More blue skies and mid 80's for the weather here today in Southwest, Florida. I keep reflecting on this image of the wind surfer that I took and just can't begin to imagine the exhilaration he feels as he flips and twirls above the wave caps. Although similar to the shot I shared the other day, I had to share another one. These guys are out in the ocean surfing like this for hours and hours on end. The amount of strength they must carry in their arms has to be ungodly. I wish I had some of it for carrying Kenidi around all of the time. :)
Brent and Brennen are working on our garage today. They are unloading and organizing tools - manly things - from boxes that Brent had yet to tackle of his. We also took more boxes of "stuff" to storage again today. It's amazing how much we just don't use on a daily basis. (i.e., our big ol' thick and bulky winter coats) Did I mention that they don't have coat closets here in Florida? Guess that isn't something they are used to needing. Strange but understandable. I however don't want to hang my coats in my master closet so I guess they will be staying in boxes for now over in storage, waiting on trips back and forth to Indy before we shall need them again. I used to have a coat fetish - like some women have a shoe fetish. But now...I guess the coat era is coming to an end. No need for even a jacket here. Brennen and I went to the gym/fitness center in our neighborhood last night and then walked around the neighborhood after that. It was dark - about 8-8:30pm last night - and I worked up a true sweat. I had brought a sweatshirt with me just in case the temp was a tad chilly during our walk. However, it was still 78 degrees as of that time last night. Little did I know how warm it would still be at that hour. Again...coat. era. is. over.
Did I tell you that I was changing out my camera lenses over top of a cement sidewalk at the Naples Botanical gardens the other day and ultimately dropped & busted my 12-24mm wide angle Nikon lens? Yeap, sure did. I even had a UV filter over my lens but it never stood a chance - the filter or the lens. They both shattered on impact. Yeah...I was finishing up this shot here...
and this one...
When all of a sudden, the clouds went over the sun and I went to hurry and switch out my wide angle lens with my macro lens. In my midst of hurrying, the wide angle lens fell straight to the ground - cracking and busting on this paneled sidewalk you see in the images above. I stopped dead in my tracks and almost vomited. I knew before I even reached down to pick it up that the UV filter couldn't have saved the glass with that kind of impact. The lens was a goner. THANKFULLY, I have always allowed the camera guys at my local camera store to sucker me into extra warranties. The lenses come with a one year manufacturers warranty but that doesn't include drops or water damage. So...I have always opted to buy the "extra" warranty called the MAC Diamond protection. It is coverage against not only drops but also against water damage for three years. Needless to say, I have just discovered that it is worth every bit of its weight in gold. Due to having that warranty, I am getting my wide angle lens replaced for free. Well...not free but for that $150 I initially paid for the extra warranty. Thank you camera dudes for suckering me into the MAC diamond protection each time I purchase camera equipment. I will continue to be suckered from here on out without second guessing a thing. :) Moral to this story...if you are in the market to buy a new DSLR or have recently bought a new DSLR or new lens, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure you invest in the extra warranties for the products you purchase. A camera and their lenses are like a woman's purse, you are BOUND to drop them at some point or another. I have dropped my camera twice since owning it. Thankfully, Big Pappa is a T-A-N-K and has survived unscathed with each of the 2 drops. However, had it broke, MAC to the rescue with the diamond warranty protection. YAY! I'm totally sold on this extra investment. Totally. If all goes as planned, I should have my wide angle lens back within 10-20 business days according to their repair department. If they can't repair it, they send you a new one. Not only did I drop one of my most expensive lenses in my arsenal but it is also my favorite lens aside from my 50mm 1.4. I'm definitely having withdrawals without it - especially when shooting at the beach. However, thankfully because of this warranty, I'm still breathing instead of still being on my knees and vomiting back at the Botanical gardens. :)
The kids are doing wonderful in school. Brennen got an interim report from his new teacher and even though it was only two weeks worth of grades, they were great scores and her comments about Brennen made us very proud. He has adjusted to his new class and his new friends very well. His favorite part...going to school in shorts and a t-shirt everyday. Kenidi still has behavior issues getting on and off the bus each day (meaning she drops to the ground and won't walk on or off) but her teacher has assured us that they are having "great" days in class together. We get a nightly report in her backpack and are happy to report that she is even pottying on the potty again while there. This is HUGE. So...we are hoping that after the first of the year, we can really focus full force on the potty training with her again. Keeping our fingers crossed for success when we do attempt it. When we took her to the Naples Botanical Gardens this past week, she was burning up in the heat. When she gets hot, her seizures/epilepsy had a tendency to act up. I then begin looking for quick ways too cool her down. Thankfully, the garden had a children's area full of water spouts and fountains. By the time we left, she had to be stripped down naked and forced into a dry diaper in the back of my car. In a nutshell, this is the set of events which transpired and led to her nakedness...
