June Visitors - Part 1

We were SO grateful to have both sets of grandparents come out for a visit. They arrived the day after the last day of school. On the same red eye flight. Oh those flights are brutal!

We took them to a favorite tree park - and the weather did not disappoint - it was so hot and humid! But they were great sports - weaving through the twists and turns of the path and getting a little lost along the way as our memory turned out a bit different from the actual map! 

The next day we headed west! We split up for the day and the boys went out deep sea fishing in the Gulf. It was a first for all of them, and they were so excited. I was hopeful.

Mostly for Max.

That kid has been out fishing countless times since moving here and hasn't caught a single fish. Not one. Part of me was worried he'd go out there, and everyone would catch fish but him. But the bigger part of me was hopeful - I mean in the big ocean, they'd have to have some luck, right?!

And here it is! His first catch of the day!! They were all thrilled (and relieved that no matter what happened, at least he'd caught one fish!).

They headed out to a shipwreck, and fished around this now coral reef. They said the water was incredibly clear and it was solid ocean in every direction. And then the real fish story comes in - in a matter of :20 minutes they ALL had multiple catches - big fish, a sting ray, colorful fish, spanish mackerels, snappers, blue runners, barracuda, sheepshead, lookdown - it was a constant catch all around the boat. 

This part of the story is in Max's words (since he was the one on the boat seeing it all happen!):

My grandpa (my mom's dad) caught a king fish which was pulled off by TWO black tip sharks! We couldn't believe it! The only thing left on the hook was the head of the king fish. My grandpa was ready to reel it in, but the guide said "drop the line to the bottom and try to catch the sharks!" He did, and re-caught one of the black tip sharks (about 3-4 feet long)! As this shark was pulling away - and he's trying to reel it in - out of nowhere a HUGE bull shark (it had to of been at least 10 feet long) swims in faster than lightning - snatches the shark in one gulp and gets hooked on the line! THEN it jumped out of the water - full body and landed with the biggest splash ever and totally snapped his line like a tin can. This whole thing happened in about :30 seconds. There was blood everywhere and I barely had time to see any of it as I had to put my pole down and get over there! It was the craziest thing I've ever seen! Definitely won't go snorkeling in that water!

Meanwhile...the gals and I all headed to the beach! We LOVE the beaches in Naples! The white sands, the sea shells EVERYWHERE and I love how the water is unbelievably shallow. We spent the whole day playing in the water, I loved swimming in the ocean with the girls, practicing the boogie boards on the little rolling waves, and building sandcastles.

We met up that night for dinner and headed to the hotel for an overnight stay.

The next morning we went to Sanibel Island - another favorite! This beach had been pretty beat up from the tropical storm in May, and it was completely different from what we'd seen in December. It's amazing how much the water/tides/storms will change beaches. We spent most of our time at this beach snorkeling and looking for shells of all types and sizes. It was a blast!

And here's the real reason we were so lucky to have all of the grandparents here! Max was ordained a Deacon in our church and was so excited to begin participating in the service associated with it. I love the realness of this photo. How difficult it can be to get everyone to look at the camera, Abigail holding her "treat bucket" for next week, and the excitement of that 12 year old front and center. There was so much love and light in this moment.

Keeping true with his humor/inability to hold still for a photo, this was the best "12 year old" photo I could get of him. But again, I love the realness/fuzziness of it. It reminds me that he simply couldn't hold back his excitement. He has been so excited (and patient - we delayed it a couple weeks to coordinate schedules with grandparents coming out and school ending) for this new chapter to begin. I love that he loves it and while he understands it with incredible faith as a 12 year old, I know that his love and understanding of the service of the priesthood will only continue to grow as he chooses to apply and use it throughout his life.

The next day the weather was a bit spotty, and after the beach days and full sun, the crew was ready for something a bit more indoors. We headed on a new adventure - The Frost Museum in Miami - and LOVED it! It's right next to the ocean and has an incredible three story aquarium where you can view sharks, Mahi mahi, rays and all kinds of fish from underneath, the side and the top. So beautiful! Loads of smaller aquariums are throughout and this crew loved the stingray touch pool! The entire building has an inside-but-outside feeling to it and it's one of my most favorite architectural museums we've ever been to.

Had to get a pic of their hair - they were so excited to go on another outing with grandparents and all picked their hairstyles they wanted for it! Yes there are so many crazy moments and the years of "who took my shirt" have already begun, but at the core, these gals aren't just siblings, they are friends.

We spent oodles of time at the traveling Leonardo exhibit. Oh. My. Goodness. Until going through this exhibit, I had no idea he invented pretty much everything and artwork and composing music and writing poetry were happening in his "spare time." The renderings of the human body are simply incredible. I can't say how many times I paused in that exhibit thinking about this example of man who clearly used his time wisely. There were a few moments I caught my mind thinking "gosh, what am I really doing with my time?" Yet I was reminded of a very clear principle that I am so grateful for: oodles of my time over these last 12 years has been centered in the trenches of motherhood. And while my life story may not have the discoveries of this great individual, creating and developing humans is something I hold near and dear. His work was clearly inspired in Truth and I am so grateful to be a beneficiary of his wisdom through every day life and modern-day conveniences hundreds of years later. It's cool to think how much history truly does pave the way for what and who we are today. He also may or may not have been an inspiration behind me using some of my birthday money to pick up a few watercolor supplies/learn how to watercolor book. While watercolors weren't his medium, I haven't stopped thinking about how much he dedicated his mind to CREATING. Something I'll have to write more about another time.

Some of the quotes I just loved:

Loads more from the museum that we didn't take pics of - a poison exhibit and a cool one all about flying/aerodynamics.

She adores him.

Love the real photo of this one too. Abigail couldn't slow down enough for a group photo with grandparents, and we couldn't seem to get a very good angle with the folks that were all enjoying the view of the bottom of the aquarium, nor does this really show how cool it really was, but we were there. Happy moment.