Easter in the Florida Keys

We decided to take advantage of our proximity to the Keys and take a trip down there over Easter break.  We ended up staying on Big Pine Key.  It's in the lower keys and it's the least developed of any of the keys.  Big Pine is also home to the Endangered Key Deer, who happened to be the kids favorite part of the trip.  The Keys were an interesting mix of island life meets civilization.  I didn't expect the islands to be as developed as they were.  All of the major stores spanned from Miami all the way down but on either side of the stores, you saw the ocean.  It was a really beautiful area and one I would love to visit again. 

 Austin and Avery are always looking for crawly things.  He found a catterpillar.

There were a lot of great snorkeling spots for the kids to really explore.  They both did an amazing job considering it was their first time snorkeling.

 We found conch shells, hermit crabs, lots of fish and jellyfish.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was holding her hand and exploring the ocean together.  When she would see something she would excitedly point at it and try to talk with her snorkel on.

The boys spent the afternoon searching for snails and putting them on the rock.  One of the snails was so big it actually lived in one of the huge conch shells.

 
 On one of our walks the kids all picked up coconuts and then carried them all the way home.

 They spent a lot of time breaking them open so they could drink the water.

 We dyed Easter eggs together using kool-aid again this year.

The Easter bunny came!  The kids said that he rode to the island on a Key deer!  Since they were on an island the Easter bunny filled nets with candy. 

We had the kids plant jelly beans the night before so suckers would grow.  We found out in the morning the Key Deer had an especially fantastic Easter when they found our seeds.  This particular deer, who we named Jellybean wouldn't leave the kids all morning.

Scott was able to celebrate his 35th birthday enjoying key lime pie on an island in the keys!  What a blessing!

Canoeing alongside alligators!

We spent an awesome afternoon with Amanda, Joel, Jaycent, Gaven, and Austin canoeing 7 miles at Juniper Springs in the Ocala National Forest.  It was absolutely beautiful!  It is a clear, narrow and winding spring fed river.  There was so much vegetation along its banks and a lot of wildlife. We even saw 4 alligators! 

 Amanda and Gaven tipped less than a mile in.  I love this picture- the canoe is completely submerged!

 Our first alligator sighting!  It was a little nerve racking seeing them so close especially since it's not that hard to tip the canoe with kids in it.

 

I wish this picture was clearer but we didn't exactly stick around to watch him.  He was about 8 feet long and definitely not happy to see us.

This is not a course for beginners!  There were quite a few quick turns with trees in the way.  We even went over rapids which is hard to believe in Florida.

 
 We stopped for a quick swim, making sure the alligators were nowhere in sight.  This place had a lot of springs.  If you stepped into one you would easily sink up to your knees.  The kids were having fun trying to find the springs and then jump in them. 

 After the canoe trip we swam in the natural springs.  The water was about 65 degrees and cold! 

6 Month Picture Update

 5 years old, Ormond Beach Florida


7 1/2 years, Ormond Beach Florida

Disney and Back in 3 days!

For almost 5 years we have been telling Avery and then Alia that we would go to Disney when Alia turned 5.  It was a constant topic of conversation in our house for years and we finally hit the 5 year mark!  It actually came at a great time because we are considered Florida residents and were able to get some pretty amazing deals for those 3 days.  It was also awesome to be able to vacation with family.  The trip was fantastic.  I loved how excited they were and I was very impressed with how brave Alia was.  She was able to ride on almost all of the rides which included some scarier rides.  She loved some of the roller coasters but Tower of Terror in Hollywood was a little too scary for her.  She had her arms and legs wrapped around the seats and me when we dropped.   I couldn't get her to ride that one a second time!  Disney over all was great.  The lines were fairly short and we really didn't have to wait all that long to ride anything.  The kids were troopers and walked everywhere all three days.  Alia never once complained of being tired even though we had early mornings, late nights and she had to walk everywhere. 

Magic Kingdom

 We ran into Sue, Mark, Jake, Joy, Riley and Kylee on the Tea Cup ride!

 No Disney vacation is complete without eating something in the shape of Mickey's head.

 Sophia the First and Alia

 Disney at night was fun when you add glow in the dark toys!


Animal Kingdom


 I've always been impressed with the Tree of Life.  Animal Kingdom is probably my favorite park.  I love the large open space and the animals.

 

  On our safari

 She was very excited to meet the characters.

 Dinoland!

 She bought this monkey with her birthday money from Bama.  She named her Chocolate Banana and carried her around everywhere.  Here she is posing next to the monkeys.

Hollywood Studios

 We were able to watch a stunt show and learn how they make special effects for movies.

 This was a playground of a backyard from Honey I Shrunk the Kids.  It was great to see what the world looks like from an ants perspective.  There were a few underground ant tunnels that we adults tried to follow the kids into.  At one point the tunnels were getting smaller and narrower and we were starting to panic!

 Disney with cousins is the best!


It rained most of the day at Hollywood but that didn't stop the kids from having fun.  If you are going to do a theme park in the rain, this was a great one because almost everything is indoors.

A final birthday celebration for Jaycent and Alia's birthdays in Mexico : )!  Those sombreros were really heavy.

Happy 5th Birthday Alia!!!

 Alia woke up this morning with her room filled with 140 balloons. 

 

 When Grandpa and Grandma Davis were here she picked out this bear.  It's as big as she is! 

 Alia and Banana 5 years

 She wanted to make her own lunch.  Notice all of the olives!  She is holding peanut butter on a spoon.  She calls them peanut butter pops and she loves them. 

 We spent the afternoon at Amanda's house playing with the puppies.

We decided to let her pick store cupcakes this year because the rv stove isn't like a normal oven.  The oven doesn't even fit a cupcake pan in it.  She was pretty excited to be able to pick the cupcakes out.

Alia's rules for today:
1.  Get up before her "sun" comes on.
2.  Eat as much candy as she wants.
3.  Watch a movie.
4.  Skip all chores for both she and Avery.
5.  No school today.
6.  Make her own lunch.
7.  Eat at Chick-fil-a.  We were there for 2 hours!
8.  Have a sleepover with her cousins.

 Her yearly questions:
1.  Favorite color:  purple, pink and light blue
2.  Favorite toy:  Big pink bear and wolf puppet
3.  Favorite food:  broccoli and carrots and cooked beans
4.  Favorite book:  Books about hamsters
5.  Favorite animal:  Giraffe and deer
6.  Favorite thing to do outside:  Make soup with water, grass, sticks and bark
7.  Favorite holiday:  Easter because there is real money in the eggs.
8.  When I grow up I want to be a firefighter because I want to go in the truck and spray water.  I also want to be a mom.
9.  Favorite subject: Reading      Least Favorite:  Working
10.  If you could buy anything what would you buy?  A squirt gun
11.  What do you like most about yourself?  That I am a good snuggler.
12.  Biggest accomplishment:  Getting my own lunch.
13.  What do you want to learn?  How to cook in the microwave.
14.  I like to collect:  sticks, rocks and shells
15.  Favorite thing to do:  Play baby and mama
16.  What would you change about this year?  I don't want to do work.
17.  What is your favorite family tradition?  Taking a walk every day.  (But then she followed that statement by "It's my birthday, I can make a rule that we don't have to walk today!")
18.  Favorite memory this year:  Going to the zoo.