St Augustine: Part 2

And part 2 brings me to Wednesday.  Undoubtedly the most exciting day of all and conversely the day Maggie hit rock bottom.  

The good news is we all know there is only one way to go from there.  Maggie found herself in such a state of over tiredness that she had no choice but to finally stop fighting the sleep and rest herself.  Happily from there we got part of our old Maggie back.

So what made Wednesday so fabulous you may ask.  It was the day Jack has been waiting for since he could talk.  He has been forever wanting to swim with the dolphins and I mean forever .  The day finally came at a mere 6 years old.  Lucky kid.

On Wednesday we arrived at Marineland {owned by the Georgia Aquarium}.  My little ones could hardly handle their excitement.  Maggie was too young to swim with the dolphins so we scheduled a feed and touch session for her.  Each child was at an age where they had to have a paying adult with them so I chaperoned Maggie and Clay chaperoned Jack.  Who got the short end of the stick on this one?

I can't complain though.  Watching Jack was pure joy. Sadly I couldn't take pictures of Maggie during her encounter with Betty Bottlenose {per Marineland rules}, but I was able to buy a few the photographer on site took.  It was tough to choose considering she was having her first EVER temper tantrum in nearly half of them.  Nice timing, huh?

                                     

Jack's dolphin was named Hemingway.  He was a young one.  Jack got a kick out of how misbehaved he was and how he continually stuck his tongue out.

As expected, this was Jack's favorite part of his vacation.

Post swimming with the dolphins we headed back to the condo for naps.  Maggie took a very long and much needed one.  When she awoke we hit the beach again.

Lucy, again, was in love with the sand and sea. I was in love with watching her experience it all for the first time.  Lovely Lu at her finest.

Maggie decided the wet sand wasn't so bad after all and spent a good hour collecting seashells.  It's amazing how a nice nap can clear your mind.

We took the shells back to the condo where Maggie painted them.  She said they were "stunning".  Clay took me out to dinner for my 30 something birthday sans kids.  I was willing to forgo our nightly ritual of ice cream for a peaceful dinner by this point in the vacation.

According to my well planned vacation calendar, Thursday was a pool/beach day.  Maggie couldn't have been more thrilled.  She swam like a fish again all morning and added goggles to her attire.  The goggles must have offered some kind of super power for her because she would tell us, "go back more and more and more...because I have my goggles on".  Her swimming ability is pretty insane for a three year old.

When we got tired of being Maggie's go to point, Jack took over.  Maggie swam lap after lap to him.   Jack got quite a kick out this and I'm pretty sure nearly dunked her a few times in his excitement.

Once Lu awoke from her morning nap we hit the beach again.  Jack was a maniac in the Atlantic ocean waves.  Much bigger than what we are used to.

The next few pictures pretty much sum up the afternoon...Maggie's ups and downs and Lucy's ability to ingest sand.

We topped our evening off with a boat ride, dinner ,and our nightly ice cream shop stop.

That boat was seriously sweltering hot until we got moving out of the no wake zone.  Hence Lucy's perfectly edible rosy cheeks.  She started her journey strapped to me in the Baby Bjorn.  When I realized we might be stuck together for life via sweat I had to unstrap her.  Daddy graciously took over while we both dried off.

It wasn't long before we realized the upper deck was the coolest place to be.  And it wan't long before the bigs got a serious second wind.

Friday was the day that might have been the most dreaded by all if I hadn't kept it a secret until the end.

We spent the better part of the day at the pool and beach again.  Maggie declared she liked, "the small waves, the middle waves, and the big waves".  {It only took 6 days.}  The bigs collected more shells and other random beach creatures {like crab carcasses}.  And Lucy just ate up the beach life {literally and figuratively}. Oh, how I adore my easy going and adventurous littlest one.

The dreaded little secret I kept until the end was our annual beach picture session.  I couldn't have asked for a better sky.  Clouds, clouds, and more clouds.  This was a bit of a concern knowing I couldn't wait utnil sunset because they would be hungry little monsters and I couldn't wait until after dinner because we know what those white outfits would have looked like by then.  So I took my chances...and the clouds took over just in time.  No hot sweaty faces, no complaining, and no squinty eyes.

The problem I didn't foresee is how hard it would be to get THREE, yes 1...2...3, kids to look at the same time and look semi happy too.  Nearly impossible.  How do you photographers do it?

So this is what we got. {I'm pretty hopeful that there is a better one of the three of them, but I needed a break from perusing the 100 plus outtakes}

We said goodbye to St Augustine, the alligators, the dolphins, the beach, the wet sand, and the pool on Saturday.

