~ ♫ Happy Birthday ♫ ~

 Well....another birthday in the trailer.  This time it's mine :)   I woke to a table full of gifts and cards from all the kids and family back home and also some serenading and beautiful flowers from the Golden's.

The day was just perfect - blue sky, temperature around 29 degrees and a slight breeze.   We decided to spend the morning at George C. McGough Nature Park.  This park was so lovely with MANY turtles, lizards, birds and a boardwalk.

 We enjoyed a lovely walk through the park......

walked along the boardwalk to the mangrove swamps............

and said "Hello" to this beautiful Gopher Tortoise

 They had a great butterfly habitat...............

 and an owl exhibit and nature house.

The kids enjoyed feeding the turtles in the pond.

Then on to "Golden Corral"......again......for another fabulous buffet lunch.

After we had finished our lunch we headed to Clearwater Beach (actually Sand Key Park) where we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon.  Clearwater Beach has been rated the best city beach on the Gulf of Mexico.

 We had a fantastic time swimming, building sandcastles, playing paddle ball, "beach bowling", walking and talking, football, volleyball etc....

We even got to see dolphins swimming out front - look hard......you can just see them in the background :)

Then the sun started to set.............

and just got prettier by the minute........

we even had a pirate ship out front.

We finished the day with a HUGE cake - yummy!

While I missed all my family back home, I did have a wonderful day in sunny Florida with some very special friends!  Thanks for sharing it with me!!

~St.Petersburg and St.Pete Beach~

We had such a lovely afternoon.   We drove into St. Petersburg, parked the van and walked through the quaint downtown area with shops and restaurants.

This is Spa Beach right next to "The Pier" - beautiful, white sand.

The Pier is full of restaurants and shops and has a beautiful view of Tampa Bay.

 There were pelicans everywhere!   Too cool!!!

Isn't this such a beautiful Great Egret?

 And...the flowers here in Florida are amazing as well.

 Look at these cool trees too!

A fun place for " Hide and Seek ".

 After St. Petersburg we drove to St. Pete Beach which is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the area due to its miles of sandy beaches.   A historic landmark is the Don CeSar Beach Resort (the pink hotel in the distance) which was built in the 1920's.

What a fabulous way to spend an afternoon !!!