Farewell, Florida

All good things must come to an end. We are all really hating that expression right now. Arriving back in Ottawa at 2:00 in the morning after an unplanned 3-hour, weather-related delay in Washington, DC didn't exactly help our unpleasant experience of leaving a place we loved. Two straight weeks of sunshine and 28 degree temperatures (no joking, there was not one bad day or drop of rain during our whole time there!) has now turned into single digit weather forecasts, cloudy skies and sporadic rain. We will miss our time at the beach and the pool so much, and all we can do is relive the memories by looking at pictures and realizing our suitcases still smell like Florida. Remind us again why we came back?  Oh, yeah, work....which we needed to be at 6 hours after we got home. Back to normal life?  How boring!

Sunset at JB's Fish Camp

Last great dinner out in New Smyrna

Never a complete dinner without dessert

We have ice cream in Canada too, right?

We had an awesome time. Next year can't come soon enough!

I Touched a Stingray!

We spent our last full day in Florida checking out some of the marine life, and this time it was really up close and personal. We visited the Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet, which serves as the rehabilitation center for injured or sick sea turtles before releasing them back into the water on a special day in late April every year. We were just going to miss the Turtle Day so we only got to see them in their tanks, but we did get the chance to visit the Center's newest attraction, the Stingray Touch Pool!

It was really cool to see the little skates swimming around and coming up near the surface to get touched by all the visitors, and Isabelle was definitely enjoying the opportunity. She stood there, fingers at the ready, as they kept swooping by her spot at the side of the tank. She could have done this all day.

Oliver preferred watching the stingrays swim through the little window to actually reaching into the tank. When asked if he wanted to touch them, he would respond with an emphatic "No!". When asked later if he touched one, he would respond with an emphatic "Yes!".

We also got to see and touch a hermit crab and a sea cucumber, plus check out a few other tanks with huge crabs and swimming turtles. It was an awesome way to spend our last full day here, and we even picked up some great books about manatees and sea turtles to remind us of our time in Florida once we are back in Ottawa. Two weeks vacation isn't enough!

Pool Party

Isabelle and Oliver adore the pool. This is a huge understatement. They could not spend enough time in and around it, day in and day out. Any fellow traveler that was willing to spend time in the pool with them was their new best friend. Isabelle was obsessed with being in the water. She started off tentatively, sticking close to the side or venturing into the centre only when she was holding onto her noodle. Once she picked up a pair of goggles, she was off to the races with no looking back. She has become fearless around the pool, leaping in from anywhere, swimming all over, then heading back to the side to rest, chat with friends, or just climb out and jump back in all over again. Oliver had his ups and downs in the water in his swim classes, not so in Florida. He was jumping in repeatedly from the get-go, then he discovered the stairs, where he loved to just hang out, soak up some rays and watch his sister the fish zip around the pool. It was amazing to see how much fun they had around the pool over these two weeks. I think we could have never left the condo and they still would have an awesome vacation!

Look out below, here comes daredevil Isabelle!

Look before you leap, and close your eyes when you do!

Why swim when you can hang out poolside?

Showing off her skills to Grandpa

Best buds in the water

Family photo opp!

Isabelle in action!

The Beach Bunny Strikes!

Good thing the Easter Bunny keeps a close eye on Isabelle and Oliver. They have celebrated Easter in a lot of different places over the past few years, Ottawa, Toronto and this year marks the 2nd time they've marked the occasion in Florida. They gave the whole condo a nice Easter gift by sleeping in a little bit later than normal then soon they were off to the races all over the condo. Oliver found his first one and was ready to stop and crack it open until he discovered that there were many more to be found. Big sister did a great job of compiling her own eggs but helping Oliver on his search. Oliver alternated between searching and eating and once they were both satisfied with their haul, they settled down for a bit of breakfast and a look at their Easter presents, which appeared to rival Xmas for some reason! Comfortable with their loot, they ventured out to the balcony to discover that the Easter Bunny also visited the beach! They went down to destroy sandcastles and discover more than enough treats to last them until the next chocolate-filled holiday. A truly successful Easter inside and out, and it couldn't have happened in a better place. Sunshine, surf and sweets, who could ask for more?

Snagged another one!

Taking a break. Hunting is hard work!

Chocolate fanatic on the loose

The stomping is the best part

Who knew could hunt eggs in a swimsuit?

Easter Rocks!

Easter Mommy and Oliver the Egg Hunter

All sandcastles wiped out, only the Easter Bunny's message remains

Another successful Easter haul, well in hand

A Day Without Kids?

