Vacation Update

We're continuing to have a wonderful time!! The weather has cooperated perfectly. One might think it would be unbearably hot in south Florida this time of the year, but surprisingly the temps have only been in the high 80's. We've seen some amazing cloud formations pretty much each day, but really haven't had much rain here on the island. Naples, which is just north of Marco, has not fared so well, so the thunderstorms are spotty and isolated indeed. This is perfect beach and pool weather, for sure!!

We had a great 4th of July -- but we've NEVER before seen so many people on the beach here -- it was literally wall to wall canopies, umbrellas, chairs, etc for as far as you could see in both directions. Turns out Marco Island is THE place to be for the 4th of July holiday! We watched fireworks from the balcony of the condo as they were shot off a barge about a mile out in the ocean. Very cool.

I added a slide show of our July 3 offshore fishing excursion. A great time was had by all (Oma stayed home -- the captain could only take 6 passengers max). We all caught plenty of fish (Carly caught the most if you can believe!). Alex hooked a 5 foot SHARK and took part in a valiant fight to reel him in, but the shark snapped the line about 15 minutes later. DARN! Not sure I would have wanted that thing IN the boat, though, anyway! ha. Mike later hooked AND successfully reeled in a 2.5 foot Bonnet Shark. Nick caught a good sized Pompano (for you fish eaters, that is good eating!) and I caught a small Robin Fish (poisonous -- not good eating). I lost track of the number of fish we hooked that day -- many of them were poisonous catfish that we had to throw back. The excursion was something we've never done before and was something we definitely will do again. Enjoy the slide show!

We went to Naples on July 5, hit the mall, a few stores, and ate at one of our favorite places -- P F Chang's. YUM! Today we had another beach day .... and tomorrow, more of the same. Ya gotta love a beach vacation, huh? I could stay here forever .......

Will post more soon!