Five Things Florida Edition

We spent the majority of the kids’ spring break in Florida. Flight prices were high and I never could snag a good deal so we decided to rent a car and drive. I swung back and forth like a pendulum on this decision, even contemplating doing Priceline for tickets when I couldn’t stomach the thought of 26+ hours in the car. Ultimately, though we stuck with the plan and the four of us and Callie headed down to warmer weather for a few days. In our thank you card to L&R and the girls, we made a top ten list – Top Ten Best Things about our Trip to Florida but of course I didn’t snap a photo so I will highlight five things about our trip.

-Easter Sunday Relaxation – this was actually the last day of our time in Florida L I started out Easter with a nice 6.2 mile run. I saw dolphins and enjoyed the warm air.  We went to brunch when C woke up from her morning nap. After that, we took some family photos and just relaxed. We had the traditional Easter egg hunt, and then capped off the fun with a water balloon fight.

In case you are curious, it takes over an hour to fill and tie 500 water balloons…and 5 minutes for the actual fight. Even though the people tying had some sore fingers, it was well worth it and we had a blast. And possibly the best part about the day…bunny cake for dinner! We were all mostly still stuffed from the big brunch, so we had cake before we hit the road about 6 PM.

-Zoo Time – we took a trip to the zoo and had a very nice time. The kids played in the water area first, but some rain showers dampened that fun after about ½ hour. So we headed over to see some animals once the rain ended. Because it was a cooler day, the animals were active and mostly all visible. The monkeys were hilarious and James may now be a certified bobcat whisperer. Lois and the girls (including Keely) left to put C down for her afternoon nap, and James and I stayed longer with Quinn so we could do the kayaking around the zoo. For $6 a person, this was well worth it. We saw lemurs and some other animals from different views and had fun slowly kayaking around the manmade river. We had a fun time!

-Beach and Pool Time – what would a trip to Florida be without some time at the beach and in the pool. The weather wasn’t great this visit, but it was still warm enough for some swimming, playing in the waves and building sand castles. We really love being just 2 blocks from the ocean and free beach access. We took two trips to the beach – one in very windy, cool conditions and one in sunny, perfect conditions (low 80s). The kids love it, and even little C got to splash in the waves!

-Playing Games – I would be remiss not to mention our nightly games. We played Anomia (of course!) one night and Indian Poker another. The game of Indian Poker lasted until nearly midnight, and Quinn was the big winner! The rest of us were just tired and may or may not have gone all-in just to be done J There were definitely a lot of laughs as usual.

-Fountain of Youth – on our way down, we stopped for the night outside Savannah, GA and then broke up the trip to Melbourne the next day with a stop to the Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine. They were pet friendly, so that was the main selling point and only James had been there before. It was a nice time, albeit windy and cooler than typical for north Florida in April. We learned about the settlers in the 1500s, saw a gun shooting and canon firing, and drank the infamous water! It was a nice diversion on the long trip.

Those are the main high points of our trip. It was a nice diversion from the busy-ness of everyday life, and we had a fun time with the family. And now I know we can survive driving through the night – although some of those hours were painfully slow and I was pretty darn tired the next day!