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!