The Parrish Family

We had the pleasure of hosting a third set of visitors, Deborah and Lindsay Parrish. My sister, Deborah, had not been to Florida since Mackenzie's First Communion which was over eight years ago.  My niece, Lindsay, had not been back to Florida since the Griffin/Kiefhaber wedding which was four years ago.



While they were here we hit a number of happy hours, viewed a few sunsets and squeezed in a little shopping. However, our best activity was a shelling excursion. The excursion lasted three hours.  It was a public excursion; however we were the only ones to book it that day.  It ended up as a private tour, just us and the boat captain.  We sailed  down the Gordon River through Naples Bay and stopped at Keewaydin Island for shelling.  We had the island to ourselves as far as the eye could see to the north and ...



... far as the eye could see to the south.



There were shells all over the island.  We could have stayed there longer but we had to stay on schedule so we quickly grabbed as many interesting shells as possible.



Mason had decided to tag along with us but I knew he would quickly loose interest in looking for shells so I encouraged him to bring his new cast net.







We were sad to see the Parrishs leave after three short days but we hope this visit set the foundation for more frequent future visits.

Tennessee Guskes

We just said goodbye to the Tennessee Guskes after a week long visit. The boys attended a five-day fishing camp but were also able to squeeze in a midweek excursion to Venice for shark teeth hunting.



And the girls, well, they shopped til they dropped. For a day I was able to convince them to take a break from the malls and attend a matinee at our dinner theater.



What was it like having three teenagers and one pre-teen in the house?  No worries, everyone got along perfectly.





Much thanks to my brother, Derek, for driving his family to Naples. We were sad to see the Tennessee Guskes head back home but we look forward to our next two sets of visitors. More details to come.

Nine Armed Sea Stars

Since the month of May we have been blessed with a massive amount of nine armed sea stars inhabiting our Naples beaches. Because they don't have a backbone or fins they are referred to as sea stars, not starfish. We have found all of our sea stars in "knee deep" waters. Mason has become an expert in finding them.  He doesn't have to actually see them in the water, he knows them by the "feel" as he walks in the sand. I still can't get over how large they are. By the way, none of these sea stars were harmed for the photos. Sea stars are easily stranded when the tide goes out but can survive if the sun doesn't dry them before the next tide.





We have not only been blessed by sea stars but also by a visit from our 10 year old niece, Ashlan. We are so proud of her! She flew by herself for the the first time and came to stay with us for an entire week. We had so much fun that we were sad to see her leave.  Thankfully, she will be back at the end of July with her entire family.



Life is good...at the beach :)

VBS Rocks

I am so proud of these two for once again participating in Vacation Bible School as crew and jr crew leaders. Each summer I begin to wonder if this will be their last time and if they are getting tired of giving up their first week of summer break to volunteer. But at the end of the week at the dinner celebration they always tell me they will be back for more next year. I guess no matter how old you get, VBS still rocks!

Totally Jaw-Some

We knew someday that Mason would be a Gulf Coast Shark, we just didn't know it would happen in 6th grade. This Spring Mason joined a start-up team of an established youth football league. On the plus side, all of the equipment and jerseys were brand new. On the negative side, our newly formed team was up against more seasoned players. Even though Mason's team didn't fair well against the other teams we sure enjoyed watching him play in the Gulf Coast High School stadium.

The Big Reveal

Friday was a very exciting day for Mackenzie. First, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade organizers surprised 300 members of the Gulf Coast High Shark Marching Band with news that the band has been selected to march in the 2015 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. They are one of just 10 bands chosen from a field of 175 bands nationwide. Collier County Schools released a slide show of the big reveal and Mackenzie was featured in one of the photos. Take a look here.

That night the band held its annual banquet where Mackenzie was presented with her second varsity letter. All sophomores received the number "16" because they will graduate in 2016.



Mason has been busy progressing from one sport to the next.  His flag football team ended their successful season as the championship winners.  However, there is no rest for the weary, Mason's spring tackle football season has already begun.

On The Hunt

Due to overcrowding at our church we opted to try the outdoor sunrise Easter Mass this year. We attended a beautiful (but chilly) Mass and enjoyed a delicious breakfast. Surprisingly, we were back home by 9:30 am. With a lot of extra time on our hands we were on the hunt for some holiday excitement. We made a quick decision to load up our bikes and head to Sanibel for the day. We biked the 8 mile loop through Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.





As most people already know you can't visit Sanibel without driving over to Captiva to visit the famous Bubble Room. Did we purchase any of their enormous slices of cake? Yep. The popular Orange Crunch Cake of course.





Hope everyone's Easter was filled with some "egg"citement as well.