Florida Part 3

On our last full day in Florida just the 3 of us headed out to the aquarium. 

It turns out our membership here in Boston got us in free!

Checking out the turtles

Posing with Grandma Barbie's dinner almost every night, grouper.

The jellyfish were hauntingly beautiful.

Ally always worries a bit about sharks.

But not sting rays. She was at the touch pool for a long time.

I think she pet every one.

Then we did a fossil activity. We purchase a bucket of sand filled with fossilized shark and fish teeth and bones. 

Sift thru the sand using the artificial stream.

And see what you get. Ally was her typical patient self and took forever to complete this. I think she poured the sand in a cup at a time. Took her at least 6 rounds to empty her bucket. I would have dumped it all in at once. Her patience always amazes me.

Feeding fish is always fun.

Then we walked over to the turtle and manatee building. Ally's ankle was really hurting at that point so I carried her on my shoulders.

Giant Sea Turtles the same age and size as Becky. Really they were, born in 1978 and their quoted weight the same as Becky. The museum docent kept repeating it over and over again. Becky was not amused. But I was.

Gentle sea mammals the manatees! So cool. They share a tank with a turtle. They were eating when we saw them, heads of lettuce floating in the tank.

After the aquarium we stopped for a bagel break.

Ally and Becky swam for a while in the afternoon, but eventually the pool got too crowded for Ally.

It was our last night on Siests Key so of course we had to go down to the beach for sunset.

Ally looks so silly here, I was trying to make her not squint with the sun in her eyes. It's just looks goofy.

Silhouette artsy pictures of Ally above and Becky below.

Hipster Becky actually!

Ally kept hugging my mom. She sure misses her. 

They let me pose with them.

I had to beg Ally to do a handstand, just one for a picture. Her ankle hurts so much she didn't do a single cartwheel or handstand on the beach. The first time ever this has happened. It kind of breaks my heart how much the pain has changed her from her normal self.

Aunt Martha was cold and walked back towards the car, but th 4 of us took a selfie! Or is it a groupie?

On my shoulders again to watch the last bit of sunset. It was beautiful as always.

Finally the sun set.

Ally and I went for a swim in the dark. We had the whole pool to ourselves, and I didn't need to worry about sunscreen!

We brought Ally's mermaid tail with us to Florida and she swam in it every day. She was such a good sport and demonstrated to many people how it worked. The last morning I was leaving the pool and two little girls, about 2 and 3 years old were coming to the pool. One girl ran ahead, she saw Ally in the pool, and ran back to her mom and said, "mama, mama, the mermaid is there! The mermaid is at the pool again" I quick told Ally and she put on her tail and swam around for the girls as they arrived at the pool and got in the water with her. Their mom said the girls had been talking about the mermaid since they saw Ally the day before. It was so sweet. 

After swimming we finished packing and had time for a game of Uno with Grandma and Aunt Martha before we had to leave for the airport.

And a few more sunset pictures to end this long post. It was a really fantastic week.