The Zak's visit the Zak's... again

This past weekend we headed down to North Fort Myers to visit the (Ben) Zak's and company. We had a great time hanging out at home, playing with the kids, and exploring the area.

Looking for wildlife at the slough.

 Green heron hunting for dinner.

 Some of the terrain; thank goodness all the trails were boardwalks!

 

 

Ah, the wit of a 5-year-old :) Lydia was very tired at this point (as you can tell by the hair-twirling), and for those of you who don't know, she calls her pacifier her 'pi'. She had a pink one which we lost but now she calls every pacifier a 'pink pi'.

 We stopped here for supper one night after the boys did a little fishin'.

Cereal time.

Sprinkler time.

Getting some help opening a birthday gift from Uncle Benny and Auntie Janna, which she promptly wanted to try on :)

 Attempting a cousins picture:

 Not too bad...

 And she's off.

 We are going to miss them terribly :( 

On our way home on Monday we had made plans to spend the day at Siesta Key, which, according to Dr. Beach, is one of the best beaches in the country. And you know it's reliable since he's a doctor and all.

It may seem crowded now, but remember this was only a Monday! Yikes.

Beautiful water, shallow enough for little kids, sand the consistency of all-purpose flour.

Dr. Beach was right.

Lydia loved the sand almost as much as playing in the water, which is good because despite our warm winter, the Gulf is still just a little chilly. We'd have to drag her out when her lips started going purple.

It was an especially windy day which brought some cool kites to the beach. Lydia called this one a 'snake'.

 We stayed til sunset since this will probably be our last 'beach day' before we leave. Lydia had a short nap in the morning in the car but didn't sleep at all in the afternoon. By 6pm she was quite loopy.

 If you ever have the chance to go, we highly highly recommend it!

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edit: Forgot to mention - I had so many toppings left over from the Elmo cupcakes I decided to bring these and Rice Krispie treats. The Oreo's and Reese Pieces, however, were eaten. Mostly by me.