Florida!

For the last week of February, we took our let's-escape-winter trip. If you will recall, last year we went to California, so this year we decided to see the other side of the states and visited Florida. The day we left, MN was experiencing -10 degree temperatures (colder when you count the wind chill, which was brutal). FL, on the other hand, was around 80 degrees!

The very first thing we did (okay, after we drove from Fort Lauderdale to Miami) was to find a park and get out in the fresh air! It was dusk by the time we got there, so the pictures have high contrast, but you get the jist. The girls LOVED playing! We loved feeling the fresh air on our skin, too. ;)

  (Yes, she is wearing a Rapunzel costume. The story behind that is for another post!)

Really, though, the fun was just beginning. We decided to visit Key Biscayne and the beach the next day. The girls couldn't get enough of putting their feet in the water, and we sincerely regretted not bringing our swimsuits! (Seriously, though, we didn't think FL water in FEBRUARY would be warm enough!)

 Pretty quickly we tied up Madeline's skirt, and she went around collecting shells and wading into the water.

 Olivia was more interested in the birds, which she kept calling "chickens" and "ducks." We tried to discourage her from terrorizing them too much, but still let her enjoy her time.

She was bending over by the water to grab a rock when a particularly big wave came and got her front wet! She took it with a grin, though!

Wednesday we visited the Everglades, where we went on a trail and saw alligators, egrets, ibises, anhingas, and herons galore! Though hot, the girls were enthralled.

At one spot, we counted about 14-16 alligators. Total, we saw 28! Don't worry about us, though, we were safe on a raised, fenced walkway. The alligators seemed indifferent to the people, anyway.

That was nothing compared to the alligator farm, though! Just outside the national park (the alligators are protected inside the park, where it's a federal offense to bother or interfere with the animals) we visited a place with tons of alligators, of all ages. We saw tiny babies, "toddlers," adolescents, adults - all way too many to count!

 One of the many cages, holding what might be considered "toddlers."

We saw a presentation on snakes, and Madeline got to touch/hold a ball python!! What a brave kid!

Next, we went on an air boat ride. We sat in the second row from the front (the first row was "tsunami zone" because of how wet you would get!), and they provided ear muffs to help with the VERY loud sounds.

The kids weren't terribly keen on the muffs (at least, I can say Olivia wasn't) but once we got going they kept them on, no problem!

It was a wild ride! Totally worth the expense. We saw a lot more birds, got to experience going over the marsh (i.e. places a regular boat couldn't go due to tall plants), and were thrown around time and time again as our driver would suddenly do a 180 turn, splashing the front row.

We still got fairly wet (not drenched), but the spray was nothing compared to the water sloshing around in the bottom of the boat. Caleb and my feet were soaked! (And no, we didn't think to bring extra socks!)

Madeline's favorite part, though, was when we saw the alligator presentation and she got to hold a baby alligator!!!

We tried to maximize our time on the beach, though our second trip was a little too windy to want to swim. We found lots of good seashells, though, and had fun just goofing around.

On the last day, we took the kids to the Museum of Discovery and Science (MODS) in Fort Lauderdale. MUCH better than our experience in San Diego! Anyway, while there was a lot to explore and learn, each kid kind of gravitated towards just a few of the exhibits. Madeline loved their play area, complete with an orange tree with oranges (balls) that you could harvest and collect.

Olivia was fascinated by the aviation area. Here she is pretending to fly a fighter jet!

Unfortunately, Caleb became sick with a bad head cold on our trip, and it got progressively worse as our time in FL continued. The last night he ran a fever, but otherwise he tried to push through and help the girls have a great trip. There was no airplane drama this time around (last year our flight home was delayed, which pushed an exhausted-Madeline past her limits), thank goodness! It was wonderful to be in the fresh air for so long, but it was nice to come back and sleep in our own beds, too. (And not as cold as when we left - yay!)