It's just Thursday, not "two days before leaving" day

Trying NOT to think about it being only 2 days from leave-time! We have been so blessed with this vacation. I'm up by 5am again, but this time I woke Billy and we walked the windy, wavy beach with our coffee. Now the boys are fishing, while Taylor is standing guard over their bait, chasing the birds away from it, lol! I am sitting with the wind steady in my face, watching the surf, writing this blog...wonderful!

The wind and surf is so wild that we decided to visit the bayside piers for some quiet fishing and sight-seeing. We went to Rod n' Reel pier, Billy and Blake caught some cool fish. Tay and I went out and about on our own...she got a HUGE snow cone at Manatee Beach, along with a stuffed manta ray, as her souvenir. Then we picked up the guys and stopped by the Anna Maria City Pier to have lunch. We got to see a dolphin playing and trying to eat someone's bait off their hook! This all happened right in front of us...we were getting worried because while we loved seeing him so close, we sure didn't want him to get hooked. (like the pelicans kept doing). We saw a stingray closer to the shore, it was a great afternoon.

We couldn't put up our beach camp because of the wind, but we tried to get in the water, the waves were just too much for little Tay. We flew a princess kite for Taylor while the boys played water-ball. The kids were worn out, so they headed for the condo while Billy and I sat out by the water, jamming music, drinking beer...waiting for the sun to set...bliss.