Sarasota, Fl

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Wes and I left Gainesville to make it to my Aunt Emily’s house in Sarasota for Easter dinner. She lives there with her husband Michael and daughter Michelle, in a house not far from the gulf coast and Siesta Key. Michael’s family was in town for a family reunion, so we got to meet some of his siblings and had a great Easter dinner with everyone. I hadn’t seen my aunt since our family reunion in 2005, and her daughter has grown so much since then.

While we were there, Wes and I rode our bicycles out to Siesta Key twice. The first time, it had rained for most of the day and we missed most of the daylight hours at the beach, but the next day we rode back again and spent a few hours on one of the most crowded beaches ever. I got incredibly sunburned, but we had a great time playing in the water- it’s so warm here! And it was so nice to be able to ride our bikes only a few miles to get to such beautiful beaches.

We also went and visited the Selby Botanical Gardens, where my aunt works. It’s a really beautiful garden with so many different types of orchids like I’ve never seen before. The whole place is really peaceful, and there is such a huge variety of plants there. We were definitely jealous that she gets to work in such a wonderful place. Our timing wasn’t great because we were there mostly during the week while everyone was at school and work, so we didn’t get to spend as much time as we would have liked, but we did get to spend time with them in the evenings, and we played lots of “monkey in the middle” with Michelle in the front yard (it’s her favorite game). After a few days in Sarasota we decided to head on toward Orlando.

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Photos

Brandi & Emily
hanging out at Selby Gardens

Brandi & Michelle
playing catch

beach at Siesta Key
beautiful beaches, too many people!

poison dart frog
don't worry, it was in a cage