At this point below, she is literally bathing in it...
And then of course we get the ever famous, "I ain't leavin' - I dare you to just try and get me out of here!" when it came time to go home...
Yeap, that is Kenidi for ya. She stole the show for everyone who stayed around long enough to watch it play out. Brennen got a kick out of shooting with my old "Razzi" again while there. He really enjoys taking pictures. I love that! And as his Mom, I really enjoy shooting with him. Both kids were off school all day yesterday for a "Hurricane make up day." If you are my facebook friend then you've already heard about this. Hurricane make up days are waayyyyy different than the snow make up days we are used to back in Indy. The cool thing about yesterday was that because there haven't been any hurricanes this year, the school had a free day. A free Hurricane make up day = a free beach day for us Hoosiers. It doesn't get any better than that. I absolutely love seeing the older boys walking to the beach within groups and with their surf boards in hand. That sight screams RADNESS~! One of these days I'm going to jump out of my car like a crazy woman and ask if I can snap their photos. It would make for an awesome eclectic shot! I often wonder how cool it must be to have grown up on a beach - day in and day out. Brennen and Kenidi have no idea how lucky they are at this point.
For now, I'm going to wrap up this long winded post of randomness and go check on my boys and how the garage project is coming along. Stay tuned for the Build-a-bear winner announcement tomorrow. (Sunday) Thanks to each of you who took the time to play along and enter the give-a-way. xoxo, Angie
This one image pretty much sums up my emotions toward the beach.
Although a seagull flew right in front of my lens as I snapped the shutter, I love it still.
The birds. The wave caps. The glistening sun on top of the water. The wind surfer. The white sand. Blue skies. Cotton-esque clouds. It is the sea at its best. You can almost hear the seagulls a squawkin' and the waves lapping as you stare at the image. I shot this when I was at the beach with my Mom yesterday. It's always those clicks of the shutter which you think will be "trashed" when you get back home that end up being some of your favorite shots E-V-A-H. Because of the bird crossing in front of my lens, I almost deleted it. However, I have this hard and fast rule that I NEVER delete an image on the back of my camera until after I've gotten home and uploaded it to my computer first. It is because of the way I fall in love with the "scraps, the trashed images, etc." that I can't bare to hit the delete button until I've seen them on my computer screen first. This image was no different. I'm so very glad that I opted to hang on to it for a few more seconds before ultimately trashing it.
This desolate piece of beach property was my Mom's and my haven yesterday. It was breezy, peaceful, sunny, and as vast as the eyes could see. The golden rays of heat left me with just enough color to prove I'd been there for the past two days.
I was told that Indy has had some snow flurries fall there today. With that said, I'd just like to take this moment to say..."Thank you God for Naples, Florida!"
Both kids have gone back to school now. Brennen has given us great feed back after being at his new school for the past two days. Kenidi started back today and we got incredibly positive feedback from her new teacher. She told us that she had a wonderful day. I was really worried because when I dropped her off this morning, it didn't go so swell. She cried and curled that lip under - then looked at me like "please don't leave me Mommy." It broke my heart. Thankfully her school called at one point mid way thru the day just to let us know that she was doing well and even "dancing" in class. Imagine that! Dancing. That is soooooo Kenidi. Brennen says he has now made 11 new friends. It cracks me up that he is keeping count. Both of their their schools are set up very different from what we are used to in Indiana. (Floridians call it "up north.") Instead of reaching the classrooms from inside the building - thru main hallways - you go to your class from the outside. Each classroom has an exterior door - like a campus almost. I guess that is just another perk to having wonderful weather year round. Brennen says gym class is like a parking garage. HA HA! Reason being, it has a concrete floor and a concrete roof but the walls are gone. That's right - no walls. The sides are open to the air. It's so cool to see the kids playing in the center courtyards - out in the sunshine - each morning before class begins. They meet their teachers in the courtyard each day after they unload from the bus. They wait there until the teacher is ready to lead them to their class. I love the fact that they get so much time outside. :)
Beings that both kids were in school today, my Mom and I decided to go enjoy the 84 degree weather next to the shoreline. We hit the beach at about 10am this morning and stayed until I had to get home to get the kids off the bus. We both laid there just thanking God for the moment and the awesome blessing of living in Naples, Florida - just 5 minutes from the sand and sea. (And actually the Bonita house is like 2 minutes from the beach - it's right around the corner -very close) The feeling of that heat/sunshine beaming down and hitting our faces and the sound of the waves lapping was just what we needed to help realign our souls. I didn't get the chance to take any "good" photos but these were just a couple that I took to pass time and help cure my convulsions while there. It had been way too many days since I'd been shooting and my obsession with photography was feeling the lack of shutter snaps.
