Our recap of our beach vacation way back in March continues! For those of you just joining us – here’s what you need to know…staying with long time friends, three toddler boys, one newly pregnant gal, lots of beach time and even more goldfish crackers. Here’s part 1 if you are interested in more details.
But goldfish weren’t our aquatic animal of choice on this day – we hit up Fort Pierce and the famous Manatee center. Bring on the sea cows!
Under some great recommendations from you guys, we decided to take the tots to the Manatee Center. It is a really tiny facility. Super small. And it only cost a dollar. So it was perfect for us. The kids couldn’t run far 🙂
They didn’t have a whole lot to see. Apparently most of the hype is about the manatees…which didn’t actually make an appearance that day. We did see this weird sea creature though…
Shortly after discovering that the sea cows weren’t to be seen, we decided to see the boats that were just down the street.
We were just wandering around…which is kinda one of my favorite ways to vacation.
Fun fact – Jeremy hates when I take random photos of him like this…he doesn’t get it. Why I would want to capture him not smiling or even looking at the camera. Wearing a baseball cap and a bathing suit and doing absolutely nothing of noteworthiness. He doesn’t get that he is note-worthy. just him being himself is noteworthy.
Oh wait – we did see one manatee 🙂
Here’s one of my favorite photos from the trip…it is just so different than what I normally have. A little creative cropping and an older faded editing changes things completely for me. It never hurts to have a great backdrop and your baby kissing you either 🙂
I’d like to interject here (do I have to ask to interupt myself?) and tell you about how much I appreciate Will after this trip. I never thought about it before. Never thought that spending time on a vacation would change my view of what kinda little boy I have in my life. Never thought that I would be the kind of mom that sees the flaws before the virtues. But after this trip, after being with different boys (not bad ones, just different ones)…I viewed him with a little more love…I grew to cherish him. I appreciated him SOOO much.
Is he willfull? Oh yeah…lives up to his name. Is he terrible and disobedient? Frequently and consistently. Is he happy and independent and adventurous and loving? More than I can handle at times. And that is good enough for me.
After not seeing the manatees, we hit the South Causeway beach…it actually was perfect because there were very few small waves…not much current and shallow waters for the kids. Not until a few feet deep was some seaweed so we had a natural barrier to keep the kids in check.
Will was so into this beach and besides some nearby smokers, (I get sinus trouble from it) it was really really pleasant.
Will just liked to splash and scoop and throw…totally normal stuff.
Silas was a little more independent that day while Noah was curled up in Austin’s arms most of the time. Poor kid wasn’t feelin it.
It’s funny how different Will looks to me just a few months later. His teeth straightened out (probably because we retired the paci that month) and his haircut makes him look so much older. And he’s longer now too…everything about him went through a growth spurt.
That night we went to Conchy Joe’s. We had a really late start…so yeah…the kids weren’t happy. And I am so stinking stubborn that once we actually get ready, get in the car, make it to the restaurant and put our name on the list…I don’t care if the wait is two hours…we are eating there. I’m sure Austin and Luke wanted to kill me.
The kids hung out in the parking lot with the portable DVD player.
And we watched the fish that swam nearby…very cool during the day I bet!
It wasn’t the best dining experience just due to the three cranky toddlers…but overall – good food and a good server. We all liked the diverse bread basket that they served before the meal (especially the banana bread)…and let’s just say that my virgin pina colada was inhaled by a certain little boy. It was good. I also think it would be great for little ones – mostly because of the live music…live music covers a plethora of toddler sins 🙂
Overall – totally fun day. Definitely worth repeating (hint hint Austin & Luke!). And we have more to share – so stay tuned…
I love your comment about the pic of Jeremy & him being noteworthy. I love that, that’s how you feel about your husband. I also love that he doesn’t really get it – I think that’s cute! Some of my favourite pics are those kind, where people truly are being natural not “natural” as instructed by the person behind the camera. The weather looks lovely.
I literally looked at the picture with both dads in the water for 1 minute.. back and forth… trying to figure out if it was like a side by side, or twin dudes, the bathing suits are so similiar… I am not sure why but it confused me for a second lol 🙂
That big magnifying glass thing with the starfish – I have a smaller version of that used for printing. I had no idea they made them that big. Great pictures – love the water.
our beach just recently banned smoking and that makes me a happy girl!
Have you ever heard the Veggie Tales silly song “Barbara Manatee?” It’s stuck in my head now!
I love manatees! We went to Florida over Christmas break and swam with them. It was awesome. They are so much bigger in real life than I ever thought possible, even with the guides telling us that they are huge. It was a great experience that I wish I could do every year. I have a few photos (with the name of my old blog, please forgive me on that one) here: http://thebrickbungalow.blogspot.com/2012/01/manatees.html
haha…two sets of twins on the beach that day 🙂
xo – kb
THAT IS AWESOME! I am so jealous!
xo – kb
I am totally with you on taking pictures of your boy when he’s not paying attention. I look at him, I think wow he looks good and I snap a photo. It’s like you just want to remember that moment forever.
Your vacation looks so fun already!
I think its funny that little Will has changed so much in so little time, makes you remember how fast time is flying by. Cherish it.
This post just made my day–my grandparents lived near Fort Pierce for decades and I spent countless hours at the manatee center, on that beach and at Conchy Joe’s! Thanks so much for trip through time–I haven’t been there in a while and I love to see that the area looks better than ever. So glad you had fun there!
These are such adorable photos! Look like you guys had a really great time 🙂
So sorry that you did not actually see any manatees at the Manatee Center! Total let down… good thing it only cost a dollar, I guess. :-/ I was definitely one to suggest it, so even though it won’t be even close to the real thing, I’ll email the pictures of manatees I took there – after waiting at least a half hour, by the way. Those sea cows are apparently quite elusive… but glad the trip was amazing nonetheless! 🙂
I LOVE that you went to Conchy Joe’s! My grandma used to have a time share down there and we’d go to Conchy Joe’s each trip down there. It was so fun! I remember there being steel drum players there and dancing with my dad when I was a little girl. And that bread basket is great! We may or may not have fed the catfish the bread…hence the school of catfish outside. Glad you had fun!
Precious pictures! Looks like you guys had a blast!
I totally know what you mean… a few months (and yes, usually a hair cut) makes our little guy (funny- also almost three and also named Will… ha!) look SO old. Crazy! Looks like you guys had a blast.
Do you take your big canon on vacation with you? I’m always so scared to take my Nikon D800 on vacation with me but then I feel awful afterwards. I got into photography because I love taking pictures of my kids and now I have this awesome camera and it takes more pictures of other people’s kids!
Yup. It goes everywhere with me 🙂
xo – kb
That’s great you made it to Fort Pierce area, my husband is from Fort Pierce and we got married on the river there – my favorite picture from our wedding has that bridge in the background 🙂
http://alowcountrywedding.blogspot.com/2011/08/anna-patrick.html
p.s. I totally enjoy your blog 🙂