The Florida Keys.  I have lived in Florida my entire life and had not visited the Keys until about five or six years ago.  We now enjoy long weekends and mini-vacations there when we get a chance.  This was earlier this summer and an extended weekend trip.  This is where we called home for a few days.  Light and bright, it was a beautiful place to stay. Fishing and snorkeling were on the itinerary for Cliff and the kids, while relaxing and rest was on mine and my mother-in-laws.  This specific afternoon we headed out to go snorkeling.  Off the coast of Marathon, we researched the different reefs to visit.  Here, we were on our way out. I like to look at all the houses on the water coming and going.  This was one of my favorites. And we are off.  Land is just a distant blur in the background. We get to our destination and everyone piles out.  Cole has already been in the water and has come back aboard to adjust his snorkel. Jimmy and Cassidy jump in.  This was Cassidy’s first trip to the Keys I believe she said.  She didn’t hesitate to jump right in.  A quality I have to say, I didn’t have my first trip and several trips thereafter.  It takes me a while to warm up to the environment. We hold onto a rope so that no one floats away when the current is strong.  You can relax and enjoy instead of worrying about how far away you have floated from the boat. It is also a good idea to wear a vest.  This way you can just float around and not work so hard.  There is so much to see.  Tropical fish, sometimes schools of tropical fish will come right up to you and swim all around.  Beautiful and colorful coral reefs. Everyone was enjoying the sites. You can see we weren’t the only one’s there. Cliff, Cole, and Mason were checking out a barracuda.  I was happy to be spectator from the boat.  I did get in eventually.  It was so rough I had to get in the water to keep from being sick.  Then I almost got sick in the water, it was so rough.  Grrrrr.   You can always expect great snorkeling around a lighthouse.   Jimmy was releasing us from the buoy when we decided we had all the fun we could stand.   We said goodbye and headed back. On our ride back, we passed the neatest sail boat.  I snapped a few pictures.   She was beautiful.  It looked like something out of an old movie. When we returned, we cooled off in the pool.  Back to my comfort zone.  It was a fantastic day.