Florida Trip: Day 5

Sunday, March 5th, was our last full day in Florida. We spent the day with my grandparents. I again woke up early to get my run in before everyone else woke up. Since I had done speed work the day before I just went out for an easy recovery run. I went straight over to the beach and ran my entire run on the sand. I had just been talking to my grandma the day before about how I hadn't seen as much stuff washed up on the beach as I had on other beaches. That morning I saw what looked like blue jellyfish washed up on the beach. The first one I saw I mistook for a Ziploc bag that had washed ashore but then I came up on another one and stopped for a better look. They were shaped much differently than most jellyfish I have seen with more of the shape of the top of a squid than the semicircle of typical jellyfish. I was so excited to show them to Carter when we made it to the beach later in the morning. When I got back I found the kids awake and Carter reading with my grandma. I absolutely loved hearing him say, "Hey, grandma..." and then listening to him tell her stories. He sure loved her and enjoyed talking with her!

When we made it to the beach I took Carter further down the beach to show him the jellyfish I had seen. We told him the tentacles are what stings you so to really watch out for them and not to touch the jellyfish. I pushed one over using a stick for him to get a better look at it and he wanted to poke it with a stick so I let him. Elise followed us and ended up accidentally stepping on a jellyfish. Carter loved the popping sound it made so he asked to step on one and I let him since both kids were wearing shoes. Ty was really nervous about the kids around the jellyfish and I joked with him a little bit about it, saying the stings wouldn't be that serious if they did accidentally touch a tentacle. But the kids were being very careful and we were making sure they didn't touch tentacles. Later when we were back on our little patch of the beach with the kids playing in the sand, a lady stopped to tell Ty to be very careful around the jellyfish as they were Portuguese Man of War Jellyfish and they could be deadly. Ty gave me an "I told you so!" look as he started googling Portuguese Man of War Jellyfish. We confirmed through pictures that they definitely were that species of jellyfish. They were listed as the most dangerous jellyfish in Florida. I was so glad we were cautious about the jellyfish tentacles even though I had been skeptical that their stings would be anything more than painful!

 

After a long morning at the beach we made it back to my grandparents' condo for lunch and naps. Our strategy of me getting Elise to sleep and then texting Ty to bring Carter in continued to work perfectly as both kids took a nice nap. When they woke up we had a relaxing afternoon of coloring and playing with toys. Then my grandma took us down to the pier to blow bubbles. Elise started throwing a fit because she didn't want to hold hands and wanted to walk on the pier alone, no way, so we headed back toward the condo. I was hopeful we might catch a glimpse of a manatee but no such luck. I had seen a few swim by the pier from afar when I was sitting on the balcony during naptime but it had probably cooled off enough that the manatee weren't as active. That evening my grandma made meatloaf for dinner and then we had a quiet evening. After Elise went down for bed, Carter watched a little bit of a movie on the tablet while Ty helped my grandma download free cell on her phone. My grandpa drifted off to sleep in the recliner. It was nice to have a quiet evening after our busy day!

 

 

 

Carter's awesome picture he drew.

Ty helping my grandma download free cell on her phone.

Group shot of our evening.