I made my way around the sand real quick and grabbed a few objects that looked as though they wanted their picture taken. Hee hee! Can you tell I was just dying to shoot again?
The water was pristine as usual. The sand was white and searing with heat from the sun overhead. The white caps on the waves were few and far between today. The sea was probably the calmest I've ever seen it. The whole atmosphere couldn't have been anymore soothing.
I love seeing the remnants of where others before us have built sand castles by the seaside. On this day, a good size crab (shown above) had climbed up on top of the sand castle and made himself a nice spot to sunbathe up high. He kind of reminded me of my Mom climbing on house roofs to get more sun. HA! And oh yeah...my beach b/f/f's...they were around and in full force today. There was a family playing near them though so I didn't want to ruin their time together. I decided not to try and inch too close. Next time...
When we were home this evening though...Brent went out to check the mail but came back in yelling for me to get my camera. He said "one of those big white birds is in our front yard." Naturally, my camera was right beside me on the couch - just like an appendage of mine. I ran outside only to discover that the bird had moved to our neighbors yard and was up near his garage at this point. Like the freak that I am, I meandered over to the neighbors drive way and crept up on the bird. I was so nervous about the fact that the neighbor would probably come out and catch me up near their open garage doors and wonder what the heck I was doing. Here we are only in the neighborhood for a week and I'm prowling the area houses with a camera in hand. That would look REAL GOOD! No one would ever believe that I was just snapping shots of a bird. These birds are like dogs and cats to us Midwesterners (a.k.a Northerners). It's nothing for us to see dogs roam someones front yard back in Indy. However, like Brent said, the birds aren't something we are used to seeing in our yard. This one was as tall as Kenidi if not taller. He was a big guy - on the lookout for something to eat I'm sure.
Last night we took the kids down to the little park in our new neighborhood. It's a cool lil' park located right inside our subdivision. As I was sitting on one of the benches, again thanking God for the beautiful weather and the warm night, I noticed the fact that the front entrance was being decorated with Christmas lights around the palm trees. I couldn't get much of a shot from my angle but it was just so odd to see Christmas lights around the trunks of these palms. With it being so hot here right now, it's hard to imagine that Christmas is only 24 days away.
As night fell, the sky lit up like cotton candy - just as it always does here in Florida. If I've said it once, I've said it 100 times...there are no skies like "Florida skies!"
The moon was begging for a photograph last night too. I couldn't skimp on him or let him down...
I'm hoping that once things settle down with school routines and the newness of it all this week, I'll be able to sneak away and shoot during the day starting next week. I can't wait to uncover some of Naples most prized possessions from behind the lens. There is so much begging to be photographed and shared from here. So, so, very much!
