Florida in Feburary

You are a good two months into a Wisconsin winter. You are cold, pale and depressed. What better then a trip to sunny Florida? Even better when you have family you can shack up with for free. That is exactly what Mike and I did this February. We headed down to Fort MyersFL to hang with my sister and bro-in-law.

Just got in. Still dressed for Wisconsin weather.

It didn't take long to for us to adjust.

This is Kyle. One of my sister's 5 cats.

This guy with his half bald little tail just makes me laugh.

As you can see from his expression he isn't too keen about

being laughed at.

(BTW, I am pretty sure he has kitty OCD. Don't laugh, I am serious)

The next day after we got in we headed down to the beach.

We took a walk down the pier and this guy was just hanging out

looking for hand outs from the fishermen. And he got one.

We decided to hang out at a beach bar and grill to watch the sun set.

(No, Mike did not sprout an extra forehead since you last saw him. I wish

I could crop that guys head out of the picture.)

Me and my sis

Me and my sis with lucky Mike in the middle.

Looking out from the bar and grill.

Not a bad view. Beats watching snow fall through a window.

Ahh, there it is. A beautiful sunset over the ocean.

The next day we took a 12 mile bike ride around Sanibel Island.

As you can see I got stuck with the rental. We had to bungee the basket and load

it down with the backpack to keep it from rattling. After that it was a much more

enjoyable ride.

After the ride we hit the beach.

We had to work on that pale problem.

Then a stroll down the beach looking for shells.

Even the birds like watching the waves roll in.

You can't have Florida pictures with out some alligators.

This last one was good sized. Judging by the poor golfing stance Chris has

you can tell he is not really trying to hit the ball. It is more like...

"Hurry up and take the picture before he decides to eat me and I have to run".

Ok, back to cute and fuzzy.

Squirrels love it in FL too.

Back down at that same bar and grill on Wednesday

With Heather and Chris.

My cousin Marcia and her husband Jim, who with...

My Aunt Daine and Uncle Marty came over from their vacation

spot in Fort Lauderdale to hang with us for the day.

Wait a minute...what is Mike's dad doing here?

Anyone who knows Mike's dad is freaking out about

much this guy looks like him.

Maybe it is him....Senior you have some explaining to do.

Ahh, another beautiful sunset.

The next adventure was Zip Lining.

The boys are just getting off the "bus"

Heather and I heading to the first platform.

Can those harnesses make our butts look any bigger?

Mike coming in.

Good form Mike. Got those legs up nice and high so you

don't clip them on the platform.

Yes, I am having fun. I just always look this

serious.

Chris coming in backwards.

Turn, Chris, Turn.

Notice how there isn't a picture of Heather zipping in. Well, as long as I can remember there are

not any bad pictures of Heather. Come to find out, she throws out or deletes all bad pictures.

.

So, I can only assume she didn't like the one Chris took of her zipping in.

One last day at the beach before we headed back to snowy, cold

Wisconsin.

Salty, our sandman was trying to talk us into staying.

His open arms and sea shell hat beckoning us.

"Just look behind me, look at what you will be missing."

He was very convincing, but the tickets were paid for and

our jobs are back in WI.

I know, some of you are saying..."you used to live in FL, why did you move?"

First, that was Fort Lauderdale. A whole different ball game then Fort Myers.

Second, we might not have left if a certain job opportunity hadn't come up in Memphis.

And third, we have family to think about back in good ole WI.

(I could barely spit that last one out. Good ole WI, not family.)