The Johnson's Jungle: Kaitlyns 15th Birthday!!

You know...I've been whining and crying about my camera for several blogs, now. It just makes me SO SAD to not have it in my hand. Especially at important milestones...

Like my first baby's 15th birthday. That's right. I said FIFTEEN!!

And if you're wondering if I'm old enough to have a 15-year-old daughter, the answer is no...I'm not. But I do...and I couldn't be happier.

But I had to go through this big event sans camera...and now for some reason my stupid scanner won't communicate with my computer, and I can't get all the pictures loaded!!

It's all very frustrating.

So I'm going to talk about what we did, and put up what I have...and just run with it. And if you're sick of hearing me whine about my camera...too bad. I'm not through mourning yet...these things take time.

On the Saturday before Kaitlyn's birthday, we planned a snorkeling trip in Key Largo at John Pennenkamp State Park. Just me, Kate, and Kate's best bud Brianna. Brianna spent the night, and early the next morning we packed some lunches and took the hour or so drive to Key Largo (bet you didn't know we were that close, huh? Yep - I really do live in paradise...)

But when we got there, we found out our snorkeling trip had been cancelled due to high winds and low visibility. Not ones to cry over spilt milk, we enjoyed the beautiful Key Largo beaches instead...swimming in the lagoon and exploring the mangrove trails...where the girls decided to play "Supermodel" and take some jungle swimwear shots.

After a lunch on the beach, we headed down to Islamorada (pronounced eye-la-mor-ada) with the intent to visit the Theater of the Seas and swim with the manta rays. But once we got there, the girls changed their minds and really just wanted to get back into the beautiful sea green/ turquoise water...so we drove a little further down the causeway and found a deserted little cove and jumped back in the water. We dubbed it "Rum-Soaked Cove"...a tribute to the pirates that used Islamorada as a hideout, and spent another hour or so soaking up sun in the warm Caribbean Sea.

As we headed home, we stopped at a couple little boutique stores. The girls had a BALL browsing among the antiques in the Pink Boutique in Key Largo and at Shell World. Brianna and Kate spent at least an hour taking crazy pictures of themselves in the shops. I can't wait until Brianna forwards me those pics!! Kate picked up a couple trinkets as mementos, and we headed home.

Kaitlyns birthday fell on a Sunday, so she had to put up with being sung to at church. Monday was Dads day off, so we let Kaitlyn pick a restaurant and we took everyone out to dinner. She chose Ra, a trendy sushi place that opened about a year ago in our new upscale Pembroke Gardens Shopping District. We let Kaitlyn pick several appetizers and sushi platters for us to share, and opened presents in between courses.