PS...I had many questions about the pool photos from a few days ago. Those who aren't real familiar with the state of Florida wondered why the pool was enclosed when I showed pictures of the lanai. Floridians call these enclosures - CAGES. They enclose their pools in the cages to keep the critters out as well as the nasty nighttime bugs such as no see-ums. No see-um bugs are similar to what we Northerners refer to as mosquitoes. However, no see-ums can't be seen. They are pretty much invisible but bite just as bad. If the pools weren't caged, you'd be ate alive sitting outside each night. Literally. Not only that but gators and snakes are popular here. Speaking of snakes, one was coiled up and waiting for me at the Bonita house in front of the garage door today. I went there to pick Mom up and take her to the beach with me. When I rounded the corner by the garage, the little sucker perched his neck up and hissed at me. I ran inside to tell Mom but by the time we came back out, he was HIDING. Yeah...he knows whose boss. He saw me and just KNEW that a tire would be rolled over his slimy head if he didn't get lost and lost QUICK! He caught me off guard though and the hissing made it worse. Needless to say, I almost had to jump-start my heart in order to get it back to a normal pace after that little encounter. UGH! Mom swears she is lining the property with moth balls after today's episode. We've been told by numerous people to use those and they are supposed to keep them at bay. Our biggest fears are that Kenidi and Brennen come and go over there so much and we're worried one will pop up right at their feet/ankles some day. YUCK! They make me cringe just thinking about it. I knew at least one of them would get brave and rear its ugly head once I was back in town though. You always have at least one lone individual who thinks that they are badder than the rest. Little does he know that I have 4 SUV tires with his name written all over them now. In.Permanent.Marker.I.might.add!
It's Tuesday night. In three short days it will be Friday. In three days, we will be packing our cars and the moving trucks. Cars and moving trucks bound for Naples, Florida. We will depart Indiana on Friday evening - driving half way, stopping to sleep for the night at a hotel mid-way, then picking up where we left off on Saturday morning. If all goes as planned, we shall be official "Floridians" as of Saturday night - around 9pm. We will leave the title of "Hoosier" behind but it will forever be embedded in my heart - just like the initials 'CG' are.
And for those who've asked...yes, my Mom is moving and becoming a "Floridian" right along with us. She is not moving in with us but she will be staying in our Bonita Springs house until she finds a place of her own. We on the other hand will be about 20 minutes south of there - in the heart of Naples. 4 minutes from the beach and 5 minutes from 5th avenue. Although moving from Indy will be tough, the geographic location where we will now reside sure will make it easier to stomach leaving the "Hoosier" state. Those flights back and forth to Naples over the past couple of months paid off. Our mission was accomplished. We found a place where our family of four will be comfortable and where the schools are rumored to be great. The schools were a big part of our research. Florida isn't really known for great public schools. Therefore, we spent many hours on the phone, speaking to other locals, and just investigating the schools in general. We based our new residence on the school(s) we wanted our kids in and were NOT about to move until all of the stars aligned and we found something within that few mile radius.
But back to my Mom...beings that I'm an only child and my Mom isn't married, she hasn't got a whole lot tying her to Indy right now. She has sisters here whom she will miss a lot and whom are already missing her at the mere thought of her departure. However, she has always said - for years - that if we should ever decide to pack up and move to Florida, she would be going too. And she is. I didn't even have to ask her. It was just an unspoken and automatic notion. I am thankful to have my Mom coming with us. She immediately said..."When do I need to start packing?" It will be great to have someone there that I know. It will be lovely that she is just down the street in Bonita in case we should need help with the kids. But the best part will be on those mornings when I put the kids on the bus and can call her up and say...get your beach bag ready...I'm picking you up and we are going to go lay by the seashore all day - catching the suns BEST rays. You see...my love for the sun came from my Mom. It was genetically instilled in me from the time of conception. My Mom is the type that back in the day...when I was little...used to climb a ladder to her roof and then lay on that 'said roof' all day long until she was fried beyond belief from the sun. She truly believed that the black shingled roof helped her tan easier and quicker. Not only did she tan on the roof, but she would use one of those aluminum foil looking reflector blankets to lay on. You guys remember those back in the day, right? Yeap, those are a few of the fondest memories of my Mom. Ha ha! So...my love for a good tan, the warm sunshine on my face, and the mere feel of the melanin rising to the top surface of my skin from the heat outside is a direct result of watching my Mom do what she did best during our Indiana summers when I was a kid. I remember taking a trip to the Bahamas with just my Mom and my aunt when I was in high school. We laid on the beach all day long - soaking in the sun - like it was the last day we'd ever see it. Yes, we are addicts. Yes, we will look 80 by the time I'm 40. But know this...Florida senior citizens are WAAYYYYY healthier than Indiana senior citizens. Why? It's because of all that vitamin D they get from the sun. I'm sure of it. We see 80 and 90 year old men and women out boating, walking the beach, perusing the shops, and dining at the ritzy restaurants in Naples just as though they were 30 again. They ROCK it out - living like they are dying - everyday in Florida. We always talk about how healthy they all look and what a gorgeous glow they all have. They keep a kick to their step unlike our older/elderly community here in Indiana. The Hoosiers of that age are old, frail, brittle, and fragile. Indiana winters cause falls which causes bad injuries in the elderly. It's no wonder why they age quicker and harder here.
