The Florida Keys

Off the Florida Keys there isn't a place called Kokomo but that didn't stop us from having a grand time!!

Monday of last week we headed down to the Keys for 2 days of Lobstering.  They open up the season for 2 days before the official Lobster season opens up in August and the commercial fisherman come in.

All of us girls painted our toes and the truck was packed full!!  There was hardly room for the kites to be packed on the top!

We left Monday around noon and after a quick trip through McDonalds drive thru and a nice round of naps we ...

we made a fun stop in the Everglades to see if we could see any alligators.  When we stopped at this place a few years ago we probably saw close to a dozen alligators.

This time there was only one friendly fella.  Can you see him?

A pretty view of the old railroad track that connected the islands.

After 7 hours of driving we made it to the campground.  

General store.

Our campsite was right on the water!  

With a little bit of teamwork the tent got set up!

The one thing we forgot was a hammer!  A nice piece of coral and a trusty headlamp and we finished the job.

After the kiddos were asleep in the tent Derek and I sat outside and watched the moon over the water.

As we sat this deer came up and ate the cereal off the ground that the boys had dropped.  We quickly learned these deer were not afraid of people and were actually kind of annoying.

Sound asleep!

This was so nice to have for Ivy.  She loved being able to crawl around and stand after being in the boat all day.

Our campsite.

View from our campsite.

Tuesday morning we headed down to Key West.

We saw the mile 0 marker (pic taken from the truck)

and the southern most point.

The kids had fun looking at the water.

This lighthouse was kind of in the middle of Key West not on the water.

Smile!

Sweet girls.

I love how the clear and glassy the water is.

We stopped at this museum.  It was filled with stuff from sunken boats.  The lady had been a diver on one wreck for 15 years.  

She gave all the kids a coin from a wreck.  

Look at our cool gold coins!

On the way back we came across this sign...maybe were Derek and I will retire:)

When we got back we got our boat and headed out for a bit.  Ivy wasn't overly impressed at first.

Derek taking the first dive.

Everyone ready to get in the water!  Levi insisted on wearing the goggles even though they were as big as his whole face:)

Mya and Derek looking for fish.  Mya got the snorkeling right away.

Ah yes!  Life is much better with a nap!

Levi loved being in the water!

Some more pictures of deer.

They would come right up to the table and try to eat things off of it.

When we were in the boat it was very pleasant because of the wind.  We had a good 5min walk to the bathroom and just beyond that was the store and pool.  We cooled down with some popsicles before heading to the pool that felt so good!

Ivy was quite impressed with her taste.

smacking her lips and very disappointed when it was all gone!

The Guenthers got to the campsite Tuesday afternoon.  They joined us at the pool around 8.  We got out at 9 and none of us had eaten supper yet.  We decided to try out a place that was recommended by some locals called The No Name Pub.  We walked in at 9:45 and had to order quick as they stopped cooking at 10.  The kids all did great considering the time of night.

Sweet kiddos.

Wednesday morning we were back on the boat by 8:30.  When everyone is up by 6:15 why not...notice Levi is out cold!

 Derek showing the kids a Lobster he got.  I think this one was too small and had to go back.

 and a fish he speared!

 The water was beautiful and in some places so clear.  When I took this picture Derek and Mya were out snorkeling and Cam and Noah were spearfishing.  Cam shot a Barracuda and was trying to fight it.  At one point it jumped probably a good 6ft in the air.  He had Noah get back in the boat which at the time I didn't know was because Barracuda's tend to attract sharks.  Derek and Mya were swimming back to the boat and all of a sudden Cam comes to the surface of the water and yells shark!  I was screaming to Derek to get Mya and him in the boat and Cam swam so fast back to their boat and practically jumped out of the water.  Needless to say the shark got the fish and we moved on from that spot!

While the guys went back out on the boat later that afternoon we took the kids to get popsicles again and to the pool.  You should have seen all the looks we got!

When we got back from the pool the guys had started the grill for some yummy!! lobster that we had caught!  So good.  We also had fish and potatoes.

Thursday morning Ivy and I took a walk and watched the sunrise:)  A little early for my liking but beautiful!

 It was cool to see how by the 3rd day Toby really got the hand of snorkeling and loved seeing all the fish.

 Mya was like a little fish and went all over the place!

 Cheese!

 Even I got in the water to snorkel.  I enjoyed it but I just kept thinking a shark was going to come and eat me!  Where we were you could see Lobster holes.  I didn't actually see any but I did see some fish:)

  This was the last place we went before heading home.  The water was beautiful!!  The pictures don't do it justice.  It was crystal clear!

 Not a bad view for an afternoon nap!

 The area we were in is protected and this guy was telling us all different kind of info and gave us some info and a map.

 I went out with Mya and Jami and Noah.  When we were quite far from the boats I saw a Barracuda.  After the incident from the day before with the Barracuda I headed a little closer to the boats:)

 Pretty girl!

 Ivy thought it was pretty cool too!

 After that we headed back to camp and packed up.  On the way out we got a piece of Key Lime Pie.  It was yummy!  We arrived home at 1:30a.m. Friday morning tired but well worth it!

 This is what our kids looked like from all the no-see-um bites!  They are covered from head to toe!  I feel so bad for them.  I have them too and when they itch it is awful.  A fun time was had by all and it has been requested that we go back in August:)  Maybe next summer!