Good Morning! (Or I guess good evening) This morning (after I saw the sunrise for the last time of the trip) at around 9:30, we left the beach house for the last time. :(
Breakfast was at a cool little bakery/cafe called Lighthouse bakery. It was incredibly tasty! Very interesting, cool, and good. Perfect way to leave. And we saw like 10 dolphins. Really awesome! Now it's 7:30 and we've been driving since 11 something. We have around 2 hours and 30 minutes left in our drive.


We ate lunch or dinner..(? I guess it was a mixture of both) at Mellow Mushroom. It never ceases to impress me. Always delicious! 


I will sure miss the island, beachouse, waves, awesome sunrises and sunsets, constant good food, stillness, reading for hours, making sand castles, walking on the beach, all 70 something jellyfish we saw, no school or chores, our family, and all other things I failed to mention. But, it will be good to see all my friends, playing basketball getting back into our normal lifestyle, and our church.  


We're hoping to be home by 10:15, not bad. (We got home at 11:30-12:00) 

The great thing about a beach vacation is that you can do whatever you feel like, whenever you feel like, for as long as you feel like. Today Dad, Mom, Katie, and I felt like walking down the other end of the island. Our house is on the Gulf side (as apposed to the Bay side on the other side of the island) which is the best side with the waves, clean water, and clean beaches. Once we got to the end of the island, we switched over to the Bay side to walk back. The nice thing about the Bay is that its sand are harder, so Katie and I ran back. What happened was, once we finished, we waited on this fishing dock. We we're plesantly swinging on a porch swing (on the dock) watching these hilarious fish randomly fly out of the water and were still waiting. 10 minutes later, still waiting. Finally we decided to cross back over to the Gulf side (which is apparently what my parents did while we waited for them :) ) We walked for a while, and then realized we were lost. After a bit, we found our way back. :)

One of the kind of odd things that happened was (on the way to the end of the island) we found a strange object washed up on the shore. It would've been odder if we knew what it was. So Dad took this strange object back to my Uncle Jeff. Long story short, we found out that this unusual substance was crack cocaine! No joke. We were so shocked! Immediately, we called the police. He was out here pretty soon, and determined that it was infact cocaine, and it was worth about 25 to 30,000 dollars. We should have kept it :) So that is a pretty stinking fun and funny story!

We played Tennessee and I was actually a tad disappointed. But in the the end, it was a "W", so I'm sure glad about that! 23-13. It was a close one.

We leave tomorrow at about 9. This has been an amazing week!

This morning was an early morning. Until I realized that the sun was already up and no one was awake. Since I already missed the sunrise, I went back to bed. It seems like every time I wake up early and go back to bed, I wake up again really late. Strange. So I woke up to a good breakfast, and was ready to make something of my day.

Originally, when we found out that we were going to an island, we knew that we needed to walk it. So, after breakfast my dad and I went on a walk. It was a great walk, too! We went for a few miles, barefoot, right by the water. Down past many beach houses, and a few hotels, and a fishing pier. (that we would have gone to, if it hadn't been closed for the season). I had an awesome time walking, talking, and laughing with my dad!

Now I'm sitting in a chair right by the water watching various family members fish off the shore. The sunset is breathtaking tonight! Isn't God so creative! We're in the middle of preparation for tonight's crab boil. (Oh and Katie's crab didn't make the cut. Considering the fact that he was rotten by now. We forgot to take him out of the cooler and put him in the freezer, so he's officially decoration for our sand castle)

Just let to let you know A. I didn't lose anything on today's walk. B. We got a new camera case (which I happen to like better) C. We have found somewhere around 50 jellyfish so far!

Florida vs. Tennessee tomorrow! Ahhh! So my dad and I made a gator out of sand today :) I'm so pumped for this game!

Well I'm going to check out how these crabs are going, dinner's going to be good tonight!

"Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee" Augustine

Yesterday and today were put into one, not because they were boring days, but because I forgot to journal yesterday. These days were full of fishing! :) It was my first time to devote a full day and a half to catching fish.

I just got finished fishing out by the water, outside the beach house. The great thing about it is if you don't catch a thing, is still loads of fun!

Yesterday was the epitome of the word chillax. I woke up later than usual and went bed earlier than usual. I love vacations! They are splendid!

So I'm really loving this book, and as of now, I recommend it. The chapter I just finished is called "The blessedness of possesing nothing". What a title! What a chapter! 

I forgot to say, I caught two fish today! Small feat, huh. I was beaming with pride haha. Oh, and Katie caught a blue crab! We were shocked..not expecting that one! We're having a crab boil tomorrow, so we'll add that to the pile.

The last two days (including today, I guess) have been buckets of fun! The last two nights have been unbelievably, unfathomably, stary! YES!

I'm going to head off to bed. Well, we'll see what tomorrow holds! :)

I woke up later today and felt lame! lol Last thing I remember is falling asleep on the couch with my daddy and then waking up in my bed (the top bunk) with my clothes on. Apparently I was sleep walking and talking about finding a cup and something about a football game. :)

This morning's devotions was really good. Read Job 38:1-11 if you get the chance. My favorite verse as I watched the waves was the eleventh.

Today I started a new book. It's called "The Pursuit of God" by A.W. Tozer. A good reformer book. I've not read a ton, but what I have read, I love! I think I'm going to really enjoy this book!

