Everglades and Biscayne National Parks

Our first night in the hotel was exciting. Alice got the gold star for sleeping that night (a rare occurrence). Jane was up half the night crawling into our bed and Kevin was coughing most of the night, while I was fighting a huge onset of hives. It was not fun. However before going to bed, the kids were really cute. Alice loves to do whatever Jane is doing. Jane lays on the bed with her blanket. Alice must lay on the bed with her blanket.

Kyle then joined them and for a split second we got this picture. Then they were off and jumping

We got a late start to the Everglades, but it all worked out well. Not the most flattering picture of our family, but one I wanted to take. Kevin and I went on our honeymoon to Yellowstone National Park and we got a picture next to the big sign, so I wanted one of our family now next to another National Park sign. Two totally different parks though!

Our biggest Alligator spotting (although it might be a crocodile)

Our first little walk was on a boardwalk through a marshy lake. You have to drive to different hiking spots to see different things. It's a huge park, so a lot of driving. Perfect for little kids!!!! Ha, ha!

This is one of the Mangrove trees (I think). It shoots down roots from the upper branches, thus it is pretty resilient to strong winds, a must in Florida! They are pretty neat looking too.

Kyle spent most of the walk asleep. Luckily he is a good shoulder sleeper.

We caught the last boat tour of the day. It took about 2 hours and was pretty neat. I love boats, so I was excited. It got a little hot and the boat was crowded so not everyone could sit in the shade. Luckily the boat captain was aware of the little ones needing some shade and made others scoot over to allow us to keep the kids cool. We saw some birds and a couple of baby gators and crocs.

This is the ocean side of the park. There is a long canoe trip you could take and explore a bunch of islands. That'll have to wait for many years till the kids are old enough. And I would not do it until the cooler months (which is when you might ask? It's still 90 here!)

A tiny bit of rain heading our way. The skies are gorgeous in Florida. No mountains to block the view.

Saturday morning we woke to rain, but we still headed to Biscayne National Park. This park is mostly water, reefs and islands, so we didn't see much. It was pretty though.

Alice and I

Jane and Alice in their new flip flops

Ready to go home! They were troopers.

All in all in was a fun trip. My hives finally went away yesterday, although they are lingering. Benadryl is a fun way to enjoy a national park. I fought hard to stay awake anytime I sat down. There was a lot more to see then just swamp in the everglades, so that was neat, although most of the wild life I saw there I see in my neighborhood too. It was worth it though and I learned a lot!

Miami Seaquarium

Jane would like to welcome you to the Miami Seaquarium. She'll be your tour guide through the park, (with side notes by Mom). It's like a mini Sea World and half the price!

First we come to the Dolphin tank. Through the little windows, you can see the dolphin swim right past. Pretty amazing. We did not want to leave them, even to go get food.

After lunch, we headed up top to see the dolphin show. We all started out right at the edge. Uncle Steve and Kyle watching the dolphin.

Then the show began, the dolphin swam, the dolphin spoke, and the dolphin splashed. We all quickly moved back, although still a little wetter than before.

Daddy and I took a little detour to see some big fish! Wow, he's huge.

Alice and I spotted an empty playground. We had to cross over the shark tank though to get to it. We were brave and made it!

Alice tried to do everything I did, but she's little and can't always do it. Daddy told her to back up.

Then we got to go to the Flipper show.

Uncle Steve, Aunt Valerie, and Kyle

Uncle Steve is the coolest, well besides Daddy, but sometimes he even wins over Daddy

Next we headed over to the alligators and sea turtles. Alice was a little scared of the alligators, even though they were babies. She's just a little girl. Silly Alice!

I made sure Daddy took a picture of that Iguana. Iguana starts with an "I", so does lizard. The sea turtles are from Finding Nemo.

Then we went and saw the sea lion show. After the show I showed Mommy what I could do. Daddy took a picture of both Mommy and I doing such an amazing trick.

It had been a long day. We had driven in the car 3 hours down to Miami that morning and now it was around 4:30 in the afternoon. Alice and I did not want to take anymore pictures, but we were forced into it. However, we refused to look at the camera, ha ha!

Alice wanted a turn being the tour guide too, so here she is pointing out the dolphin, which probably sounded like, "duck" (her word for every animal, except birds, ironic)

The last show of the day was the killer whale. He was really big. I bought 2 little killer whales at the gift shop. Mommy keeps trying to call them whales and every time I correct her, "No, killer whales. Silly Mommy!"

Daddy was smart enough to sit far away from the splash zone. Others were not, but they quickly moved after the first wall of 55 degree salt water came at them.

She's standing on his nose.

Alice and Mommy waiting for the killer whale to go by after the show. We got to see him up close. It was neat.

Grandma and Papa Terry

Valerie, Kyle, and Steve

We had a great time seeing all the animals and not having to fight any crowds.

Stay tuned for the next post on the everglades!

A new Camera!

So we finally bought a new camera, just in time for the Terry's visit. And just in time to capture Alice's "cheese" face!

She loves to say "Hello" on the phone too

Grandma and Papa Terry flew in to visit us on the 19th of October. Then Kevin's brother Steve, his wife, Valerie, and their little boy, Kyle, came on the 20th. We got to pick them all up at the airport. Jane still loves to visit the shops there and get her picture with Mickey.

After we picked Steve, Valerie, and Kyle up at the airport, we headed to Downtown Disney. This time we had our camera. Jane is becoming quite the model (as long as she has someone to pose next to!)

We tried to do some family photos at the beach with my friend and photographer Nathaly, but alas the weather did not cooperate. Just a tad too windy. However there was a beautiful rainbow and we still got some fun pictures.

Jane

Alice

Kyle, Valerie and Grandma Terry

Kevin and Alice, both with big hair!

Jane looking oh so cute!

Alice with a big smile, truly the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

I'll post more pictures later, don't worry, we took tons of our little vacation!