Basically we wiped the wee three old out.
We spent seven days at a condo on St Augustine beach. The choice was in part due to a need for a change of scenery. But, mostly to do with Jack needing something other than the beach this year. He wanted history, animals, and sights, but we also knew we needed the sand and water {especially for the girls}. Before I knew it we were planning our vacation to the East coast of Florida for the first time.
The city did not disappoint. It did however exhaust us. But in a perfectly manageable way {for 4 out of 5 of us anyway}. I spent weeks before our departure mapping out our stay. Spreading out activities, scheduling events, and still allowing plenty of pool/beach time.
And that is basically why this beach vacation is a two poster.
We arrived on Saturday after a very long drive down. With three kids in tow we managed to add about 2 hours to our trip. Needless to say Saturday was deemed travel day.
By Sunday the kiddos were ready to hit the pool and the beach. Maggie spent most of her time being lauched by Daddy and swimming to the steps of the pool. Our amazing little fish...
Jack spent most of his time doing this....floating around the pool and randomly bumping into walls and people.
Lucy could not get enough of the water. She just keeps the joyous surprises coming. Another fish in training I'm sure.
We then did a little beach time. But soon found out we should have stayed at the pool. Although Lucy was totally digging the waves splashing up on her, we spent countless moments pulling handfuls of sand away from her mouth.
And Maggie enjoyed herself for about 6 minutes until she realized the sand was wet. I can hardly explain that one {nor can she, I'm sure}.
We followed our
The food was far from desirable, but just ask the kids and they will say this was their favorite restaurant of all. Along side of our table were hatches to feed the fish and the various sea birds. A huge hit with the bigs. Lucy even got to grunting and squealing when the birds came to our window. Our overcooked, among other things, meal was totally worth the kiddo's excitement.
After dinner it was off to the adorable town square for ice cream {which somehow became a nightly ritual}.
On Monday we decided to see what the oldest city in America was made of. If I'm being truthful, all but one of us was really excited about this. I'll give you one guess. Yes, the little fish who would have been just as happy doing aquatic laps in her pink swimsuit.
The trolley certainly helped to get our Magpie in the sight seeing mood. If only the novelty has lasted the full 4 hours.
The first stop was the old jail. I personally think they are way too cute to be behind bars.
The next stop was the Pirate Museum {which Maggie claimed was her favorite}. I have to think it had something to do with this ship's wheel.
We also hit the colonial square, lunch and then the fort. This is just about the time we lost Maggie {not literally}. She and I never actually made it inside. I had to live vicariously through Daddy and Jack. Maggie and I hitched a very hot ride back on the trolley to snoozeville. Someone was way over done for the day.
After naps, Lucy played with her pirate duck souvenir {compliments of Maggie}.
And the bigs grew gills and fins and were back in the water.
Maggie's happy place.
Are you tired yet? There is still plenty more to come. Just add 88 degree weather and you might be getting close to feeling like us by day four.
We were still adventuring right along {as Jack refers to it} come Tuesday. This time to the Alligator Farm. Certainly something I would never do without kids, but it proved entertaining. Especially if you have an interest in reptiles.
There seems to be very little to narrate about this visit. It was basically a lot of alligators and really big ones at that. We did watch a feeding which was...again, entertaining, if you are into alligators. The most peculiar sight goes to the albino alligator with a turtle riding on his head. Shame on me for not getting a picture of him.
But I did get one of this guy. Yes, he is real. And like I said they were really big.
Other than alligators there were some other nasty reptiles. I just can't seem to get away from these slimy things. I am starting to question Jack's blood relation to me after he so freely held a snake. And of course, I had to take the pictures...with both eyes closed mind you. That's a momma's love for you.
But, the most pleasant surprise of all was Lucy's fascination with the animals. Lu has become more vocal than ever here in the past week or so. These animals were just the trigger she needed to start babbling. I am a huge fan of baby babble. It seems we might have another animal lover in the family. {Jack is so very proud}.
We topped our evening off with a visit from my favorite brother cuz {that's our new term for our slightly unusual relationship}. Jon dwells a mere 45 minutes away so he made the drive over after his big boy job to have dinner with the fam. The kids love a good visit from Uncle Jon.
We, of course, topped the evening with more ice cream near the square.
Okay, so that was Saturday through Tuesday...Part 1 of our St Augustine adventure. Part 2 is in the works.
To be continued....
I know you can hardly wait {wink wink}.
2 comments:
Loved your recap;) We want to do the fort in a few weeks--was it boring? Adorable, adorable kiddos!
looks like it was pretty fun!
Uncle Mike
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