Picture time! (The pictures taken today will be here after I get back)

After pictures, we went out into the town part of the island for lunch. It was a neat little seafoood place called Barnicle BIlls. It was tasty!

After yesterday's journaling, we all went out into the ocean and about half of us got stung like 20 times by jellyfish. Kaitlyn and Caleb got it the worst. So, today while we boogie boarded, they were like all playing around with us. Like tossing us to one another, because it seemed like you'd feel it in one area, move, and there was another one! We perservered because the waves are just way too fun to let jellyfish stop us.

Kayleigh and Kaitlin found 17 jellyfish and we found 5 more! Wowzers.

While we were seashell hunting, I reached down to grab this very large "shell" that knocked into me in the water. I grabbed the top of a jellyfish! I'm sure I scared the fire out of the poor guy!

I am comitted to, the second I get home, putting pictures up on here.

Read Isiah 40:28-31. It's a good reminder of how mighty God is.

Well goodnight! I'm getting tired, and looking forward to another good day tomorrow! I believe we're going fishing :)

Ahh..the joy! I can't even explain this place. It's just too awesome to put into words.

Today went like this...
It started out at 6 AM, watching the sunrise. "Ah Lord God! Thou has made the heavens and the earth by Your great power. Ah Lord God. You have made the earth by Your outstretched arms. Nothing is to difficult for You." Jerimiah 32:17

The heavens were sure declaring the glory of God and sky was really declaring His handiwork! It was breathtakingly beautiful!
Afterwards I took a walk down the beach to do my devotions. (I lost the camera case in the ocean :( The camera is fine, but the case is no more), and that was great as well.

The seagulls are always here. They don't bother us, but when we want to feed them, they are sure ready. The way we feed them cracks me up. They are all flying above you (sort of hovering) and you throw the bread straight up and they fight for your bread. I guess it's the survival of the fittest with those seagulls.

Another bird that there are plenty of are those little tiny Sandpipers. They're adorable! They run as fast as they can and as close as they can get to the tide, eat some random thing out of the sand, and speed back to safety (away from the water). And NEVER touch the water! Even when you're just convinced they will get hit with the water, they won't. So cute!

So after devotions, the water was calling my name. It was perfect! I love the ocean. Where all you can see for miles is the ocean.

We had a great time in the water few like a few hours! After a while, I had too many waves completely demolish me. So, I took a shower, a very pleasing surprise happened. Babes pizza was here! Uncle Jeff and Aunt Tara brought it on dry ice all the way from Florida. It is unarguably the best pizza ever!

Katie and I decided that it was about time to make something cool with the sand. Ergo a tunnel. I didn't think it would work at first, but I gave it the good ole collage try and yay! Success. Caleb, my cousins, and Katie also made a super cool sand mansion.

After a 6 to 7 hour trip from Gainesville to Dauphin Island, we're here! It was a great drive, though. Listening to a book on tape, and eating ringpops in the dark with your sister is pretty stinking fun! :)
Now I'm sitting on the couch in the beach house listening to the waves and thinking of all my friends that would love to be here looking at all of the stars that just scream the glory of the Lord. My God is an awesome God!

This is Sunday. The reason we went to Florida at all. Flemington Baptist (our old church in Micanopy) was celebrating 125 years.. It's weird to think that we were there over 10 years ago! Going back to visit is pretty weird, because as far as I can tell, the church hasn't changed a bit (even the paper towel holder is the same as it was). Returning to an old church could be a very awkward thing if you left mad. It could be sad if the place was altogether different. But today was nice. It's tough though, for me. I was a 2 and 3 while we were there, so I remember very little. I feel so awful when the very commonly asked question "do you remember me?" or "do you remember the time when...? (fill in the blank)" My mind searches through the three year old memories. Sometimes I have to answer with the brutal honesty. But I feel like a champion when I remember the person or the time when (...). There are some that we've kept in contact with, so it is really good to see them. I have one thing to say about the people of Flemington; they are ultra sweet.

I'm off to the gator walk! I get to see Tim Tebow with my very own eyes! Mom, Katie, and I don't get to go to the game, but that's okay. We still get to do all the fun gameday stuff. When the game starts, we'll just go back to the Gardeners' and watch it there :)

(a few hours later) Day 3 Cont. We're loving Tim Tebow!

I almost high fived Tim Tebow! Katie actually did! Ah we love him. He is such a quality guy that lives his life and plays the game of football for the glory of God. On top of that, he is one of the most humble guys I have ever seen. We love him!
Go Gators! We won 56-6 yay!

Today was a good day. I also forgot to mention that while in Florida, we're staying at my dad's aunt and uncle's house, here in Gainesville. So, back to today. I had a good sleep...really good sleep, in fact. So this morning, when I woke up, I was ready to go. After breakfast, Mrs. Hannah (from our church in Micanopy) picked us up. We went to one of my new favorite lunch places...ever. It's called the Ivy house. Check it out at ivyhousefl.com. It's a cafe sort of thing inside a super cool, old Victorian house. Not only is it cool, but also extremely tasty :D

After lunch, we walked up and down the streets of downtown Alachua, stopping in little consinment stores and other random little boutiques along the way.

We had a nice day today! Gator game tomorrow! :)