Clearwater, FL

Clearwater, FL

our Gulf Coast stop

On Saturday morning we got up early, it was going to be a BIG morning.  Our annual family portrait was on schedule!  We had already scouted a great spot over in Celebration (right next to Orlando) and had it all planned out.  It was sunny, but there were clouds moving in fast.  Fionn saw them and said "oh no, RAIN".  I ignored him, it was only a five minute drive after all to our spot. As you can see, we were both pretty upset about what happened to our plans.  It rained, and rained, and kept raining!  UGH.  ALWAYS when I make plans!!

 

So off to plan B (aka scrambling around w/no plan)  Remember that, we'll come back to that later...

After we finished up with the rest of the family, we decided to head off to the coast. 

 

As we drove it rained a little more, and we knew that there was still another storm brewing in from the Gulf, but we decided to chance it.  We were rewarded for our bravery very handsomely!  The waves were turned up just a bit, so the kids loved it, and the clouds were just BEAUTIFUL as they rolled in from the Gulf!  The Gulf sand is pristine and white, which shocked me.  I've only ever been to the Atlantic side of FL, so was not prepared for the beauty that met us at Clearwater!  

This is one of my FAVORITES of Cate with her daddy!  We opted out of the whole suit with rash guard for this trip and just went with swim diaper.  I LOVE it!!

Of course it's all about perspective.  Look how tiny my peanut is in this shot compared to the one above.  But LOOK at that sky, it was marvelous!

There's not a lot of Mag from the beach because she made a friend and spent most of the time playing with her.  I did get plenty of those shots, but wouldn't feel right putting other people's children up on our blog without their mommies knowing!

This sequence just cracks me up!!  When a wave would knock Fionn over he would get up and punch the next one that came to shore, so it became a running joke to "fight the ocean"  This is the Gulf getting a hit in.  Poor Fionn, lol.  He was such a trooper though!!  If you look closely in the next to the last one you see his little hands coming up out of the water, but that's it!! 

The sunset continued to dazzle us as we enjoyed our small amount of time that we had left of daylight.

 

Sadly though it was time to call it a day and head to the truck as the daylight faded over the Gulf!  

Thanks Clearwater, you were an amazing end to our trip!!