our good friends from Johnson Beach. Francis and Ruth are pictured with their grandchildren, Jennifer and Josh. We first met Ruth and Francis last fall when we ate dinners often at the beach. They live in Arkansas and volunteer about twice a year at national parks, so they get to stay in their RV at the beach for the months they volunteer. We have had lots of fun visiting with them each time we made it over to JB, and we HOPE we will get to see them again soon! We've loved getting to see them living at the beach and hope someday we will be in their shoes.