Cocoa Beach and Jetty Park

I have missed the beach so much. It is so calming. We planned extra days to our vacation in case the shuttle launch got delayed. It launched right on time so now we have the time to enjoy the other things about Florida. We bought one of those sun shade umbrellas -it was great! Allowed us to stay on the beach all day without getting to hot or burned. The first thing the girls wanted to do was build a sandcastle.

Rebekah makes friends wherever she goes. First she wanted to bury herself (I turned her and her friend into mermaids). Later she played tag with the waves and this other little boy.

Emma helped with the sandcastle, but mostly she just wanted to use her kick board and catch some waves (she in the center).

Here is your proof that I went in the water. I love just standing in one spot gazing at the water and letting the waves lap against my legs, slowly dragging the sand from under my feet out to the ocean. We spotted this cute little sand crab as he came out of this hole.

That afternoon we drove out to Jetty Park. We saw so much wildlife!! Tons of sea turtles, a half dozen spotted rays, flocks of pelicans, and a few dolphins (lower right of 4th picture). There was also a manatee that came up right below us. While we were watching all this a cruise ship set out to sea (that counts as wildlife too, doesn't it?).

We had to literally DRAG Emma away from watching the dolphins. On our walk back to the car she said, "I am full of joy ..." That pretty much sums up a perfect day.