We started Easter celebration off with a trip to Mema’s house. The Easter Bunny must have known we were coming because there were eggs all over the front yard! Momma said we had to wait for a certain baby cousin to arrive before we could start collecting them. As soon as Baby Mitchell arrived, with baskets in hand, we were de-egging Mema’s yard of brightly colored prizes. Baby Mitchell found the first egg and put it in his mouth and tried to eat it! After breakfast of bagels, eggs, bacon, fruit, and donuts, Mema topped the baskets with even more Easter surprises. Aunt Renee and Uncle TC even hopped down the trail with baskets full of goodies for Morgan and I!
Now that we were sufficiently hopped up on sugar, it was time to head to Gigi and Poppa’s house before our buzz wore off. Guess who else showed up? Mada and Riley and Taylor and Aunt Carrie and Uncle Manata! We chowed down on some Chick-fil-a before starting the next round of basket swapping, present playing, and candy munching.
Gigi helped us make the most of the nice weather by breaking out a crafty project…bubble bottles! She cut the bottom off of plastic water bottles and rubber-banded washcloths over the opening. Then, we dipped those in soapy water and blew in to the top. A big old soapy snake came out the other end! We were squirting soapsnakes off of their back porch and the wind would whip them up in to the air and carry them off to the neighbors’ houses (they needed their windows washed anyway). Check us out in the video below.
Finally, this was the Florida day that Mommy has been looking forward to. A perfect day for fun in the sun!
We started out by snacking on some breakfast in the room and then hitting a souvenir shop while it was still morning hours. But, as soon as we hit about mid-70s, we darted back to the room to change in to our beach gear and hit the sand running. We spent a few hours out in the surf with our new best friends from Georgia that we met yesterday. We even at lunch out there! I had a turkey, cheese, and sand sub with tomatoes, pickles, and sand. Crunchy! After a bit more time on the beach, we changed our scenery and went poolside for a few hours. The water was pretty chilly, but we had the sunshine to warm us up in between twisty jumps, tiger jumps, ballerina jumps, and all sorts of other spectacular acrobatic maneuvers Morgan made up. After a while, we decided to move on back sand-ward and make the most of our time in FL. Guess what…our friends were out there again too! Sweet!
As the sun started heading further and further West, we did some math about when we had to get up tomorrow vs. when we would eat dinner and go to bed. The answer to that equation…time to pack it in, dust off, and put on a clean shirt for goin’ out. Our vacation-mobile took us to Mango Mango’s for some Caribbean cuisine. I started with a mango Island Breeze and Morgan had the strawberry, then we shared an order of crab, spinach, and artichoke dip. Morgan and I ventured WAY out and got chicken strips while Mommy settled for the Chipotle Shrimp Tacos and Daddy got the special…a patty melt between two sweet corn cakes with a side of yucca fries and fried plantains…what!?!
The plan after dinner was to head back & pack, but we just weren’t ready to give up yet so we headed across the Bridge of Lions and back in to downtown St. Augustine. Our target destination was The Hyppo, a gourmet popsicle shop! I had papaya pineapple and Morgan had the Key Lime, and everyone had a good time walking through the streets and shops of the oldest city in the country one last time.
We’re all packed up with alarms set for tomorrow’s journey back north. Thanks Orlando and St. Augustine, we hope to see you again soon!
Morning storms rolling through and high temps of only 65 degrees foiled Momma’s primary vacation goal of making tan lines, so we decided to resort to Plan B and make some memories instead! It was about 10:30 when we rolled out of our hotel room with SWEATSHIRTS on and headed for downtown St. Augustine for some sightseeing. We started at the San Sebastian Winery. We took a quick tour and while Daddy did some tasting Una and I played so nicely together that one of the winery workers gave us some grape juice to do a little tasting of our own! Since we were so good (at least that’s the excuse Daddy gave) we quickly hit the chocolate shop for a chocolate dolphin and chocolate alligator on a stick.
We then did A LOT of walking down some super old roads looking at super old houses and stuff (it IS the oldest city in the US after all). Momma really liked all the gardens and courtyards there. We even got to see St. Augustine’s oldest house. Needless to say, not too exciting, so we decided to make tracks over to the fort (Castillo de San Marcos). I LOVED all the cannons and bombs (cannon balls) they had there! Daddy even let me get my very own miniature cannon before we left! Una got a Florida Field Guide (she’s carried it with her everywhere trying to identify all the plants and animals she comes across). We did a bunch of walking around the fort and making sure to check out EVERY cannon before we finally decided to get some grub. The slushies and little chocolate donuts we had for breakfast just weren’t doing the trick anymore.
We got our lunch on at The White Lion. We sat outside again right across from the Fort. It’s been so nice to be able to eat outside! After our bellies were full, we hit the streets again to take in all that St. Augustine has to offer, including a visit to the nation’s oldest wooden school. We wouldn’t want Momma to miss seeing the “roots” of her profession while on vacation. This place is so old and fragile, that there is a HUGE chain around it with a ship anchor outside to hold it down during strong winds. True story. It even says so on a sign in the school! We toured the school, the gardens, and even the outhouse.
More stores were checked out on the way to get some ice cream. After sharing a superman ice cream cone with Morgan, we were buzzing around streets. It’s amazing what sugar can do for you!
Our last stop of the day was a GIGANTIC playground right next to our parking garage! Don’t worry Pepa and Poppa, we took several pictures so you can build one just like it in our backyard. The first problem to solve might be that our backyard is too small for it to fit in, but we’ll work on that!
Once back at the hotel, we took a quick walk along the beach to find hundreds of dead jellyfish washed up on shore. It was interesting…but gross at the same time. Morgan identified them as Moon Jellyfish using her field guide. I threw shells into the ocean. It’s what boys do. Currently, I am playing Mario on my DS, Morgan is watching Incredibles, Momma is helping me post this, and Daddy is out at the taco stand getting us some late night grub.
Up and at ‘em this morning. We were moving before the sun was up so we could bust down the gates at the happiest place on earth…The Magic Kingdom! It took automobiles, trains, and ferries to get us in the gates, but we made it and hit the street running as soon as we stepped in. After a quick photo op w/ Daisy, we bee-lined it for Space Mountain to beat the rush. In 10 minutes, Morgan and Daddy were in and out, which is good because Momma and I were chillin on the bench outside not wanting to go anywhere near a fast, dark roller coaster. Next we crossed over the park to Adventure Land and Frontier Land to hit all the rides because we didn’t dominate those areas nearly to Daddy’s liking last time around (like I would even remember…I was 8 months old!). Highlights include the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, Aladdin’s Magic Carpets, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, and Huck Finn’s Island. Then, we made our way around to Its A Small World and grabbed a FastPass for Peter Pan while we did a few more rides. Next, a trip back through Tomorrow Land to pick up the other rides, like the Carousel of Progress, People Mover, and Monsters Inc. Then, back to round out Fantasy Land with Peter Pan, the Carousel, Dumbo, Tea Cups, Winnie the Pooh, and the Racetrack. Finally, we topped it off with the Jungle Cruise before we were begging Daddy to make the happiness end! We stuck around for the Main Street Electrical Parade before calling it a day and heading back to the hotel. Baths, teeth, and alarms set before konking out. Do it up again tomorrow? You bet!
