The last couple of weeks have been a whirl-wind! I have been too tired at the end of each day to even consider writing down our adventures. Things are starting to shape up though! Jacob and I keep reminding ourselves that we are on the road to our plan, and sometimes that road is windy and steep, but the payoff will be worth it! Since my last post Audrey finished up sailing camp, we launched Lark, and had a great visit from our friend Paul!



Sailing camp was a great success. Audrey is really excited about sailing now! She had a great time. On the last day of camp she took Jacob out for a sail, and showed us some of her amazing knot tying skill. She even beat Jacob in a little knot tying competition. She didn't want to participate in the final race with her group. I guess she doesn't care for racing. Her instructors feel it is probably due to her size and endurance level. She isn't really heavy enough to get her boat moving, and the little boats don't have cleats for the lines (ropes), so you have to hold the main sheet the whole time, which is very hard on her little arms. On the last day of camp they gave out medals, and Audrey got 3rd place in her division and was declared 'Most Improved'. She is really proud of her medal and loves to wear it and show it off!


The boats getting ready to launch.
The optis (Audrey's group) out for a sail.
Audrey at the helm.
hard alee!
taking Daddy sailing
Jacob is a little big for the boat 
showing Daddy the new knot she just learned

Lorelei giving it a shot


Lorelei and I had a lot of solo play time while Audrey was at camp. 

heading to the pool

riding bikes
on our way to the aquarium

checking out horseshoe crab larvae 
Lorelei's favorite, the Touch Tank



Lark is officially in the water now, and in her slip at the marina. We had discussed hiring a captain for launch until Jacob's dad agreed to help us. Now after the suggestion from our broker  we think we will hire a captain to help us learn on our boat instead of jumping right into classes that require lots of childcare and are on a different boat. We found Captain Jack, and it seems like it could be a good fit. He is an ASA instructor along with being a USCG Captain. We start lessons with him bright and early tomorrow morning!

in the sling ready to launch

boat in motion
Captain Jack at the helm
finally a family picture on the boat. 

It was so nice to have Paul here for a week! I loved having a friend to play with, and the girls loved having all the extra attention. He was also an enormous help with them when we had to move the boat to her new slip (which we aren't sure she will even stay at...but more on that later). It was fun to be tourists in Ft. Pierce. It involved trying out lots of restaurants, the local treasure museum, going to the beach, the pool, and for the finale, deep sea fishing. Paul caught dinner...okay our appetizer, a yummy little Vermillion. It was the only large enough edible fish we caught that day, but between us all we caught at least 15 fish that were returned back home. We normally really take advantage of Paul's visits by making him play board games with us every night, but this trip we didn't get over to our storage locker to find our games until the trip was almost over. We did have a great last night with a fun game of Ticket To Ride, and a few rounds of A-hole, just for old times' sake.
Downtown Disney
photo bombing someone else's picture


getting a lesson on Cicadas



The treasure museum in Vero Beach. I finally learned why they call this place the Treasure Coast. 

Friends for over 24 years!

pool flips with Uncle Paul


Showing Paul around Lark.
Aboard the Fort Pierce Lady for some deep sea fishing. 





This little guy got to go home. 
The famous vermillion!

Porpoises off the bow. 

Lorelei helping to reel in Audrey's catch.

My only catch of the day was too small. Legally sea bass have to be 13" long to keep. 



Pelicans waiting for some scraps. 

Audrey checking out a turtle nest. 
Playing in the ocean with Uncle Paul. 
Yummy Cuban sandwich!

We have to really get moving on getting the boat ready to live on now! We move aboard in one month!

I guess I need to post more often, because I still have more pictures I want to share:

sea oats

playing in the gardens