Last Weekend in Florida

Monday, 18-March

This was our last weekend here in Florida. We head to West Virginia tomorrow.

On Sunday we went to a different ward (we call our different church congregations "wards") as it was stake conference (we call a group of wards a "stake") for where we are. We didn't feel all that much a part of this ward/stake, so we jumped to a different ward in Kissimee.

I don't remember what we were doing or why, but I kind of love this photo!

Monday we were cleaning up, finishing packing, and getting our last moments at the club-house pool. Unfortunately, it was rather cold and a little rainy for our last day, but the kids didn't want to miss it on their last day!

Burrito impressionists

Goodbye pool! Miss you!

I must admit, no small part of me is wondering what on earth we're doing leaving this gorgeous place! I love tropical weather, vegetation, waters... I just love tropical! So much!

Rocket Launch

Friday 15-March

We went out south of Cape Canaveral today to watch a rocket launch! I took the four bigs this time while Mom got to rest at home with just Rebekah. Pretty sure we both feel we got the better end of that deal--those are the best kind!

I'll have a video of the launch on our youtube channel. Maybe it's already there? Or perhaps not. I'm catching things up though!

Noel climbing between the palm trees where we had a picnic dinner

Getting their feet wet.

I mistakenly thought it would be too cold to play in the water as late as we were, and thought we'd be there only 15-20 minutes, after eating our picnic dinner, to watch the launch. Wrong I was! Turns out that the launch got delayed for about 2 hours due to technical/engineering issues. Bonnie was delighted by all her extra alone time!

The kids loved seeing what someone else made in the sand. It's quite an impressive mud castle!

The shuttle did finally launch and was totally worth the wait! I'd never been in range of watching/hearing one. So glad we went!

South Florida Science Center

Thursday, 14-Mar

Last week when we came down to Palm Beach for the Astros game, we drove by a place that was a Downton Abbey exhibit where they had perfectly recreated sets from the show along with costumes and info galore. Bonnie has loved that show and was excited to potentially go, however that day our plans were already set out for us.

So, we made another trip down. Unfortunately, the exhibit was a bit lackluster for Bonnie's hopes, but still interesting. I'll not caption these photos because, if you've seen the show, you already know, and if you haven't, it won't matter anyway.

Meanwhile, while Bonnie went to the exhibit, I took the kiddos to the South Florida science center. It wasn't as big as others we've been to, but it did have some unique features and the kids had a good time.

Who's a blowfish?! The aquarium here was impressive given the size of the place.

Serious work by miss Rebekah. I loved these things even as a teenager!

Dress up paaaarteeey!

No really, paaaarteeeey!

The playground was fun, but Ben was the only one young enough to play on it.

  

Outside we saw some lizards that let us get suprisingly close!

They had a gorgeous mini golf course here, but for a kids museum, it seemed more beautiful than fun for kids. No cool loop-de-loops or jumps over water or such. We walked the course and decided not to pay extra to play it. Still, definitely beautiful.

And besides, why pay money for mini golf when he has as much fun chasing a duck for free! 😂

As we left, we drove around a bit through some neighborhoods. South Florida has some appeal, I must say! Then we drove home a different way than normal, driving north around lake Okeechobee. Most of the time we couldn't see the lake even though we were right close to it -- a large hill to protected areas from flooding and direct the watershed blocked the view.

Still, we got a pretty view of the sunset as it fell over beautiful, rural south Florida.

Daytona Beach

Wednesday, 13-Mar.

We headed out to Daytona Beach today. We didn't have this beach on a list specifically, but Benjo had mentioned he wanted to tour a chocolate factory and here, we found one we could tour!

We arrived just in time for the tour no thanks to traffic, but in we rushed and saw how they made all their chocolates. They gave us a few free samples including chocolate covered bacon! It's a top seller for them... and I have no idea why. Yuk! Don't get me wrong, I love chocolate and I love bacon, but then I love ice cream and I love cheese--that doesn't mean they belong together! And those are both dairy! *shudder*

The chocolate factory

The factory employees were helpful in guiding us to a good beach location! A lot of beaches in Florida seem to be long thin islands a bit off the actual mainland. We went to the southern end of the island and, as we walked out on the boardwalk toward the beach, we found this guy eating some leaves.

Tortoise munching near the beach

The beach water was a little chill, but not too cold to get in. The waves were great. We had a fun day at the beach!

Kiddos playing as we arrived.

A beautiful sunset on our way home.

St Petersburg Beach

Monday, March 11

Bonnie dropped Amy and I off at St. Petersburg beach and took the littles to a science museum today. This was our first time at a beach on the gulf side of Florida. The beach was gorgeous! But what we didn't realize was how much the gulf minimized the waves. If there was a 2-foot wave the whole time we were there, I'd be surprised. The water was beautiful, but we got a bit bored pretty quick.

Amy playing in the small surf.

We decided to look into some activities we could do there like jetskis and such. We decided on a 3-hour boat tour to see dolphins and go to sand dollar island. I wasn't sure if it'd be worth it, but we took the risk. So glad we did!

First siting of dolphins

They swam right under our boat

Cool view under a bridge

Then four more dolphins, including a baby, in very shallow water near sand dollar island!

We found a number of sand dollars, most broken, as well as some other shells. We also just enjoyed playing in the gorgeously clear water!

A couple sand dollars we came up with.

So it seems the gulf-side of Florida is a trade-off... small waves but gorgeously clear water and marine life!

Temple, Science Center, and Cousin

Saturday, March 9th. Because I'm so far behind and playing catch up, I'm not going to be nearly as engaging, I'm afraid. Hopefully I can keep up better in the future.

Today we went to the Orlando Temple. Amy did baptisms while Bonnie and I took turns upstairs. It worked out too that the Activity Day girls were having an activity at the temple handing out cookies to those who came out! So most everyone had something to do there this time!

This girl loves the temple! Her enthusiasm to go is sometimes endearing and sometimes... a bit much!

Geckos were all over in the bushes and low on the temple walls.

This temple is as photogenic as they come. It's like this picture could be a rendering!

Then to the Orlando Science Center. We didn't have a long time there, but we had plenty of fun.

This was an interactive demo of goose migration flight. Each person controlled one of the birds in the V formation with their arms as wings.

From there we went to the airport to pick up our Nephew/Cousin James. He's going on the cruise with Salli, but we get to have him for an evening to play! Lucky us!

Of course we had to get some Bluebell, take a picture, and send it to his family back in Washington.

Spring Training Astros

Wow, I've gotten... WAY behind! More than normal by a bit. Well, time to try to play catch up. I won't have as much detail unfortunately, but here goes.

Bonnie's sister came to Florida to go on a cruise. They came early and we all went to an Astros spring training game together (Friday, March 8th).

First Base side Gate

Pretty sweet seats!

Fireworks Night!