There is a reason why we - as human beings - have a natural radar that goes or gravitates toward beaches when vacationing. God totally knew what he was doing when he made the shorelines and invented beach chairs.
This weeks theme for the FOTO FIND FRIDAY is "camera pictures." I have so many pictures on my iphone that I've taken over a vacation, day to day life, etc. when I didn't have Big Papa (my regular DSLR camera) around. Well thanks to the app store for iphones, I now have a really cool app called "shake it photo" that acts or replicates old Polaroid cameras. You snap your shot, it makes a noise like a polaroid picture developing, then you shake your phone like you would a polaroid as it is drying. Within seconds, you have a really rockin' image that has an old age look to it - like the polaroid ages anyhow. I love the app. It's fun! Anything to do with photography is fun to me though so I might be a little biased. With that said, these are my submissions for this week's theme. I am sharing some images that a few of you might have seen already if you are one of my facebook friends. These were all pictures that were taken with my iphone. Then, I used the "shake it photo" app on them for added character.
These are palm trees at the clubhouse pool within our neighborhood there in Bonita Springs, Florida. I took the above shot while lounging there one day back this summer. I remember loving the blue skies and the clouds on that particular day.
The above picture is a shot of Kenidi in the back seat of my car - waving - one day. We were at a stop light and she was waving to those next to us. (a usual social activity for her) I decided to snap a shot of the moment with my phone. The "shake it photo" app gives it that polaroid feel with the lighting and all. Love it!
The above image was taken on Bonita Beach one night back in August. It was one of our last and final nights there for the summer I believe.
This palm tree shot above is one of my favorite camera pictures evah! It is actually my wall paper on my phone right now. Brennen and I were coming out of a store one evening over the summer and this was the view when we reached the parking lot. I remember saying to him at that moment that we "just don't have sunsets like this in Indiana." And we don't.
When we left for summer vacation back in May, we landed at the Ft. Myers airport. This particular shot above was of Kenidi the day we arrived. We were waiting for our taxi driver to pull around and take us to the house. She decided to whip our her funyons and begin feeding the birds. I snapped this moment with my camera phone because it was too cute to pass up. When all 500,000 Florida birds/pigeons showed up at her feet wanting her funyons, it was no longer a cute moment. It was quite scary in fact. Ha ha!
This was a shot I took from the backseat car window one night in Bonita Springs. My Dad was riding shot gun with Brent up front and my step-Mom and the kids as well as myself were in the back. It had been raining that evening but stopped after a short downpour. Following normal Florida protocol of course. These sun rays were peering out from a cloud as we came down the street and I decided to capture the moment with my phone. Beautiful!God is amazing!
The above photo were some onlookers there for the show on Bonita Beach one evening. This is the private beach access for our neighborhood there in Bonita. You must live in the neighborhood in order to have access to this area of the seaside. We love it there and go almost every night when in town. The sunsets in Southwest Florida are beautimous. Just beautimous. On this particular night, I captured a row of family members and friends there to take in the stunning beauty as well.
And I believe all of you have seen this last shot shown above. Although it is horrible quality because it was taken with my iphone...I still love it. It was a moment caught on the beach between Brennen and Kenidi over the summer. Very candid but very dear to my heart. This is Brennen at his true form. There is no denying that he loves his sister and protects her with every fiber of his being. Just his body language here shows that he is watching out for her, making sure she isn't about to trip and fall. I love the way that he loves her! And I love the way that she loves him.
As you can imagine, after viewing all of these pictures, I'm dying to get back to the house in Bonita. We leave approximately 3 weeks from now for Fall break. The 21st of October cannot come soon enough. Although it will be just that...fall break...a short stint for the kids away from school...it will be just enough time to rejuvenate the skip in my step. I'm looking forward to sharing more images with all of you from our stay.
