Bicycles

 What made this trip super fun was that we took our bicycles.  The campsites are about 3/4 mile from the beach and no cars are allowed down the beach road.  The only way to access the beach is by trolley, bike, or walking.  In May, we rode the trolley which runs on the hour.  Having our bikes gave us more freedom to come and go on our own schedule plus they were just fun to ride.  We spent so much time on our bikes that Ben gave them names.  He named John's bike Rocky, mine Hazel and his Johnny or sometimes Raffi.  (Florida state law requires that children wear helmets so we had to buy Ben one for the trip.)

 On Monday evening we took a bike ride down a paved nature trail.

 We stopped to admire the view of the lake and the dunes.  Ben picked wildflowers for Mollie and me.

 As we were riding back our campsite, Mollie said, "I've got a whawhawha (imagine Charlie Brown's teacher) in my nose."  I said, "You've got a booger in your nose?  Don't pick your nose."  Mollie. "No, I've got a whawhawha in my nose."  Me, "You've got a bug in your nose?" I had gotten two bugs in my eyes so that seemed reasonable.  Mollie, "No, I've got a flower in my nose?"  Me, "YOU'VE GOT A FLOWER IN YOUR NOSE.  GET YOUR FINGER OUT OF YOUR NOSE!!"  Mollie had stuck her flower in her nose, we're on bicycles, it's nearly dark, and we're still about 1/2 a mile from our tent. Once we got back to our tent, I grabbed my makeup bag which has a pair of tweazers in it and took Mollie to the bathhouse.  I only managed to push the flower farther into her nose.  I returned to the campsite and called Aunt Connie to ask if we would need to take Mollie to the emergency room if I couldn't get the flower out of her nose.  Cara answered and suggested using a bobbie pin. 

Finally I was able to get it moving with a bobbie pin and Mollie blew this out of her nose. That's John's pointer finger as comparison.  Every time Mollie gave a good blow, I would say, "Awesome job, Mollie."  After we got the flower out of her nose, Mollie walked around saying, "Was that awesome, Ben?  Was that awesome?"  We explained that sticking things in her nose was NOT awesome.