In Honor...

of the two feet of snow we got this morning, I thought I would post pictures of the day we went fishing with Jared on Anna Maria Island. It is actually torturing me to look at these pictures of our sunny getaway last summer. I need a trip to the beach...yesterday! It doesn't help that I'm preparing a unit on ocean animals for my classroom (so fitting when it's snowing outside?). Earlier today I pulled out a bunch of seashells, collected during out visits to the beach, and a little bit of sand drifted through my fingers and I almost cried. Really.

It was an awesome fishing day! The kids would drop their hooks and almost immediately catch a fish-

all kinds of fish, too. Colby even caught a puffer fish, impressive! The pelicans figured out pretty quickly that we were doing catch and release and they sat right under the dock for an easy dinner. Caitie was quite upset that her sweet little fish were being gobbled up. Personally, I was rather intrigued by the whole process. The fish totally continue to flail around even when in the pelican's hanging mouth-neck thing (I should ask Colby what that's called, the hanging mouth-neck thing doesn't sound right).

   

See that smart pelican in the corner waiting to be served his dinner!

Isn't Jared cute with my kids? Funny how life turns around and your obnoxious little brother becomes someone your children look up to and he cares about you and your family and he's really fun to be around and he doesn't give you a wet willy every time he walks by you. But wait, there's more to this circle of life, your teenage son is more than willing to pick up where your little brother left off.

Those are dolphins, not sharks, in case you were wondering. But I did learn an interesting rule of thumb about swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. If you've been swimming in the Gulf ten times, you've been within 10 feet of a shark. Just in case you wanted to know before you planned you next vacation. Kidding, kidding, I'm totally kidding. I still swim in the Gulf even after learning that tid bit- from a real Marine Biologist I might add. I just make sure there is someone else in the water whose out a little further than I am. I learned that trick from my cousin and I think it is slightly more reliable than tapping two sticks together to keep away mountain lions like they did in Parent Trap.