Florida Trip - Part 6 {Universal & Harry Potter}

We still have some free tickets to Universal leftover from Brian's days at the camera shop there.  We had been saving them to use once the boys were a bit older and had read the Harry Potter books but decided to go ahead and use them now.  Elliott is on the 4th book, and Ethan has seen at least the first movie so at least they knew about it and could enjoy it.

I have to say I've never read any of them (I know - I can hear the gasps) or seen any of the movies, but I thought that this part of the park was done really well!!  The rides were great and the boys loved it.

We had to try the ButterBeer.  No one liked it.

Brian's old store.  I think it was called Lights, Camera, Action when he worked there.  Too bad he didn't wear the pink striped shirt for old times sake :)

Okay, Brian and I were so disappointed that the Jaws ride was no more.  They kept the hanging shark that was in front of it for some reason.  Gives me hope that they'll bring it back?

Ethan rode the Hulk 5 times.  I stood in line with Elliott the first time and was going to ride, but then decided not to cause I wasn't sure how much it would jerk you around and the thought of my port banging into those harnesses was not comforting.  So I bailed at the last minute.  Brian didn't even act like he was going to ride - smart guy!

We caught onto the single rider lines pretty early, and since the boys were usually the only ones riding the big rides it worked out pretty well for us - saved so much time!

As we were walking out through City Walk to the car, Ethan spotted these light-up t-shirts.  They light up to the beat of music or any sound, so it looks like the lights are dancing.  Kind of like an equalizer I think.  Anyway, that is what he wanted to spend his money on, so he is now the proud owner of one!  We had a hard time convincing him that Mrs. K would not appreciate him wearing it to school the next Monday :)

Easter

Happy belated Easter everyone!!

We spent the morning worshiping and serving our ever-loving Savior Sunday with our church family.  We so often take the opportunities to do just that for granted, but something just nudged me Sunday and really let me know how fortunate we are just to have the freedom to get together and worship.  And on top of that, our family is blessed even more with a wonderful church and church family to worship with!  Love you all!!

Loved the rest of our day, too.

Subs for lunch.

Naps after.

Playing outside.

Florida Trip - Part 5 {Fort De Soto Park & Beach}

Wow....this one has a LOT of photos!!  I'll try to keep the rambling to a minimum to balance it out :)

While we were in Clearwater, we went to Fort De Soto State Park.  We thought it would be fun for the boys with the fort and swimming both. 

Honestly it's probably my favorite beach in Florida so far (the disclaimer being that I haven't been to all that many, but my favorite none the less).  Because it used to be a military fort and then was turned into a state park, there are no hotels, no houses, no shops or restaurants.......just nature.  The sand is powdery white, the water was calm, and the birds outnumbered the people.  I think the boys and Brian would have preferred more waves, but I liked it this way - less worrying and more relaxing for me!

At the remnants of the fort.  See how Brian is reading the sign?  I told you he always pays attention to all the details.  I couldn't tell you one thing any of the signs said.

Elliott found this "mud" as they were walking around in the ocean.  He scooped it up and said he was getting a "spa" treatment.  

They always want to be buried in the sand at least once.

The beginnings of a sand castle.

We stayed till sunset and loved every minute of it!

Florida Trip - Part 4 {Strawberries & Winter}

This past summer the boys and I went to see Dolphin Tale.  Such a good movie - we all loved it, and at the end there was a little blurb about being able to see Winter (the dolphin in the movie) at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.  So we thought we would do that while we were in Florida this time.  We don't typically go to that side of the coast and thought it would be something different, too.

So the night before we were to drive to Clearwater I was reading Nancy's latest Southern Living and saw this citrus and strawberry market featured that was on our way to Clearwater.  It claimed that its strawberry shortcake was world famous.  Well, we shouldn't let an opportunity like that pass by, so we made it a stop on our little jaunt to the coast.

It was a fun market with this trademark red and white awning.  I was reading some of the signs and brochures and learned that the same family has owned this place for many years - 30 maybe?  I can't remember now, but I thought it was great that the passion for it had been kept through a couple of generations.  

The boys didn't want the shortcake, but they were all about fresh strawberry shakes......at first.  They drank a little and then decided they were too "chunky" since they were made with fresh strawberries.  Brian and I were happy to help them out with not wasting anything.  And we were so glad we did!  Those were the best strawberry shakes ever.  There were signs saying they had been featured on Food Network, and I can definitely see why.  So good!!

This was the world famous strawberry shortcake.

It was good, but I really like my mother-in-law's better.

Probably the main reason was that it was made with the spongy shortcake.

It was made-from-scratch shortcake, and Brian really liked it, so I still recommend stopping by.

They had tables set up to the side of the market in this lush tropical garden.   I wasn't expecting that - they had really done a nice job making it a fun place to visit.

It was really such a neat place to stop and have a bite

There were tons of citrus to choose from, and lots of other yummies, too.

And after we finished our treats (or tried to finish them, I should say), we found this huge strawberry throne!

They even had crowns for you to wear for your picture!  How fun is that?!  This market is in Plant City where they have the Strawberry Festival each year (bummer that we miss it by about a week every time), and I'm wondering if there is an actual strawberry queen that is crowned and seated on this throne each March.  Hmmm.....

