Arggh! There be Pirates About.

This time - we rolled into the south side of Clearwater beach, Florida.

It's been very nice here in January. The evenings are getting down into the 50's and 60's - even the 40's if we're lucky. The days are in the mid-60's to upper 70's. It's very much like an Oregon spring or fall - I won't say summer - because it hasn't really been super hot.

Even with the mild temperatures, though, it's still got a muggy, oppressive feeling in the air. There's not like a cool, crisp, fresh feeling - except for the very coldest of nights. I very rarely walk outside and am blown away with a fantastic breeze that makes me want to bundle up.

Anyhow...

We went to the beach, and the water was actually cold. It was more like - let your feet get numb from the coldness and then you can walk in deeper - cold. Which is definitely more like the Pacific Northwest. Very few people were even putting their feet in the water this time.

Here's a shot of the beach - looking south from the rock jetty and the causeway, which separates north from south.


Here's the causeway.


The rock jetty is pretty cool - but they don't let you walk out on it for fear of sneaker waves or something like that.


While there - Kaitlyn got the crazy idea to build a moat right beside the shoreline. She was in desperate need of help, so I jumped in to give a hand. Finally, it got so bad that we even needed Keeley to help out, as well.




Finally - we achieved success.

Kait was so happy, she busted out in song.
Reminiscent of 'The Sound of Music'.


And Keeley was off, in an instant, planting her garden - which we had so rudely interrupted her progress on.


However, we didn't get much of a chance to bask in our glorious success - because a pirate ship appeared out of nowhere and threatened our entire clan. I'm sure they were shouting a bunch of obscenities and other mean, piratey things. So we decided to pack up and leave real quick like.

All-in-all it was a pretty fun day on the beach.


Speaking of pirates...

If you haven't had a chance to read 'Peter and the Starcatchers', and 'Peter and the Shadow-Thieves' - By Dave Barry, to your kids...

DO IT!

The stories - about Peter, the Lost Boys, Captain Hook, and Tinker Bell before they became the characters you know and love - are truly amazing.

Well worth every family moment together.