If you'd like to participate in the foto find Friday "camera pictures" theme this week, please blog a post on your own blog that has pictures pertaining to images that came from your camera phone. It doesn't have to be an iphone - any camera phone will do. Just blog your favorite camera phone images and share them with all of us. Also, please make sure that you mention and link back to this AGD blog when you place the post on your own blog. We need you to make sure your link takes us directly to that specific post on camera pictures (and not your blog home page). Also, please make sure that your post includes the info that links back to AGD. If those two things are not there, your link will unfortunately be deleted and you'll have to re-post it the requested way. We are looking forward to seeing your submissions. Have fun with it! ☮&♥, Angie
I was sitting on our coach in the great room this morning, playing with the settings on my camera, and realizing how dirty our windows got over the summer while we were away. The sun was shining straight in the windows at that moment and you could really see all of the dust and grime that had accumulated over 10 weeks. Gross! During my moment to myself with the dusty windows, I sat and stuffed my face with a few bites of sweetheart coffee cake from Roselyn's bakery (really from Marsh but you Midwesterner's will understand all of that) and sucked down some grape juice with them. I sat and flipped through some new coffee table books that I found while away. This is a busy day as we prepare for two different ice cream socials at both Brennen and Kenidi's schools. We are meeting their new teachers today and getting to tour Kenidi's new school for the first time ever. The back to school festivities are beginning and as I said on crackbook facebook this morning...let the chaos begin.
When admiring the photographs within the new coffee table books, I began to look around and for once...I realized just how much of Bonita/Naples are here with us inside our home in Indiana. I have worked really hard to make this house reflect our surroundings while in Southwest Florida. I strive to give this house that "beach cottage flair" that we love so much which in turn helps us feel like we are still at the beach when we've long since left.
The reminders of Bonita Beach/Naples are everywhere - in every square inch of our home in Indy. These are just a couple of small reflections that tie our stays in the South over the past 10 years into "home." On a day like today, when we are up against lots of lines on the to do lists, it is nice to have a haven that helps slow down the soul amongst all of the hustle and bustles of returning home. Our oyster colored couch in the great room (Yes, that is the real color name - thus why I fell in love with it in the store) while looking outside my dirty, filthy, windows this morning was my haven. I was surrounded by many memories of our beach trips and that makes my heart really happy.
Life is good in Naples. That sign pretty much sums it up. There is no other place on the face of this earth that can set my soul back to "all clear" the way being next to the seaside does. Praying for a smooth transition and peace today as we visit the school. Also, praying Kenidi's new teacher fills the big shoes and expectations I now have thanks to the bar Mrs. Alison set this past year. (We miss you already Alison!) Praying that as Brennen becomes the BIG man on campus (5th grader this year), he'll cherish his last few months in elementary school. I know I will. It breaks my heart to think that this time next year, he'll be entering the middle school. I'm not going to dwell or think that far ahead though. Nope, not gonna! All in all, I'm just praying that God holds our hands as Brent and I once again leave our babies in the care of someone else day in and day out over the next 10 months. (their teachers) I'm praying for the best possible fit when it comes to both of their needs within the academic range. Rev Run's wisdom on Twitter this morning said "Take your day into your hands. Control your feelings and emotions now or they will definitely control you." And yes...our family loves watching episodes of RUN'S HOUSE on Mtv. I personally find Rev. Run's wisdom incredibly enlightening and inspiring. Thus, why I follow him on Twitter along with Anthony (Tony Robbins), Jack Welch (C.E.O of GE), Stephen Covey, Denny Coates, etc. I love how when I log into my Twitter account, wisdom from Rev. Run's words and the others are jumping off the page at me immediately. Words like these from Rev. Run..."I heard someone say...Stress is an ignorant state. It believes everything is an emergency! BREATHE...NOW SMILE...ahhh feels betta!"
So, as I ladle up his words of wisdom and all of the other motivators on this day like I do all others, I'm also going to realize that "although I cannot tailor or make the situations in our lives, I CAN tailor or make the attitudes to fits those situations." (~Zig Ziglar)
Instead of crying about the fact that our summer is now over, I'm just going to smile because it happened. Thanks Rev! :) xoxo, Angie
We like to say we are beachin' it...Gulf Coast style.
