Last Tuesday Mom, Dad, and Charlie dropped us off at the airport for a quick trip to Florida to visit Dynamo's family!
Dynamo's parents live in the Bradenton/Sarasota area of Florida! It's really a lovely place with lots of exciting things to see and do! The first task on the list was to hit the beach at The Point on Anna Maria Island!
The weather was hot, but it's always a nice little breeze on the beach! Just enough to make it comfortable to hunt shells!
This time I had to be selective though! There's only so many we can haul back on the plane! Of course I had to snap a few family pics when we first got there!
Here's Dynamo with his folks!
Here's his beautiful mom!
They've been married a really long time! Such an inspiration!
And here we are! Mr. C did a good job snapping this pic! It's nice to have a real pic versus a selfie!
The beaches are beautiful there! The Gulf is so clear and warm!
Not many shells this time though! Just sea creatures missing their shell! Anyone know what this is? I think it's a conch without his conch shell! We threw him back in hoping he could find his shell!
The next day we decided to head to Venice. We had always heard about all of the shark's teeth you could find there!
We headed to Caspersen Beach after a lunch in town! It was a little rocky and had some dark sand. The water was a little rougher, but people were busy looking for treasures with their sand sifters! That's one tool we need to get!
We found a few teeth...
Not bad for just looking through the shells that had washed up!
While visiting we also hit Lido Beach, which is near St. Armand's Circle.
Each beach is a little different, but they are all gorgeous!
Not many finds there either!
Our last day there we hit the Sarasota Farmers Market!
It was bustling with people as usual!
Cookies...
Olives...
Fruit...
Soaps...
If you ask me if I bought soap, the answer is yes! Always! Support all local handmade!
Wall to wall people enjoying the warm sunshine!
Of course when I saw this bumper sticker in the parking lot I had to snap a pic! 3 feet please, people!
After the market we relaxed a little before hitting the beach at The Point one last time!
These little birds were neat!
Dynamo ventured way out into the water (it was low low tide) and he found a starfish!
Yes, we threw it back!
The water was warm, over 80 degrees! It was a lovely week for the beach!
Before we left we did get to meet up with Dynamo's brother, Michael, for dinner!
It's always so nice to see family!
What a great trip! We enjoyed our time with Dynamo's parents! We hadn't seen them since our Thanksgiving trip so it was great to get a few days to visit!
When we got back into Richmond, my parents and Charlie were there waiting with some of our most favorite donuts ever!!!
Now it's back to soap making, yard work, and life! Hope your Memorial Day holiday was great! It is a time to stop and be grateful to those men, women, (and dogs too) who have served our country!
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Our Florida Trip
Posted by
Rachel Chieppa
in Labels:
anna maria island,
beach,
Bradenton,
Florida,
florida beaches,
lido beach,
Sarasota,
shark's teeth,
shells,
venice
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Friday, May 23, 2014
Bug Off...
Each time I make this soap it gets better and better! I just love the combination of lemongrass and lavender. It's a delicate combination to be sure that the lemongrass doesn't overpower the lavender.
I think we finally got it just right!
This combination is great for this time of the year! It repels bugs! And, the yellow Brazilian Clay adds a little extra goodness!
The colors turned out nice as well!
What's your favorite bug repellent combo?
Posted by
Rachel Chieppa
in Labels:
bug repellent,
daily scrub soap,
handmade soap,
lavender,
lemongrass,
natural,
the daily scrub
1 comments
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Yard Works
We decided to install irrigation to our veggies and flowers this year! Dynamo is so handy. He knows just how to do everything! It always amazes me how much he can do!
During the installation there was a lot of inspection by the Little Man! He just had to get in the middle of everything to see what was going on!
The most funny was when the elbows weren't on yet and the water shot up like a geyser!! Charlie had a blast!
So, we kept turning it on and off so he could play!
He loves to be dirty!
Then he wondered where it went?!!
We're excited that the irrigation will save us some watering time this year!
The little man is proud of his completed irrigation job! Where'd the geyser go, Mom?
How's your garden growing?
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Riverrock Fun
On Saturday we headed down to the Riverrock Festival in downtown Richmond on Brown's Island. We went to watch our friend Marioochee run the 10k trail run, watch some fun outdoor events, and visit with our friends!
It was a glorious weekend to be outside!
We got lots of love from little Boy B!!
I could just eat these cheeks up!
Dynamo is a natural!
And, Charlie got to give him some lovin' too after he asked permission of course!
B liked Charlie's smoochies (Mom I know you're having a fit over this!)!!
Here's B's parents before the 10K!
And, here's their other friend, S, crossing the finish...
And, here are the boys posing...
We stopped for a bit to feed little B...
There was so much going on from the air dog competition to paddleboarding to kayaking to bouldering! WOW! So much fun!
The river was raging...
Charlie made lots of new friends including this great big 6 month old girl! She wanted to play! So, they played as a crowd formed around in amazement that the big dog and small dog were getting along!
Charlie even got love from lots of random strangers!
He never turns down lovin' especially from his kinfolks!
It was a great day to walk around and enjoy the activities and all Richmond has to offer! And, it was especially nice to be able to bring Charlie!
Posted by
Rachel Chieppa
in Labels:
biking,
dominion riverrock,
festivals,
racing,
Richmond,
running,
Virginia
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