Florida Life...not too bad!

It's a bird! It's a plane! Nope, it's a helicopter!!!

Yep, we took the boys on a helicopter ride this week and it was AWESOME!!! They had no idea what was going on. We told them we wanted to do something different and "looking" at a helicopter was one idea we had. They were a little surprised when we started to take off!

 We had a great pilot who showed up the beautiful beaches of Destin, FL along with some dolphins, sharks, sting rays and a HUGE hammer head shark! Yes, don't go swimming at the beach between 3:30pm - 6:30pm because the sharks come out to eat. It was a little un-nerving to say the least but also very cool.

Lucas was not quite sure about taking off...

until he got the ear phones and radio!

As soon as we took off, he was loving it.

Axel was in love too!

Dolphins!

Daddy was so excited about the Osprey airplane/helicopter!

Sting ray!

Axel was being a stinker because he wanted to go again.

Living in Florida has definitely been a different experience for us rock climbers. However, we are finally getting used to the place despite the humidity and yucky bugs. :)

One of our neighbors is a fisherman in Destin, FL. He as been so wonderful sharing fresh seafood with us and now we are spoiled. Yes, we have become seafood snobs! Just in the past week, we have had fresh-caught-that-day-sushi-quality-tuna, grouper, mackerel, 3 blue crabs and caught this morning shrimp! The tuna was some of the best fish we have ever eaten. The shrimp, probably the freshest most tender ever. It's truly amazing and to have it handed to us for free is just unbelievable. We are spoiled! I'm quite certain my cookies have won him over. He's hooked! So are we! :)

Shrimp caught this morning in the gulf and hand delivered.

Freshly caught, marinaded and seared to perfection tuna.

Luckily for us, the boys really don't care about the seafood. They do enjoy getting cozy on the couch.

And hanging out with Dad. Axel is addicted to Mike and wants to spend every minute with him. It's really cute to watch. He was so proud to be wearing the same pants as Daddy and sitting just like him too.

Lucas, Betsy, Sarah & Axel being nutty!

Living in Floria has not stopped us from traveling to see dear friends. I'm not sure what's going on with Lucas and Sarah (yellow tank top) but this was taken late Sunday after an entire weekend hanging out with the Cobb's. Lucas and Sarah, who have been friends since birth, had decided Saturday night that they would get married the next day. Rings had been picked out, plans had been made and even the perfect kiss practiced. Sunday morning, not one peep about the big wedding. We had to ask. They decided that they were too young to get married and called it off. Phew! We weren't ready either. We did have a wonderful weekend building card board arcades, running a race for Children's Advocacy, watching movies, scooter riding, sprinkler time and so much more packed into a few days in Huntsville, AL. Thank you Cobb's! What a treat to spend such a great weekend together.

Easter SUNDAY!

Easter had arrived and from the looks of things, so did the Easter Bunny. This year he put a little twist on things. I special note explaining that there would be a prize if the golden egg was found. Both Axel and Lucas received the note so we assumed there were 2 golden eggs to be found. The hunt was on but not before checking out our baskets

Real gold paint! Lucas was amazed!

Axel was amazed by the gooey surprise in his cadbury egg.

He wasn't so sure and let Mommy finish it. :)

Getting distracted with candy, the boys almost forgot about the big egg hunt.

Quickly, efforts were redirected and a certain 6 year old needed to be reminded that the eggs down low were for his little brother.

Axel, after finding the first egg, was happy to sit and eat.

He soon learned that he would miss out if he didn't hurry the eggs would be gone. He grabbed his basket and was off.

Lucas needed no basket.

After almost all the eggs were found, the golden eggs were still missing???

With talk about how these would be harder to find and a little help from Daddy, the first egg was found.

Next to the egg was a clue about where the prize would be hidden. Axel found his under his bed! It was a little robotic Lightning McQueen car.

It didn't take long for Lucas to find the 2nd golden egg...that sneaky bunny did a pretty good job!

He was psyched!

His clue lead him to the laundry room!

He could not believe that he got the Angry Birds board game. He's been saving his money for this for weeks!

We then shifted gears to the Easter events. We decided to go to Seaside for their 10,000 egg hunt. Daddy was gone the day before (bringing home a new car) so he was eager to cheer on his boys during the hunt. We got there early and played football and Frisbee. Axel has an arm!

So does Lucas and he can really put a great spin on that football.

We watched the egg handlers distribute their eggs.

And waited patiently....or tried too. Meanwhile, you could hear every parent brief their child on which technique would surely result in the most eggs. "Run past the close ones, down the hill and grab as many as possible!" :)

Axel was ready!

Or so we thought until he tripped out the gate and wanted nothing to do with the egg hunt. Mommy managed to grab a few for the basket so he wasn't without. Proof that a zillion egg hunts on Easter weekend was an over kill. However, now we know where to go and not to go next year.

He quickly recovered and it was back to Frisbee.

Wow! Mom was there too! Thanks for the photos Axel.

This photo was from Grandpa J. There are a number of little food stands all run out of Airstream Trailers. Grandpa J LOVES Airstreams!

We even took time to smell (touch) the flowers.

And check out the beautiful beach! What a gorgeous day it was.

We then decided to hit one more event at the Harborwalk in Destin. There was music, kids crafts and the Easter Bunny.

Daddy laughed at Mommy who struggled trying to hula-hoop. He quickly realized that he wasn't much better. :) Didn't help that they were bent and too small but point proven. If only I were quicker with the video camera!

We then headed home to relax and soak in all that sugar

!