Yes, I’m wrapping up our family vacation a week later.  (I can only say that summer is getting the best of me with entertaining two boys and keeping up with the non-stop flow of laundry.)  (And the fact that I’ve been under the weather with a flu-like bug.  Really.  Who gets sick in the summer?  I guess I do.)

Back to recapping our family vacation.  Last I left off, I told you about the packing, getting a rental wrinkle car, and arriving at St. Pete’s Beach in Florida.

We got checked into our suite and then, took a walk around our resort.  One needs to become familiar with a.)  where the beach is located  b.)  where the pool is located and c.)  where the snack bar is located.  These are important things for a five and nine year old.

With it getting late, we chose to order room service that night.  I found it to be a perfect opportunity for going over how we use our manners (what you do with a cloth napkin) and such.  The grouper sandwich was amazing.

 

Monday, we went to the beach first.  And it was beautiful!  White sand, blue waters, and the sun was shining!

There were all manner of swimming, splashing, and frolicking in the waves.  (Okay, so maybe not frolicking.  But it was fun.)  The boys loved the ocean minus how salty it was.  Below, you can see Nate spitting it out.  Maxim was all smiles until the next wave came along and he got a taste of the ocean.  Then, he was not a happy camper.

 

But, here I was…enjoying thirty seconds of waves lapping quietly.

Tradewinds Island Grand Resort had so many things to offer.

The resort had it’s own private beach with cabanas.  Here Maxim is again, not too happy about how salty the ocean water is.  (Luckily, I had bubble gum.  This always makes salty ocean water taste better.)

There were a variety of pools for us to swim in, entertainment throughout the week, and a great selection of restaurants and snack bars to choose from.  It was just an all-around great family-friendly place to be.

Our favorite times were of course, swimming (either in the ocean or in their pools).  Nate loved the boogie board he got (with his own money.  That we had to leave at the resort.  Because we were sure Allegiant Air wouldn’t allow it onboard at a reasonable price.)

In the evenings, we ventured off the resort and found some great restaurants with amazing seafood.

We also took a trip to Sawgrass Lake Park one morning.  Nate and Maxim just HAD to see some gators!  And when we got there, we saw four baby alligators right under the bridge and board walk.  The park had a few miles of boardwalk so we walked through the park, enjoying nature and hoping we’d see a big ol’ gator.  We didn’t.  Though we did see a few big ol’ spiders.  Which made Nate and I want to scream.

But while on vacation, we did have one small scare.  On our last day of swimming, the boys were taking turns boogie boarding.  We were all out in the ocean, about waist deep.  And probably 50 yards from shore.

Nate had started heading towards shore.  I was pushing Maxim on the boogie board.  Patrick was about four feet from us, out just a little farther.  And then.  I saw it.  A gray fin. Slithering through the water.  Not more than four feet from Patrick.

“PATRICK!  PATRICK!” I shrieked in a whisper-scream.

Immediately, he looked at me.

“Shark!  SHARK!!!!!” I screamed in a panic, pointing to the fin that continued to slither alongside him in the water.

Patrick turned around to look at it.  We both saw the four foot dark object below the water, that the fin was attached to.  As in a shark.  And then.  We were just like Jesus.  Walking, or rather, running on water.  At least we felt like we were.

Other people saw us and the commotion we were making and frantically ran towards shore, too.  I felt like I saved twenty people that day from being bitten by a shark.  Until we were talking with one of the cabana attendants and she informed us that it was probably a Bonnethead Shark.  That usually feeds on fish.  Well, I don’t care.  I was making sure that we were getting out of there!  No shark was going to get me and my family.

(On another note, the cabana attendant DID say that the helicopters (the ones that fly over head daily) have seen huge BULL SHARKS swim in and out amongst the people.  How nice.  Did she know that she was doing NOTHING for us wanting to swim in the ocean again??  Really.  I could have done without that fact.)

Anyway, we were glad this happened on our last day of swimming.  Because I am a chicken and I’m not sure I would have gone back out in the waters the next day.  (I know.  You’d say “Get back on that bull that just bucked you off”.  Um.  No.  Not in this case.)

Anyway.  It was a great vacation.  Relaxing.  Wonderful family time being with Hubby and our boys.  Plenty of sunshine, warm weather, and great times!  A place we highly recommend with a beautiful ocean view.  Where you can swim and frolic among the waves.  Unless you just watched JAWS.  Then, you may want to just stick to the pools.  No gray fins there.