Siesta Key Beach, FL

When I visited my grandparents in Florida every year, we always made sure to spend a day up at Siesta Key Beach - the white sand beach. We didn't do a whole lot of swimming, but we just enjoyed the day together getting some sun, reading a book, and talking. Some of my favorite memories of my times with them are from those days in Florida.

When we were decided what we'd do on our vacation to Florida, I told Justin that we had to go over to Siesta Key for a day. Justin is a guy who will do anything to spend a day at the beach, so I got no arguments from him : )

Justin and the older boys were instantly on the hunt for shark teeth. They've heard stories from me, my brothers, and my cousins about how many shark teeth we've found on our trips to Florida. They found none ; / (I found one on the path back to the car when we were leaving. Justin was not impressed!)

Hayden had fun using Tanner's skim board like a surf board. I don't think he got out of the water but for a few minutes the whole time we were there.

It was sprinkling a little bit when we first go there, so Lucas dubbed himself the guard of the umbrella that was keeping our clothes dry.

Lucas was at first very leery of being buried in the sand, but he loved it when we were done!

We literally had to pull him out of the sand because he wouldn't get up : )

Then, they decided it was my turn...

When the boys took a short break from the water to eat a sandwich, they each wrote their name in the sand:

Tanner

JJ

Hayden

Lucas

My mom, Justin, Tanner, and Hayden were on a mission to find "things" in the water - sand dollars, sea shells, etc. My mom even discovered a full conch shell that Justin dug up.

Lucas and JJ were happiest playing in the sand.

The "mother duck" with his three babies all in a row : )

When Paige heard we were going to Siesta Key, she asked if we could bring her back some "sugar sand" (it's even smoother than sugar and definitely white) for she and Rob to use in their wedding. Lucas, being the committed ringbearer, worked with JJ to collect the perfect sand.

All four boys finally got in the water together when my mom asked them to come swim with her.

Even Lucas, who is never too thrilled with the ocean, swam for quite a while with my mom. He didn't like the salt water. He said that he didn't like it going in his mouth when he talked because it tasted like hot peppers. JJ's solution - he told Lucas to "shut up then". He must have taken the advice to heart because he loved swimming with my mom and floating on the waves. He definitely did little talking though : )

It was a great day that we spent together and I'm so glad that my kids and I now share memories of such a great place.