Florida Vacation - Everglades

On Tuesday we drove to the Everglades.  We stopped at the Shark Valley Visitor Center {No sharks, nor is it a valley} with the intention of going to the observation tower.  After finding out that the observation tower was a 14 mile round trip walk {yeah right!} we settled for a little stroll through the Everglades.

At the visitor center we learned that alligators need to be 83 degrees to digest their food, or else it will just rot in their belly.  The kids learned alligator's favorite foods: turtles, fish, birds, lizards, even deer!  Did you know that alligators only eat around 25 times a year, which figures out to a meal every couple of weeks.  Imagine all the free time I would have if I only had to feed the kids every couple of weeks, ha ha!

On our short stroll on the board walk.

Be on the lookout for pythons!  Dawson was ready to wrestle one for us.  My money would be on him winning.

See that little bump in the water?  Yup, it's an alligator.  The kids were not really impressed.  The alligators were not moving around at all that day.  This was at the Big Cypress National Preserve.

Riley reading the informational sign to the kids.

Another alligator hanging out in the brush right below the boardwalk.

More fun from the Everglades to come......

Florida Vacation - Crandon Bay Park

On Monday of our vacation week we hit the beach again.  After stopping to pick up some sand toys, the kids were in beach heaven.

Three little babies sitting in a tree

COCONUT!

Crandon Bay is an amazing beach for little kids.  There is a sandbar that protects the beach so the water is amazingly smooth and flat.  At low tide it is very shallow, even Dawson could walk out and bob in the water very far out.

Seriously, what an amazing view for a lunch picnic.  There were kite boarders all over this water.  

I decided to do a little beach yoga, then four little helpers joined in.

Beach Superhero!

Wonder Woman!

There we go, my beach yoga photo!

Wheel pose

Seaquarium Memory

When we arrived at the seaquarium's killer whale show, Brendan and Riley decided they wanted to be front and center first row splash zone.  The adults decided to sit a little ways back, in the 4th row.  Right before the show started Ava wanted to sit next to her cousins, so we let her.

Then during the very first minute of the show, this happened.....

directly in front of Ava and the cousins.  You can see her little red shirt and pony tail in the first row.  A couple minutes later I peeked my head down to see her and she had her head completely turned around and she refused to look at the show.  So, Mike went to check on her and moved her back with us where she watched the rest of the show happily.

Dawson says BIG FISH!

Florida Vacation - Miami Seaquarium

On Sunday we visited the Miami Seaquarium on beautiful Key Biscayne with our cousins and Aunt Fishie.  {This turned out to be our favorite beach to visit.}  Our first stop was inside the jaws of a shark!

Ava, Brendan, Dawson, Carter and Riley

These two are developing such a close relationship.

We saw the dolphins swimming from down below...

and watched the dolphin show from the top.

Riley and our Aunt Margie

This section had sting rays, parrots and iguanas to look at.

Flamingos are a favorite of Ava.

Remember what I said about Mike and the palm trees?

They also liked looking at the manatees.

Cheers!  Slushies all around!

This was a hot day and there was a children's section for water play.  I wanted to join in!

Smiley and Ava

I loved how much my kiddos were interested in the marine life.  Carter is excited to become a dolphin trainer, although I'm steering him toward working with dolphins in the wild.  

Florida Vacation - Ft Lauderdale

As soon as we saw the sign WELCOME TO FLORIDA, Mike and I were itching to get the kids to see their very first beach.  Honestly, I was a little nervous because the only experience they have had prior to this has been Lake Erie and they were less than impressed.

The kids LOVED the beach.  They were endlessly entertained.  We stayed with them in the water and they just ran, jumped, dug, built sand castles and had a ball.  

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Carter was so much more daring at the ocean than he is in the pool.  His favorite game at the beach was pretending to be a super hero and punching/kicking all the waves.

Ava hung out under the sunbrella to eat her lunch.  

Another thing we learned:  it is so much easier to take the kids to a picnic bench than it is to eat on a towel at the beach.  We would get their hands clean from sand and then they would immediately put them back into the sand.  Dawson's sandwich in particular was about 90% sand and 10% wich.  Unfortunately on this particular day there were no picnic tables available.

My little engineer checking out the sunbrella, making sure everything ok.

Brendan buried in the sand with his little cousin Dawson

Daddy had fun floating in the ocean

Of course Dawson wanted to be buried in the sand as well

Leave the camera to Mike and you get fifty two pictures of him or palm trees

Our first day was four hours at the beach, and they enjoyed every second.  Despite having to stay with them, being at the beach was a pretty relaxing outing because the kids were so entertained and had a great time.  Look at that dirty baby in his car seat.  We had to vacuum out the van on the first day! 

Florida Vacation- the Journey Down

Well, we finally made it home.  I must say that although we had the BEST time, I'm so happy to be home.  I missed my bed, and got super tired of hotel rooms and gas station bathrooms.  We left last Wednesday July 3rd and drove from Ohio to Charlotte, North Carolina.  We stayed in a hotel room for the night to gather up the energy for the looooong ten and a half hour trek the next day. 

So here is how we sleep three to a bed:  two at the top and one at the bottom.  I don't know what we are going to do when they get older!

So I really hate hotel rooms and try to touch as little as possible.  In particular I HATE the floor.  So Dawson decided to eat his pancakes on the floor.  He really does have an immune system of steel.

Looking cool in his sunnies, ready for the Florida sun!

The next day we drove for ten and a half hours, from Charlotte to Miami.  While it was a long day, with lots and lots of bathroom stops, we made it.  I have to brag, the kids are becoming much better travelers than when they were younger.  Given plenty of snacks and movies we cruised through the trip pretty well.  Much different from past trips!  On the way down it was July 4th and we got to see so many fireworks!  It helped break up the trip and added a fun element of excitement as we were nearing the very end of the trip.

The next day we spent relaxing with our cousins

and playing in their pool.

cousin Riley is our favorite baby-sitter!

We also fed some weird durkeys

We checked out the dock near their clubhouse, the kids were so scared of it because it was floating!

Here's what I learned:  

If you give Dawson a snap pea he will pull out each little pea and shoot them at his daddy during the drive.

Don't give the kids crayons that will get left in the car and then be heated to oblivion in the Florida sun.  They WILL melt.

LOTS more pictures to come!

Blystone Family Reunion - Cell Phone Pics

As you can see we had sooooo much fun this past weekend, and I just wanted to include a couple of pictures off my cell phone.

The kids loved playing in the hot tub with their cousins.  In the background you can see Aunt Becky, cousin P.J. and Grandma and Grandpa B.  In the hot tub is Ava, Carter, William, Riley, Elliot and Dawson.

It was so nice to spend the night in Bo and Grandma's camper.  Dawson ended up in our bed in the morning, and he slept a whole half an hour longer. Do you see how he is sleeping on Mike?  Well, he has no recollection that this even happened!

Mom, take a picture of my ice cream!

I want all the kinds!

{Imagine three children circling you while you are trying to get ice cream ready and all three are simultaneously yelling/whining at you "I want all the kinds!}

Friday night the kids all enjoyed an ice cream bar and all the little cousins lined up together on a bench to eat ice cream.  They were SOOOOOO quiet.  I need to ask Mike for this picture........