Florida...Ave, Alligators, Awesome beaches :)

It is early November and we have already had at least 3 snowstorms--one was even in September!  Whenever it is snowing outside, (like it is as I type this), it makes me think of Florida and how much I love the warm sunshine, white sands, and salty seawater.  So today as I look at a blizzard outside of my window and long for the warmth of Florida, I will finally get around to posting our photos of our September trip to that tropical paradise!

Our reason for the trip was two-fold:
1)  We wanted to take Joseph and Michael to see Ave Maria University, a beautiful, traditional Catholic college founded by Tom Monaghan (the generous, faith-filled Catholic millionaire who started Domino's pizza and owned the Detroit Tigers for many years).  Ave Maria has a great reputation for being a conservative Catholic school; plus, it also has a baseball team, so Joseph was interested in checking it out and then applying there to see what scholarships they offer.  We wanted both boys to experience what it would be like to visit a college that was far away from home and in a totally different climate so that they could start seriously pondering the different college options that are out there.

2)  We wanted to spend some fun, quality time with our two oldest boys before they graduate.  The reality that both Joseph and Michael will soon be out of our home and starting the grand adventure of independent adulthood is suddenly upon us, and we want to treasure these last months with them.  We thought Florida would be the perfect spot for a fun vacation with our teenagers.  We were able to spend lots of time at the beach relaxing, we arranged a fishing excursion to catch big salt-water fish (including SHARK!), we took the boys to a Yankees vs. Rays game, we ate authentic seafood and even an alligator appetizer, and just had a fun time being together.  I hope it was a trip they will never forget and helped them to start discerning where God is leading them in regards to college, career, and vocation in life.

Here are the photo highlights of the trip:

Joseph,  Michael, and Paul at Ave Maria University,

with the gorgeous church in the background.

The noon Mass we attended at Ave Maria Parish was beautiful and traditional.

A clam and sand dollar that Michael found alive under the water.

I had never seen a "live" sand dollar before!  So cool!

Michael got the award for finding the more ocean treasures!

He found lots of sand dollars hiding under the sand,

and he even found a starfish.

The starfish Michael found while snorkeling.

Looks like it's "waving" to the camera :)

Paul and I enjoying fun in the sun

and the cool treasures Michael found in the ocean.

Joseph snorkeling on the left,

Michael being a typical teenager on the right.

The boys and I at the Rays vs. Yankees game!

So much fun!!

The Rays won in overtime so we sure got our money's worth!

You could touch real rays at the stadium.

We got to see Aaron Judge, which is is Nathanael's and Isaiah's favorite player.

You can see his picture on the huge screen.

Hard to see clearly, but this is Aaron Judge at bat.

We also were able to see Aroldis Chapman and Adam Ottavino warming up in the bull pen.

Aroldis Chapman is the Yankees closer who has a 100+ MPH fast ball!

Our seats had an awesome view of the Yankees bull pen.

The boys chillaxin' on the white sands of St. Pete's beach.

A seagull by the shore--even that is a fun sight for Montana tourists!  :)

Paul was the first to spot this "dark shape" in the water..

We weren't sure what it was until it came up for air...

It's a MANATEE!

Literally a few yards away from us!

Michael observing this gentle giant of the sea.

It slowly continued on its journey, so we were able to watch this majestic animal for many minutes.

Once the manatee swam away, Paul felt safe to get in the water again :)

Heading out of the harbor for our for our fishing adventure!

Almost immediately we started catching fish,

and we continued to catch them constantly for about 4 hours!

  

Michael with a Jack fish, a fun, fighting fish to reel in.

Joseph with a grouper.

A bonnethead shark we spotted in the shallow waters.

Heading out to deeper waters.  

You can see the "Sunshine Skyway Bridge" in the distance.

Michael caught a beautiful Spanish Mackerel, which were also fun fighters to reel in.

A Sail Catfish that we caught and had to be extremely careful NOT TO TOUCH.

The sail tip is extremely venomous.  Glad we didn't need to take a trip to the ER!

Michael caught the first shark of the day...a sand shark.

The blood and the scary eyes make even this small sand shark look frightening (to me, anyway) :}

Joseph pulling in a black tip shark---super fun to reel in!

Joseph with the blacktip shark.

Joseph feeling the shark's rough, sandpaper-like skin before setting it free.

Joseph about to release a Ladyfish.

Michael with "Captain Kenny" and the biggest catch of the day:

a blacktip shark.

A close-up of the blacktip shark's teeth.

Joseph taking a break from fishing to get a good view.

Our favorite food experience of the trip where we tasted Gator Bites for the first time.

Alligator tastes delicious, and it's the only place I want to see a gator...on my plate! :)

Here you can see a couple of men kiteboarding in the St. Pete's sunset.

And here is another beautiful sunset with someone kayaking in the distance.

Michael skipping some shells into the surf.

