Chinese Thanksgiving! Day 4 Boat ride and sand sculpture contest at the beach :)

We had another big day planned with the Chinese babies
and it began with AIS @ 10:30am. (For those who don't
know, that means Ass in Seat by 10:30am, or the boat will
leave the dock without you!) It's like herding cats, people 😻

It was a beautiful blue sky day for a cruise along the Caloosahatchee :)

Look at all those bow babes! (and Tianchen :)

Miss Rachel looks pretty relaxed!

Annie took a turn at driving the boat.

The smile says it all :)  Ginger, it's exactly how
 I feel about being on the boat, on the water, 
in the sun, with the wind in my hair, too.

Tianchen wins the prize for the MOST relaxed!

And Lavendar wins the prize for the MOST photogenic!

Before long, I was calling for a bridge opening, and lining
her up to sail on through.  We had a strong breeze blowing,
so Len and I discussed how I would make the approach to
the docks at Labelle.

This view also never gets old :)

I eased her right into the slip, no problem!
Isn't she a pretty boat ?! ⛵

Steve and Karen brought the two cars to the docks at Labelle,
so Karen and I could continue on with the day's adventures.
Len grilled hot dogs, and we served up chili cheese dogs,
pasta salad and chips for lunch. The kids did some exploring
in the park and took photos while we got lunch ready.

What a great bunch of kids...I was so happy to share the sailboat
with them! L to R is Ginger, myself, Rachel, Celia, Lavendar,
Annie, Tianchen and Seraph.

After lunch, we bid goodbye to Steve and Len who were taking
Kantiya back up river, through the Ortona Lock, and home again,
while we were heading to Ft. Myers beach. You can see Kantiya in
the background, getting ready to pass under the bridge at Labelle.

Our next stop was Ft. Myers beach for the 32nd Annual
Sand Sculpting contest. We got lucky in that it was the
second to last day of the two-week long event.

This sculpture took first place Master's Solo Division.

The detail was incredible....a sea dragon with a
small mermaid touching his nose- wow! 

The fingers looked so realistic!

This is the backside of his sculpture.  The artist
was still working on it.  The Master's Duo
Sculptures were being judged at 1pm the next day.

Oh. My. Word.  This was another Master's Duo
Sculpture, of the Emerald City and the characters
from the Wizard of Oz.

These were the two artists working together. They hail from South
Korea and San Diego, California, respectively.  Mr. Phillips,
pictured here has been sand sculpting for 20 years and holds
five world records!  He was spraying his sculpture with
diluted Elmer's glue, which provides a thin barrier coat against
wind and rain.  He was concerned about the weather, as a
storm was brewing on the horizon, and they already had
some cracks in the Emerald City.  It was over 12 feet tall!

Walter and his daughter Christy were working
on the sculpture in the following two photos. They are
from South Padre Island, Texas, where sand is plentiful!
Walter has been building sand castles since 1978, and he
has competed all over the world- China, Japan, Belgium,
Holland, Taiwan, Bermuda, Mexico, Canada, Qatar,
Australia, throughout the US. His trademark is to always
 build a sand castle. He loves it when people remark,
"Now THAT's a sand castle!" 

Boy, is it ever!

              

                          

We grabbed a quick group photo before the rain came ashore.
Those poor artists still working; they were trying to preserve
their sculptures before the final judging the next day. Gah 😩

Traffic was terrible trying to drive the six miles or so down to the Ft. Myers pier- it took an hour!

But it was worth it for the kids to see the ocean, walk the
pier, and take a few more photos of their last night in Florida.

It sprinkled on us, but for just a few minutes.
Hopefully the sand sculptures were spared!

This beauty needs no introduction 💜

At Karen's suggestion, we had dinner at Yucatan's- great choice!

Tianchen and Ginger had not seen
one another in over two years...it was
so great that these kids had the opportunity
to reconnect in this part of the world :)

They feasted themselves that night!

Our last group photo before they all begin departing early tomorrow :/

FMB was the perfect location to wrap up their vacation.
All of them got to do some souvenir shopping, making
thoughtful choices for their friends and family back home.

Some took advantage of the full moon, for
a final walk on the pier before heading home.

Those who know me well know that I will NEVER pass up
an opportunity to dance to live music. This band was really good!

The perfect end to a perfect holiday weekend was to share
an incredible caramel pecan apple from Kilwin's Chocolate
shop. I've never seen a girl put away apples like Rachel did during
her stay here. I had to send Len to the store to buy two more sacks!

It is safe to say that a good time was had by all :)

Thank you, Chinese babies, for spending the holiday with me!


G'nite, y'all!