Some really rare things happened on this trip, and one of the rarest of all was that Mommy and Daddy got the opportunity to spend a day of shopping and dining...wait for it...away from Oliver and Isabelle. It was truly an unusual occurrence along the lines of Halley's Comet, but it happened! Gran and Grandpa were kind enough to offer to spend the day with the two little ones as we headed up to St. Augustine with Auntie Mer and Dave for some shopping, sightseeing and lunch at one of our favourite Florida eating establishments, Harry's. We had a great day and of course the munchkins were never far from our minds, especially as we visited the outlets and the shops in town. They are always our #1 priority so it's difficult for either of us to a) spend time away from them or b) shop without buying them something. What felt the weirdest was making quick stops with the car to pick up something and both getting to leave the car and go inside, seems unheard of! In any case, we had a wicked New Orleans style lunch at Harry's that consisted of all the favourites: shrimp creole, crabcakes, smashed potatoes and red beans and rice. We enjoyed the drive back along the coast as well, checking out the multi-million dollar, hurricane-proofed homes along the shore. It was great to get a day to ourselves and feel like we were back in our past lives, but equally as great to return to two kids that we love and that love us. By all accounts, they had an awesome day too, so busy at the beach that they barely noticed that Mom and Dad were gone!

No trip to St. Augustine is complete without Harry's

Back home at the condo with her buds Mer and Dave

A Mall for All Ages

Look like the city of Daytona Beach has this mall thing figured out. So many malls across North America are place for adults to shop and for kids to do pretty much nothing. As a result, neither parents or kids have a productive time while there. The best most malls do are a few coin-operated animals that suck up all the available change in Mom and Dad's pocket for a less-than-exciting experience for the child.

The Volusia Mall is the exception. They have an awesome play area that is perfect for keeping kids busy while a parent gets necessary (or even unnecessary) shopping completed. It had a wicked breakfast theme with giant waffles, eggs, bacon and cereal for the kids to climb all over. But the play area is only the tip of the iceberg.

They also have a massive bungee trampoline attraction that pulled in both Mommy and daughter on this trip. Hard to say which one had more fun, in fact the operator mentioned that Mom was the most active parent participant ever!

Lastly, and near and dear to Oliver's heart, the mall has an actual choo-choo-train that makes its way through the whole mall, tooting its horn and passing by all the shoppers. Both Oliver and Isabelle loved zipping around the mall, waving at all the onlookers. If we could have stayed there all day, I doubt we would have had many complaints!

Alligators All Around

Even though we have been to Florida several times, we haven't come close to exhausting all the things you can do in the Sunshine State. This year, the family took a day trip and rented a pontoon boat for a cruise up the St. John's River. The primary goal was to check out all the marine life in the water and along the shore, with the hope that we could see some alligators up close and maybe even a manatee. Turns out we didn't have to wait long because within the first 5 minutes we encountered our first manatee right alongside the boat! As we moved along, we started to spot alligators and turtles, getting as close as we possible could before they took shelter under water. Oliver and Isabelle were thrilled to see these creatures up close, even though Oliver prefers to call them "crock-y-diles".

We parked the boat for lunch and headed to the Blue Spring, a gorgeous area that is a large manatee refuge in the wintertime and is a beautiful spring for swimmers looking for refreshment from the heat. After lunch, we cruised back to our starting point, spotting our biggest gator yet, some Great Blue Herons and an ibis. It was an awesome day on the water and completely wore the little ones out. We weren't even out of the parking lot when they were both conked out. Odds are that we will have one day of bad weather during our time here...but it hasn't happened yet. Sunshine reigns supreme!

Embarking on our journey

Junior adventurer checks her marine life guide

Nothing beats a boat ride

Seafaring sweetie

Turtles out for a tan

Great Blue Heron hunts for lunch

Keeping his eye on us

Naptime with Gran

Another Manatee sighting, Easter bonnet and all!

Dreams Do Come True

To no one's surprise, Isabelle was overly thrilled to meet her beloved princesses in person again this year. To everyone's surprise, Oliver was just as thrilled! After Isabelle chatted with Sleeping Beauty, Oliver walked right up to her and gave her a big hug. It was amazing to see. As Isabelle made her way down the line and met each one, Oliver patiently let her have her moment with them, then moved in to meet them himself. When it was time to leave, Isabelle was fine to say goodbye, it was Oliver that was the one in tears. He kept saying "Pink! Pink!", I guess he was most smitten with Sleeping Beauty!

An audience with Princess Aurora herself

"Like, you are so my favourite princess!"

A perfect match in pink

A hug from a tiny prince

Cinderella and her adoring fan

Cinderella meets our Prince Charming and Princess Isabelle

Belle meets Belle

We heard she digs guys with long hair

Belle of the ball holds court with our royal family