Florida summers can be brutal and this one is no exception. Instead of spending all summer hibernating in air conditioned buildings, we decided to schedule some trips near water. My husband works remotely and thus it is a little easier for us to take in a change of scenery. The downside is that he only gets to fully enjoy our locale in evenings and weekends.
This past week was spent a mere hour away from our homebase at Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral. The campground is decent and the beach and pier are walking distance away. So I was able to take the kids to the beach most mornings and the hubby and I got in a little fishing from the pier in the evenings. The afternoon sun in Florida is blazing hot, but it is often followed by some fairly intense thunderstorms sometimes lasting into the early evening. While the storms themselves can be a nuisance, their remnants make for dramatic sunsets. On this trip, the evenings were my favorite part of the day particularly near the water where the cool sea breezes keep the bugs and humidity at bay.
Elisabeth inspecting a spadefish
Sunset from the Jetty Park Pier
Besides swimming and fishing, we were fortunate enough to witness the launch of a Delta IV Rocket during our stay from Cape Canaveral Air force Base - the launch site is only 6 miles away. The coming and going of various large ships from Port Canaveral especially the massive cruise liners provided a novelty for us as well. To top it off, we just happened to arrive at the inlet in time to see a trident submarine enter and then 30 minutes later depart the base across the inlet.
Watching a Delta IV launch from Jetty Park
The view from our campsite of a Carnival cruise liner leaving Port Canaveral
There are other great destinations in the area some more kid-friendly than others. We ventured out to the Brevard Zoo - a 30-minute drive from Jetty Park. The Dinosaur Store in Cocoa Beach provided some entertainment during one particularly rainy afternoon. There is a mall and movie theater in Merritt Island and a free Air Force Space and Missile Museum thought daddy was more interested in that venue.
We took the RV to the beach for Memorial Day weekend. Tropical Storm Beryl stirred up the surf - Saturday in particular was rough and very windy. So we didn't stay long at the beach. Our privately owned campground had a pool, so that made for a good substitute.
We were able to hang out with some friends quite a bit (you know who you are), which was a highlight for us.
Monday morning, we went to the Fort Fisher Beach to give it one more go. The wind and surf was much calmer and we were able to enjoy the beach for a couple of hours before they lifted the red flags again (red flags mean no swimming).
I enjoyed walking on the beach and searching for seashells (I have plans for a seashell related homeschool activity later in the week). And for the first time that I can recall, I found Portuguese Man o' war washed up on the beach. The first one I found was small enough to fit in the palm of my hand - not that I was stupid enough to carry it thus. I scooped up in a broken shell to take back to Kelly and the kids to see.
Later I found four more, one double and another triple the size of the first one. It certainly made me a bit concerned about the kids playing in the water. As it turned out, they were more interested in playing in the sand anyway and I still got in the water as well.
I was tempted to touch the stringy, blue tentacles just to see how painful it really was - a science experiment of sorts. But exerting intentional pain on oneself is a hard choice to make. As we were leaving the beach, someone told me that a boy had been stung that morning and had gotten "the help he needed." I suppose I'll be researching what to do for jellyfish stings for future beach trips.
My little girl turned three a couple of weeks ago. We celebrated with a weekend at the beach where we met up with some good friends for beach and birthday cake. We took the RV and stayed at Carolina Beach State Park for three days. It was a great weekend filled with beach, aquarium, friends, cake, presents, more beach - it was lovely!
Practicing her ballerina moves
With her mermaid
Blowing out the candle
A dress for the princess
What is it?!
Playing in the inter-coastal before bed
Camping
Day two at the beach was better for playing in the surf
Elisabeth was afraid until daddy sat with her - she loved it then!
Elisabeth is turning 3 on Saturday and we are planning to take the RV to Wilmington and go to the beach. She is really, really hoping to see a dolphin. That's a hard gift to wrap, but who knows.... it could happen.
Today, we went to Wilmington (actually Fort Fisher) to the beach and Aquarium. Things went fairly well considering. Elisabeth had a good weekend all in all. She seemed more content than she has in weeks. Here are some snapshots from the trip that Kelly took with our new fancy camera. (Happily the old camera is working fine after getting dried out - it's smaller and therefore more user friendly for documenting everyday activities with the kiddos.)