In the evenings the waves became bigger and more majestic (but harder to snorkel in!)

I am eager to visit these waves again and hear the sound of the surf upon the shore.

Perhaps one of our sons will attend Ave Maria University or some other coastal college 

so that I can visit the ocean quite often :)  

A girl can dream, can't she?

Totus Tuus, ~Maria

August: a blessing and a blur

I'm a bit behind in blogging again, but it's fun to upload these pictures and be reminded what a blessed and busy summer we had.  August is our only month free of baseball, so that is always when we do our summer travels.  This August was so much fun, but we packed in a lot of fun in a short period of time, so it went by like a blur!  Here are the highlights...

Summer wouldn't be complete without doing outdoor chores :)

And this chore was actually fun for the boys.  They went on a thistle-picking adventure and they picked over 100 of them in one day!  They had fun counting them when they were finished and finding out which one was the tallest :)

I wish I had that much fun doing MY chores! :}

Nathanael had a very special event in August when he was installed as a altar server.

I love how our church takes this role seriously and trains the servers for a week or more.

Nathanael was happy to get trained with some of his best friends from school.

It was also very special that Joseph was one of the senior servers that got to train his little brother :)

I now have 4 out of 5 sons trained to serve at the Lord's holy altar,

 and it makes my heart nearly burst with joy!  :)

The next big event in August was our vacation to South Dakota.

First, we went to the Black Hills and stayed at beautiful Sylvan Lake with some of Paul's family.

Here are our boys with their Minnesota cousins.

We were on a hike to the highest peak in South Dakota, 

although the name of the peak is now debatable :)

It used to be called Harney Peak,

but in recent years it was changed to Black Elk Peak,

which apparently caused some local controversy.

Our family at the highest point (7,244 feet about sea level) in South Dakota:  

Harney Peak or Black Elk Peak :)

The hike was 7 miles round trip and was a lovely way to get some exercise 

while getting amazing views of the Black Hills at the same time.

This is a beautiful shot of the Black Hills in the background. 

In the foreground is a pole containing "prayer flags".  I don't totally know what this tradition is all about, but I think the Lakota Sioux still come to this peak for religious ceremonies and prayers, and it must be part of their tradition to tie these flags on this pole and a few of the trees nearby.  The Lakota call this peak Hinhan Kaga (Making of Owls), but it was officially renamed recently for a Lakota Holy Man named Black Elk, who received his "great vision" from this peak in 1872.

Our little boys and their cousins floating on Sylvan Lake,

while Michael (wearing red wayyyy in the distance) is fishing.

Another shot of having fun at Sylvan Lake.

A peaceful shot of Sylvan Lake in the evening.

We stayed at very nice cabins right by the lake,

which we highly recommend and hope to do again someday.

One big highlight of our vacation for the little boys was Reptile Gardens :)

This place is a zoo full of snakes, alligators, crocodiles, spiders, and other fascinating/scary reptiles

(all the creatures my boys love and most normal people hate!) :)

They really enjoyed watching this Alligator show...

After the show, they were able to touch a baby alligator named "Fluffy."

Isaiah picked a stuffed animal alligator from the gift shop and named it "Fluffy" too :)

This photo was taken during the snake show, which was also fascinating.

I don't remember what kind of snake this was (perhaps a Kingsnake?), but I remember it was very poisonous, and I was amazed at how calm the snake trainer was!

After the snake show the boys were able to touch a big python

(or perhaps it was a boa constrictor...I'm not very good at discerning snake varieties) :}

Dominic just informed me it is a python. :)

This is a Giant Saltwater Crocodile named "Maniac."

He is 16 feet long and weighs 1350 pounds.

He is one of the largest crocodiles in captivity in the world!

I think this scary snake is called the Horned Viper.

Nathanael with a giant tortoise.

Two sweet and gentle souls :)

Our family at Mt. Rushmore.

This was as close as we could get to the famous monument because it was under construction :(

Bummer.  But we did get to eat some of the famous ice cream near their gift shop.  Yay! :)

South Dakota's state motto:  Great Faces Great Places :)

After a few days in the Black Hills we hopped in the car and drove to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

We were only able to spend a couple of days there, but the days were filled with sweet memories to last a lifetime!

It's tradition to go to Storybook Land and it never gets old no matter how old you are!

Would you stick your head in a lion's mouth for a drink of water? :)

Even the little tea cup ride was fun when you have a brother who spins it at Mach 5 the whole time! :)

And of course the boys did lots of fishing with Grandpa!

The boys were super excited to catch a huge Northern Pike!

Joseph caught the Northern Pike and I bet he will remember it forever!

Nathanael pondering the circle of life :)

Michael helped Isaiah catch a giant carp!

Lots and lots of card games were played in 2 short days! :)

We love you, Grandma and Grandpa!

Thank you for making our summers so special every year!

Your home is always the "highest" highlight of our summer. :)

Totus Tuus, 
    ~Maria