This time 2 weeks from now, we'll be packing up to head back "home" to Indiana. In three weeks, our kids will be back in school. Where has the past 10 weeks gone already? We arrived here at the beach for the summer back on May 29th. However, it seems like it was just yesterday. Another summer in Bonita is coming to a close. Another chapter in the book of memories has been written. The minute we land back home in Indiana 2 weeks from now...craziness begins. School shopping, then school starts. Next, I have a photography mentorship program that I am participating in the week after we return. Tons of fun with a professional photographer as she teaches me the ropes - one on one. Then, we travel to Chi-town (Chicago) at the end of August for a photography workshop that I'm participating in there on the streets of downtown - Michigan avenue and abroad. On Labor day weekend, we fly back down here to the beach house for an extended weekend as a family and a breath of fresh air seaside. Then, the very next week in September, I travel South again and head to Atlanta for the Learnfest Photography workshop. So...the beach is my sanity right now. The beach is my current calm for just two more weeks. Our Summer of 2009 is slowly but surely coming to an end. In 15 days, we'll be back in Hoosier land. Back to reality in Indiana. Back to the hustle and bustle of life. Therefore, we are doing all of the "sugaring" of our toes that we can over the next two weeks. Stick around, we'll share the count down in photos.
xoxo, The Seaman Clan
PS...The top image was of Brennen's feet taken over Christmas break this past Christmas while here in Bonita. The bottom image is of Kenidi's foot/leg on the beach - taken this past Sunday. We like to call her our Coppertone baby.
Do you know what I love most about spending our Summers in Florida?
It's that everyone else (the "snow birds" who live here all Fall and all Winter long) go back "home" to their real homes for the Summer. They go back to visit grand kids and their families in general. And when they go back to their real homes, it leaves the neighborhood here in Bonita..."empty." And when the neighborhood is empty, the pools within the neighborhood are empty. (And yes...that is our very own Starbuck's - poolside. It doesn't get any better then that.)
And when the pools are empty in the neighborhood, that means we get them all to our self. Just the four of us. It also means that Mamasita (a.k.a - ME) gets to pick out any ol' sun chair on the pool deck that she prefers. Anywhere. Why? Because it is just us and we have the whole place and all of the chairs to ourselves.
Uh huh...this is "part" of the reason why we love spending our Summers here. No matter how hot and humid it gets, our family loves making new memories each time we are here together. And even though my make up and hair always looks like a drowned rat in the summer heat here in Bonita, I wouldn't trade our Summers, our memories, our extended weekends, our holidays, etc. here for nothing. And even though the neighbors go home to their real homes for the Summer, they are missed. The neighbors are great here. We talk to the neighbors and gather with them more then we do with our neighbors back home in Indy. These neighbors look out for Brennen and Kenidi. A lot! It's nothing for the doorbell to ring at 8:30am in the morning and it be a neighbor left here in the neighborhood (there are only a few this time of the year) bringing trinkets and toys to Brennen and Kenidi "just because." It's nothing for them to say, "Let's all go to dinner at the Naples pub - we'll call ahead - tell them we are coming - and ask for a back booth - one that makes it as easy as possible for you guys over dinner with Kenidi." One set of neighbors even offers up and hands over their golf, tennis, and social pass to the country club for us. Now that is an awesome set of neighbors, eh? These neighbors are all older then us but we never notice the difference in age. They all ROCK! Needless to say...we love the neighbors, the neighborhood, and the neighborhood pools. :)
And aside from the fact that I feel like the neighborhood is really the "Amazon" lately due to the 4 snakes (yes 4 - there was another one on the deck of the pool the other day.) and the "Florida rats" that we've learned are as common as mosquitoes are back home in Indy for us, we still love the resort feel of the neighborhood the minute you pull in. It sits off the road and is tucked back in there all by itself. A huge community that you can't see because it is hidden from the rest of the world. As soon as you come thru, you are instantly propelled into a vacation - a tropical resort - and we love that part. Yes, I could do without the fact that the big black rat snake and Brennen came face to face at the pool the other day. Thank goodness Brennen can run fast. And thank goodness he did. In the end though, this is home away from home for us. Snakes, rats, no-see-ums, spiders, and all. It is Florida at it's finest - it's just the Florida that you never see advertised on the picture-esque post cards in the souvenir shops. Well, maybe this guy is sometimes...
We found this guy at the entrance to the cul-de-sac on the way back home from the beach yesterday afternoon. The pictures do not do his size justice. He was HUGE! Brent spotted him out his window so we stopped, dug out Big Papa (my camera), and snapped a couple of shots real quick.
