Turtle Island

Wednesday morning my brother decided to rent a pontoon boat to go explore some of the islands and bays nearby.  It turned out to be just as cheap to have it all day as half the day and since our huge party of 30+ people didn't fit on one boat, we decided to split of the day and the group.  

So Wednesday morning we got to hang at the mostly quiet house and just relax.  Bubble wands from the grandma box were a hit as was just laying out in the warmth (ok that may have just been me :)

Then it was our turn on the boat and we ventured out first to a quiet stretch of beach with hermit crabs.

We snorkeled around and explored.  Ok so Isla just walked around and stayed in the very shallow water but she was pretty cute in her lifevest and sun hat.

The boys all got into the snorkeling though.  They're all really good swimmers after a summer's worth of lessons, and the life vests make it really easy.

The water was a kind of funny yellow but it was like being in a bathtub so I didn't complain.

Taylor stayed back with Isla while I took the boys out to explore.

After enough time by the shore, we ventured out to Turtle Island which isn't really an island anymore.  Apparently it was a low-lying island up until a few years ago and then the rising tides have just covered it.  So you're out in the middle of this giant bay but it's only 3 feet deep.  And the current across the bay in really intense so it's fun to just float and get pulled along.

And who's going to argue when Dad agrees to throw you overboard?

Not this one.

Ok maybe this one will, so dad will be a little more gentle.

We brought out the boogie boards and let the kids just ride around as much as they wanted.  You can see where the submerged island ends in this picture.  And you can see just how many other boats were also anchored there.  The boat next to us even set up an entire volleyball net with poles since it was so shallow.

I spent my time pulling kids up through the current and then riding back down with them.

And then once everyone had had too much fun we loaded back up into the boat and headed off to explore more of the bay.

Isla had way too much fun and needed a nap.

Which daddy was happy to oblige.

And if the adventure wasn't fun enough already we passed a pirate ship on the way back in and all the kids enjoyed "shooting" the pirates aboard.