Melbourne Beach, Fl (minus one)

I decided to the name this post based on the fact that although we had a wonderful trip, someone was missing. It was so much fun and so many neat things happened on the trip. However, the void was obvious. One member of our group was missing. My Grandmother, who passed away just days before our arrival. 

She would have loved it. Sitting on the balcony enjoying the view. Laughing at everyone's antics. Marveling at the incredible bond between her first born son and her great-grandson. She was missed greatly. If we had our way, she would have been there. But God had other plans. We are so thankful that although we miss her, she is at peace in her Lord's loving arms. 

It was a terrific trip! We are truly blessed by my parents generosity. They planned the trip, rented the house, bought airline tickets and treated us to some delicious dinners! The house was gorgeous and very fancy. The weather was much better than we thought it would be. Because of tropical storm Debbie, we were expecting a lot of rain. The storm hit our area later than expected so we enjoyed plenty of sunny days. 

Since June is nesting season for sea turtles, we were really hopeful that we would see one. Melbourne/Cocoa Beach are places that usually have a large number of nesting turtles. We were absolutely thrilled when we saw one come ashore the very first night at the beach house. She came up fairly early, so Aaron was able to see her too! Every morning when we would wake up, the beach was completely covered with tracks. It was like an invasion every night! We saw quite a few Loggerhead sea turtles over the week. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. 

Sea turtles weren't the only animals we saw. There are a number of birds in the area including: Osprey (they were all over the place!), Black Vultures, Turkey Vultures, White Ibis, Least Terns, Black Skimmers, Wood Storks and White Egrets. One of the days we went to a little lagoon. There were two Manatee just hanging out in the shallow water! We also saw dolphins near the lagoon and out in the Atlantic. Being an animal lover, seeing so many critters was a real treat! 

Aaron had a good time. He was a good little traveler especially for an almost three year old. He enjoyed swimming in the pool, playing in the ocean, building sand castles and digging holes. On the last day, we took him to Gatorland. He really enjoying seeming all the alligators, crocodiles, snakes and birds. 

John spent 90% of the trip fishing. I am exaggerating, kind of... he did fish a lot! He caught a couple of Blue fish, a couple of Whiteys (which were very tasty!) and had a shark on the line! Even though he didn't land the shark, he was still excited to have hooked one. Also, he had no idea what he would have done if he had gotten the shark on land so maybe it was a good thing it got away!

Friday we had a lovely memorial service for Grandma Sarah. It was simple, just a small gathering of family to remember her and say goodbye. Although it was sad, it was also beautiful because it brought family together. We don't see these family members very often so in a way it was a blessing that Grandma Sarah brought us all together. It was really great to spend time with aunts and uncles and cousins, some of whom I haven't seen in over 25 years!

Although it wasn't the vacation we had planned, it was still a wonderful time together. None of us wanted the trip to end. We made a lot of memories and had a lot of fun!