So, back to the reason we went to Clearwater in the first place.  We got to the Aquarium and it was PACKED!!  Maybe it was coincidence and lots of people were on the same spring break and all wanted to see Winter.  Not sure.

But this is really all we got to see of her

Can't see anything?  We really couldn't either.  We were really disappointed.  I really wanted a better look, but that's okay.  They seemed like they were really overwhelmed with the amount of people that were there.  It also seemed like it could be a really great learning experience when it's not so crowded.  They specialize in rescue and rehab of marine animals, so it was neat to see some of that, which we don't get to see in regular aquariums or at the zoo.  In fact, we were lucky to see them scoping a sea turtle (we think) in one of the exam/operating rooms.  And there was a gentleman outside the aquarium with some hands on props talking about how Winter had lost her tail and the whole process of how they created a prosthetic one for her.  They even had the prosthetic tail there to touch.  I thought that and the sea turtle procedure were pretty cool!

This was cool too - underwater viewing of this turtle.  I think the guy said her name was Bailey.  (Brian always jokes around with me about not listening on the tour - I do try - I just think I'm way more of a visual learner, distracted by all there is to see, and he is hands-down better at auditory than me - we're a good pair - I remember what we've seen and he remembers all the facts about it) He said she was one of the most photogenic sea turtles around.  I believe he knows what he is talking about!

Florida Trip - Part 3 {Spring Training}

Brian had mentioned before that it would be fun to go out to the Braves Spring Training facility at Disney while we were there to catch a game.  It was mentioned again on the trip down so I looked up the schedule and they just happened to be hosting the Cardinals while we were there!  So we got seats overlooking 3rd base (and David Freese) and enjoyed the day with Nana and PaPa!

I believe this is probably the nicest stadium I've ever been to.  Love Busch Stadium too, but the whole setting at this one was so unique and pretty.  Thankfully it also had plenty of seating inside in the shade for when I thought I was going to melt during the game, which is definitely a bonus at a baseball stadium!

Of course, Mickey was definitely present!

Nana bought the boys new sunglasses while we were there so that they could actually open their eyes and see the game.  They were pretty excited about them! 

And, we had to have a hot dog, of course.

We thought we would be able to try to get some autographs and talk to the players, but we were wrong.  It seems that experience is a whole extra ticket and expense.  I felt pretty bad cause we had talked that up with the boys and they were excited about that.  But it is what it is, and we did get to see a lot of players a lot closer than we would at home.  It was just fun to be there.

If you look in the reflection on Elliott's glasses, you can actually see the rest of us.  So this is the one photo of all of us :)

Brian's mom was regretting pushing her sleeves up later.  That sun was really hot and all of us left at least a little redder!

Florida Trip - Part 2 {Downtown Disney}

The boys wanted to go to Downtown Disney our first full day of being in the Sunshine State.  So after church and lunch, all of us headed there.  I think it's actually called Disney Village or Disney Marketplace or something like that.  We've always known it as Downtown Disney and probably will call it that forever - hope it doesn't confuse anyone :)

So the boys always want to rent these boats when we're there.  We always say "no, maybe next time".  So we thought we would do it this time.  I tried to get them to rent the bigger boat so that all of us could go, but they really wanted these little speed boats, so those of us who were not chosen to go with them stayed on shore and watched.  They seemed to have a really good time.

See in this picture above how Ethan seems to not be listening to the instructions, like he already knows everything?  Hmmmmm.....

Ethan got to ride with Uncle Rick and was trying to be funny and not look at the camera.

Uncle Rick tried to force him to be a good subject.  He was having none of it.

I don't know what it is about this tube of powdered candy that it seems all kids like.  But that was what Ethan wanted from the candy store.  I think it's because you get to choose however many different flavors you want and how much of each you want.  They love all those "self-serve" kinds of things.

This was my indulgence for the day.  I don't pass up the Ghiradelli place when we're out there, and since I was passed over for riding the boats I thought I would drown my sadness with some cookies and cream in a chocolate dipped waffle cone. Okay, I wasn't all that sad, but it was a good excuse in my mind to have some ice cream and not feel so bad about it.

We walked through Pleasure Island (where they were still celebrating St. Patty's Day) and then through what I believe really is called Downtown Disney to eat some pizza at Wolfgang Puck's.  The boys never pass up an opportunity to hang out with Uncle Rick and Aunt Beth.  Love this picture of them with Rick.

And then an end to the day with two of my favorite things.....

Caramel apples.

Look how fun they are!  I'm not a marshmallow fan so I opted for just the chocolate drizzled version at Universal a few days later, but these are so cute.  I will say these still didn't look as good as my very favorite chocolate covered caramel apples in Grayson, GA.  I can't remember the name of the little chocolate place that sold them, but they were the best!

And Jelly Bellies, of course.

Elliott, Ethan and I stopped in the Candy Cauldron to find this Jelly Belly wall.  I believe Ethan's eyes were bigger than his stomach that night.   He filled his bag up, and we've been snacking on that $10 bag of Jelly Belly goodness for many days now.  I think he was a bit shocked at how much they cost, but only for a minute and then he was on to the next thing in true Ethan fashion.

I must say it was a good end to the day!