Come sail away...

On Wednesday, we took a break from Disney and headed up to Port Richey and chartered a boat to take us to a private island just off the coast in the Gulf of Mexico. The two hour drive was hard as everyone struggled to stay awake (we left Magic Kingdom after 11:30 the night before and headed out first thing in the am).

We met out captain, Mark, and headed off on an 8 hour adventure! This was Shay's first time on a boat, so we didn't know if she would get seasick. So I made her chew on some ginger. Yuck!

Riding on the front of the boat.

We sailed out for some time, then stopped to snorkel! The flippers were a hit. The mask and breathing tube, not so much. So Shay wore goggles. Ed and Peyton went out first to check everything out. Tami and I decided- eh, we'll stay on the boat and watch.

The boys out snorkeling.

After some father- son time, they came back to take Shay who was so excited to go!

Oooh, the water is warm!

Not scared of water anymore!

They found a live scallop!

After a little bit of snorkeling, we sailed off for another 2 hours to our private island. Some of us were a little tired.

Don't know why she'd be tired!

The very small private island!

Her first beach experience- and she ran right out to make sandcastles.

Whole shell.

Sand dollar pieces for Grammy.

Her footprint!

See the dolphin?

We spotted at least 2 dolphins circling the island. I only took about 30 pictures, and this is the best I could get. Shay never saw them (later on Grammy had asked her if she saw any dolphins and her reply was "No, because I can't follow a finger point!").

Another 2 hours back to the dock, so we just chilled and enjoyed the beautiful day. There were storms off in the distance- Orlando got slammed, so we were glad that we picked this day to go to the beach instead of Disney.

Me (l) with my pretty cool sister (r).

So much fun!

Ended the day with a rainbow!

It was such a great time. I didn't know I would enjoy it so much. I had no idea that Shay would really love it.

Tomorrow- Roar! Guess where we are going?