We spent the past week in the Florida Keys with family. Everyone was able to make it and we had a wonderful trip. We rented a house in Key Largo right on the Gulf.
Monday the guys went deep sea fishing. They headed out bright and early in the morning and spent half the day on the water. Chris said the water was pretty choppy. He said it wasn't like the other deep sea fishing he's done. They had their own private crew and boat. The boat never stopped moving the entire time they were out on the water. The captain said that is how to catch the bigger fish. And they did catch some big fish including a Mackerel, Black Fin Tuna, and Bonitas. They also caught some Mahi Mahi that was too small to keep and a Barracuda that isn't great to eat. We had fish for the entire week and it was delicious. 
The following day we went out on a catamaran and went snorkeling. Key Largo is the dive capitol of the world and has plenty of beautiful reefs to snorkel at. The boat took us to the John Pennekamp State Park about 8 miles off shore. It's the only underwater state park in the US. Chris and I have been a little spoiled by the snorkeling we did in the Caymans but we still had a great time. Ava even did some snorkeling. She did great! The waves didn't even bother her like we thought they might. Towards the end of the trip a mommy dolphin and her baby came to visit. They swam and played around the boat for nearly 20 minutes. Our captain said that was the first time he had ever seen a dolphin stick around for as long as it did. Chris was in the water trying to get some pictures and a few times the dolphins came up right next to him.
It just so happened to be my brothers birthday while we were on our vacation and so, of course, we had to celebrate. Bre planned a day for them while the rest of us stayed back to plan a party. That morning we took Ava to the John Pennekamp State park to play on the beach. She had so much fun jumping in the water and splashing Mimi and PopPop. Ava was so sad to leave the beach, she loves the water so much!
After the beach, we went back to the house to get dinner started and decorate the house a little bit. We planned a crab boil for dinner and it was amazing! We had a great little party for Jon, complete with fireworks he had picked up that day.
Our last day in Paradise we went to Islamorada to have lunch at a place we found called Lorelei's Restaurant. The restuarant was outside seating only next to a bay. While we ate we watched the birds and kept our eyes open for any manatee. We even had a little visitor.
After lunch we visited the Theater of the Sea. Theater of the Sea is the second oldest marine facility in the world, est. in 1946. Its natural salt water lagoon was originally a quarry that supplied rock for the famous railroad that opened the Keys to the rest of the country in the early 1900s. While there we enjoyed a swim in their private lagoon, watched a dolphin and sea lion show and wandered the 17 acre park. 
After a long day in the heat we all jumped off the dock and took a little swim. We had such a great week and were so sad to leave paradise. Until next time...
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