Manatee Encounter

There is a protected cove at Sebastian Inlet called Bathtub Beach.  The water is super shallow and not very choppy.  Lots of moms bring their kids there to swim in the warm, clear water.  Cutie Pie’s play group met there last Thursday.  Because it’s summer the older children got to come for the fun too.  Wildman was thrilled to play with some of his buds.

One of the highlights of the afternoon came when several manatees swam up.  Wildman and his friend, H, were actually able to pet one before it swam way.  So cool!  You can see a big white scar from a boat propeller injury in the first photo…

We stayed at the beach for over four hours.  The boys were completely exhausted by the time we hopped in the car for the half hour ride back home.  Have I told you lately that I love summer?  Long days spent swimming to exhaustion with good friends.  It doesn’t get any better.

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Family Tennis Outing

Our family rode bikes over to the local tennis courts to practice hitting against the wall on Sunday afternoon.  The boys each received tennis rackets for their birthdays from J’s mom and wanted to try them out.  There’s a small fee to play on the actual courts but it’s free to practice on the wall of the racquetball building.  Since our boys have never really hit tennis balls before, we figured we’d save playing on an actual court (and bothering the serious players) for another day.

The racquetball building did a great job of blocking the wind.  But as you can see from my hair in the above photo that it was still a little gusty.

J’s bike had a flat tire so he ended up riding his skateboard over.  I didn’t realized he’d also stashed a banana with our gear 🙂  He’d forgotten to eat breakfast, apparently.

The boys did surprisingly well hitting the tennis balls.  They were able to hit them when we dropped them.  It was so cute to watch them run to hit the rebound.  Wildman and Cutie Pie also made excellent ball boys.  It saved J and I few trips around the building to pick up our Wilson 4’s…

J used to be on the tennis team in high school.  He still has it!

Wildman found the dart guns at the bottom of Cutie Pie’s backpack and decided those would be much more fun.  🙂

We went by the shallow canal near the tennis courts to see if the manatees were there.  Indeed, the canal was thick with them.  Poor things don’t do well in the cold weather.  We’ve been have some very cold nights (for us) lately that dip into the 20s… I really hope they all survive.

We ended up hitting tennis balls for close to two hours.  I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it.  J and I used to play every night in college, especially in the winter time.  It brought back fond memories and a sore right shoulder on Monday morning 🙂

Sunday Evening Stroll

It poured sideways on Sunday afternoon.  It did not look like we would be able to visit a park or the beach like we had planned.  We resigned ourselves to indoor fun in the form of board games and playing with toys.  We ordered pizza for dinner and dined while it drizzled outside.

The storm eventually subsided leaving everything drenched.  But the sun finally came out when the clouds parted making for a lovely sunset.  J suggested a walk around the neighborhood before bedtime.  We all readily agreed!

We walked up to the local ball field to look for manatees in the small canal that runs along its west border.  We didn’t see any but we did meet a friendly, raccoon-tailed cat on our way.  The boys hopped out of the jogging stroller to pet him.  Much to my surprise the cat allowed it.  The boys love cats.

We headed back home just before dark.  The boys talked. the. entire. time.  *sigh*  Sometimes I wish for a peace and quiet when we walk…