I would like to say we were ready to come home after seven days, but honestly it was a hard goodbye.   I don't know that we will ever go back.  And not because it wasn't absolutely amazing {trust me it will be a hard vaca to top}, but because we are one of those "been there done it" kind of families.  And ironically, at that same time, we will more than likely head back to our beach roots next summer.

I have to say this is definitely one vacation we will be talking about for years to come.  It was pretty incredible.  See ya old town!

St Augustine: Part 1

We dared to be different this year with our annual beach vacation.  The daring proved to be a bit of a double edge sword.  On the one end we loved the city and all it had to offer {so much so that this will be a two part post} and then there was the other end.  Let's just call the other end...Maggie.

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 beach pool day with dinner out.  We went to Santa Maria's located in the water.  Yes, "in" not on.  Thanks for the recommendation Erica.

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}.

A Hidden Gem

The kids and I found a little hidden gem right around the corner from us.  I'm sure most humans {especially those with kids} in the surrounding area are fully aware of it.  However, after living in this house for 5 years...I've just found it.  Or more like just gotten around to actually taking the time to make a visit.

After Jack's most recent obsession with all things in nature i.e. animals, geography, minerals, insects etc., he included the Nature Center on his "Summer List".  Amidst other outdoorsy things that either I have no interest in attempting {this is where Daddy will come in} or that I just don't see how we can fully include Maggie.  So this was one that was worth a shot.

In hopes of making this enjoyable for all parties included, I had to keep the several forest trails on the grounds a little secret.  Tried that once with Magpie in tow {compliments of Jack's recent summer list} and won't be doing that again for another 365 days....at least.  As you may have noticed there was no blog post on that little adventure teeth pulling session.

But, I am happy to report that the Nature Center was a whole new and wonderful experience.  Who knew? {again, probably everyone in the surrounding county, but me}  The center had several hands on activities which included a Nature Exchange with lots of goodies, a variety of forest and river animals, and we even got to enjoy the "Creature Feature" led by one of the staff members.

The "Creature Feature" was the driving force behind the day and time I chose when mapping out our summer activities.  I was for sure there wouldn't be much to do at the center so we better go when something was actually offered.  And I was for sure that the creature featured would be a bird or a fish or at least something likable.  I was wrong on both accounts.  There was plenty to do with or without the "Creature Feature".  It just turned out to be an added bonus.  And the creature was far from likable.

It was a snake.

Have I ever mentioned my severe phobia of snakes?  Well, if I haven't, I despise those things.  Like make my heart race, loose my stomach, and want to gag kind of despise.  My kids get the biggest kick out of it.

Luckily Grandma was in tow.  So I went for a nice scenic walk in the aviary while my Mom hung with the kids and that nasty reptile.  I have no pictures.  But, I do know that both Jack and Maggie did the whole two finger touch thing.  Brave little ones if you ask me.

Now on to the enjoyable parts of our visit {for me anyway}.

The lower level of the center contained a few exhibits and animals.  And of course, Jack was our guide {map in hand} everywhere we went.

I seriously fell in love with this fuzzy guy.  Yes, I do posssums, but not snakes.  I could have watched him eat his breakfast all day.  However, his bowl of slop reminded me a bit of Lucy's most recent finger food sampling.  Yes, she is snubbing baby food and wants the real stuff {but, that's a whole other post}.

Also on lower level was the Nature Exchange.  Love the concept of this area.  The kids earn points by either bringing in items from nature, reading books on nature and logging it, or completing the scavenger hunt on the grounds.  They can use their points to "buy" a plethora of natural goodies located in the bins.  And as you can see it also has a microscope which Maggie was extremely intrigued by.

Jack and Maggie participated in the scavenger hunt.  These are two of the items on the list...a hole in a tree where an animal might live and chewed up acorns. If we came back with pictures our points were doubled.  Cha ching for me...an excuse for those two wild things to stop for the camera.

Also on the grounds were a few animals.  This beaver and his well structured dam being one of my favorite.

The kids are already asking me when we can go back and Jack has already started collecting his nature items to exchange.  I have a feeling this may become a regular stomping grounds for the Cibula kids.

Now I just have to find a place to squeeze it onto our summer calendar...again.  Thank goodness for erasers.  It seems I check something off their list and they add something.  We may have to follow the nature center's business plan and call it the "summer exchange".  Our two month calendar can only hold so much.

Loving summer so far!  How 'bout you?