beach-bound!

Hi chickadees! Sorry I've been MIA for the last few days - we're currently at the beach, and internet access here is kind of spotty.

We are at a beach called Rosemary - it's like two miles down the road from Seaside. Rosemary's generally a looooot more quiet than Seaside, but yesterday it was absolutely packed! Apparently a lot of people have left today though - literally half the crowd is gone. I'm a fan.

The weather down here is gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. It's mostly mid-seventies, getting up to eighty around the hottest part of the day, and there's a breeze down on the beach, which is perfect. And the water, you guys - the water is like something out of a painting. It's totally clear and a beautiful aquamarine color that just ripples over the sand. So beautiful.

Today Dad and I rented a sea kayak and went out into the waves while Mom and Emma stayed on the beach and fried - I mean, "tanned." And guess what? We were kayaking with dolphins! Bottlenosed dolphins, they must have been out there feeding or something (we could see them slapping their tails from a distance - they do that to stun the fish), but we were right up in there with them. Dolphins are positively GIANT. It's unbelievable. When you're right up next to them in the water and their shadows are just thick and so powerful under the water - it's absolutely mind-blowing. One of them swam under our kayak a few times. We even saw a momma and her baby! They would surface together with their little fins right next to each other, and the other two bigger ones would flank them.

Anyways, it was awesome, until I got seasick, haha. Like throwing up over the side of the kayak. So dad brought me back in and took mom out, but they didn't see any dolphins.

Other things we've been seeing? Jellyfish! Mom and I saw a Portuguese Man-o-War yesterday, floating way out in the ocean, and Dad and I have been seeing a ton of little guys called comb jellies. Apparently they don't sting - Dad held a tiny one in his hands - but I brushed up against one and swore it got me, haha. Anyways. Stinging or not, they're not exactly things I'd like to hang out with. I love looking at 'em though.

Guys, I miss Sarasota so much, it's ridiculous. I mean, I like beaches okay, but Sarasota Bay at sunset was the most wonderful thing ever. There would be pelicans and egrets out fishing out the sandbars and mullet jumping out of the water and horseshoe crabs dragging themselves in the shallows, and it was like something out of a travel brochure. I really, really want to go back. That program was amazing, and it's times like this that I miss Sarasota like I miss breathing.