Spring Break

This is where I am right now. Boca Grande, Florida. I came down here with my sister, Ashlee, and niece Blair! 

This is my grandpa's back yard. The same grandpa that took me on the cruise in Europe back in August. You can click on the "European River Cruise" link and read all the awesome posts that Josh wrote on that trip. He's such a good writer!

Back to the backyard... it's the coolest backyard ever. Water, Boats, and Manatee. 

I LOVE Manatee! I'm going to try to get them to come up to the dock so I can get good pictures of them. They are in the middle of their mating season... so they are only interested in one thing... and that is not the fresh, sweet water coming from the water hose! 

I'm looking at two manatees right now. They're so big! They just lay out in the middle of the water, soaking up all the sun.
 I got to swim with three manatees one year when I was here. I'm pretty sure one of the baby ones used my leg as a scratching post. Then I got on it's back and it swam away really fast, bucking me off like a little pony!

Hopefully they'll get interested in the sweet hose water over then next couple days!

We went to the beach this morning with Pop to look for shells. Blair loved running down the beach!

The water is gorgeous and freezing!

I'll be back another day to post an update! We'll be here until Tuesday and then I'm going to visit my college roommate in Tampa! We're going to the barn that she works at and and I'll get to ride some horses with her!! :)

OH!! I got a new pet!!! I know y'all are thinking 'this girl can't have enough animals!'  My other sister, Linsey, is definitely going to write on here how crazy I am. First it was Opie and now this new creature! I am still trying to think up a name for her... her name when she came to our farm was/is Jenny, but I want to change it. I think I'm going to wait to see what her personality is like. She came the day I left, so I still haven't gotten to meet her yet! I can't wait to meet her. And her original name is a slight clue of what kind of animal she is! :)

Packing... check.

So, I'm basically all packed and ready to go minus a few things! I'm getting excited!

I still have a few more things to fit in there... but hopefully it'll all fit and be under 40 pounds! I want to save room to bring stuff back!! :)

And yes all my clothes are in plastic bags! If you ever plan a trip to Europe or somewhere that you will be for a good bit... then I definitely recommend this method!

1. You won't get shampoo all over your whole wardrobe if the bottles decided to explode!

2. You can pack day by day! Very cool.

3. Everything is nice and compact. I push all the air out and it makes for more room!

4. Awesome people pack in zip lock bags.

Here are a few things I'm taking with me to keep me company! :)

I don't know about you... but I can't sleep when there is snoring going on! I'm pretty sure that Pop snores. These little fellas will be gooood company, if I decide they should be!

My best friend, Leslie, let me borrow this book! It is going to be a movie soon, so I'm spoiling it and reading the book. I probably shouldn't because I don't like movies after I read their books... Oh well. 

I'm also taking "Where are you Now?" by... Mary Higgins Clark. I'm in the middle of it... and it's pretty good!

Ok, so I'm not taking these... but they are my favorite and I couldn't resist taking a picture of them!

This is the purse I bought not too long ago to take along. It has super security for all those nasty pickpocketers! It has the flap, then a zipper, then more zipper!

It kind of looks black in this picture... but it's really a dark purple. I like it  a lot.

While I am gone, Josh may get on here and post a few blogs for me! I asked him to be my 'guest blogger' and he said "I miiiight." So we'll see!!

I will also go ahead and write a few blogs about a couple of different things and schedule them to automatically post throughout the weeks.

They'll be about horses, art, fish, and something special!

I hope everyone has a great two weeks!! I'm not sure if I will have internet, but if I do then I'll update if I can! We are actually going to be on a River Boat going down the Rhine River! The website says they have free, wireless internet via satellite... so we'll see how it goes!

8 days and counting!

Until my grandfather & I will be here..

and here...

and here...

and here!

and 9 other beautiful places!

More info to come!! I can't let all the fun stuff out of the bag... I won't have anything to talk about this coming week when I don't have to study!!! Until then... I'll be studying. Last final on Tuesday. Then I'm free!! 

I obviously borrowed these photos!! :)