I don't know what kind of turtle this was but he didn't seem to mind us much. And...he was quite fast for a turtle. He took off on that hot pavement like nobodies business. He probably got scared that Mamasita here was going to take over the steering wheel and run over him - 4 times - like I did the snake. I'm sure the word is out - and on the street - about Mamasita and my crazy ways when it comes to the wildlife around here. "Rumor has it...you need to beware of the Mom at the end of cul-de-sac #2, she is pyscho!" Ha ha! It's not a far off exaggeration. Trust me!
But as all of my faithful AGD blog readers know, I lluurrrvvveee my beach B/F/F's. Each time we come to the beach, the birds, all kinds of them, flock to my camera lens. I swear they treat my lenses like they are food or something. They gravitate toward it. They let me snap pictures of them up close all day long. It's grand! I love my beach B/F/F's. Just LURVE them! Notice how they pose and work it for my camera...
They even get the "model strut" going with their legs and feet. Hysterical!
Their eyes are my favorite...very cool color!
The beaches are really dead this time of the year too. Not to many people come here right now because it is so crazy hot. And humid. However, that doesn't stop the Seaman's. Especially at the neighborhoods private access beach park. You have to be a neighborhood resident in order to use this area of the beach. It's totally private and trust me - they guard it like Ft. Knox. You can't park there nor are you able to walk up there off the beach either. They catch you. They know you - and whether you are a true resident. And when they are unsure, they ask you to recite your neighborhood info. If you don't have it, you better cough it up or be gone cuz' you outta' there. Ha ha! They don't mess around at all! You can't beat their free and private cabanas, the grilled cheeseburgers and hot dogs with coleslaw, cold drinks with ice, and of course the air conditioned rest rooms. Nothing says "the beach" like an air conditioned bathroom when you need it, eh? Ha ha! My favorite part to the private access though...it would be reading the water board as you walk up. Love it! And you know if the gulf waters - the ocean - is 89 degrees in itself, then the air is really HOT here in Bonita Beach, Florida right now. Just the way Mamasita likes it! :)
And no matter how hot it is temperature wise...you can always count on the sea to bring in a gulf water breeze. Thus, resulting in the palm trees swaying in the heat. There is nothing like laying under the leaves of a palm. Nothing says tropics like a palm tree. Nothing!
There you have it. That pretty much sums up what our Sunday looked like yesterday. Welcome to Monday. I hope it is off to a great start for all of you. Now...get ready...Mamasita has a give-a-way coming up this week in honor of my 777th post here on the ol' AGD blog. Tell your friends, tell you family, tell everyone! Remember those "AGD was here" type pictures I told you to prepare for a couple of months ago? Well, the time has come. Snap a simple picture in front of something that depicts your city, state, country, you, your family, etc. In that picture, add a sign to it that reads something about AGD. (i.e., AGD was here in Texas, We love AGD in Canada, and so forth.) There will be a Mr. Linky that will be posted with the blog give away. By entering and posting your the image to your blog, you will be entered into the drawing for the give-a-way. If you coerce a friend to participate too, let me know about it. Should that friend join in on the fun and post AGD signs within an image on her blog, it will gain you 5 extra names in the drawing. The more your name is entered into the drawing, the better the chance you have of winning. This is a give-a-way that you do not want to miss either. It will be straight from the heart of Bonita Beach and Naples. It will include multiple fun gifts within it. A gift from the famous swoozies store as well as gifts from other little stores that I love here in Bonita and Naples. Also, we'll have some shells picked by Brennen and Kenidi straight from the beaches in our area that will be included just as an added extra treat. We've worked hard to come up with a great give-a-way basket of goodies and we know you will love it. So...get those signs ready and then snap a picture with the sign in front of a landmark or something that reflects your state, hometown, city, country, etc. Include your kids...get them in on the fun too. We can't wait to see what each of you come up with. I'll be posting a photo of the give-a-way basket at the end of the week. Lastly, if you are a resident of Indiana, we are hoping to see some great shots from our home state. :) Have fun with it all.
PS...If you aren't a blogger but would still like to participate in the drawing, feel free to email me your photo at Angie@AngelicaGraceDesigns.com. I'll be sure to include it with the others here on the blog when the contest/drawing begins. Your name will then be entered in the drawing just like everyone else. You can start turning those images into me at any time this week beginning now. The earlier the better. It will assure your spot in the drawing.
