Florida Trip - Bradenton

We left our amazing AirBnb in Weeki Wachee to spend 2 nights in Bradenton, Florida. Unfortunately our AirBnb there was a bust (after 9 amazing experiences we were doomed for a bad one).

On our way to Bradenton we decided on a detour at Fort Soto. It was an overcast day but we did enjoy a long and relaxing stroll on the beach. We collected some of the biggest shells we have ever seen and the boys tried to find crabs...

Anyone know what kind of fish Scot helped back in the water (it totally swam off again) or what kind of bird is bathing in the above pictures?

The fort itelf was meh... nothing to exciting but it made for a great stop on our way to Breadenton! We had a little lunch near the fort too that was also meh... can't only have amazing days ;)

As mentioned above our AirBnB experience wasn't the greatest but it was situated on a river with a boat (kayak) dock and that was worth it. Just a small kayak paddle away and we saw some pretty cool wildlife.

About the gator... we arrived at our AirBnB and the first thing the kids wanted to do is snorkel. They were pretty upset with us when we told them absolutley no! Until we saw this alligator and then I told them "NOW you may snorkel" haha

On our 2nd day we decided to spend the majority of the day at Siesta Beach. Unfortunately everyone in Florida must have had the same idea. It took us forever to get to the beach, only to drive around for an hour to find a parking spot, then trying to get back out of this traffic nightmare and to a different beach. What should have been a 30 minute drive took us well over 3 hours. We finally arrived at Lido Beach and it was perfect! We found a parking spot right by the beach and it wasn't as packed as Siesta Beach! We swam and played for hours until the late afternoon.

On our way back we stopped at Phillippi Creek Oyster Bar! The sun was setting, the was was amzing and the kids behaved! We couldn't have asked for a better dinner!

What is your guess... Did Finn eat an oyster or not?

We enjoyed our time in Bradenton but couldn't wait for our next few stops! On the road again...

Christmas Trip to Florida - Everglades, Siesta Key - Part III

When we decided to go to Florida on vacation, I knew I wanted to take the boys to the Everglades National Park. The best way to see the Everglades is by Airboat. I did a quick internet search and decided to go with Capt. Mitch Airboat Tours (there are a lot of air boat tour companies called Captain "first name"!). We arrived there early in the morning and got on the tour right away. It was a little chilly for Florida weather (low 60's) but perfect weather to visit the Everglades!

I think the highlight for me was driving... flying, riding, boating... hmmm.... through the Mangrove "pathways". We did see a few alligators but lots and lots of birds!

After the airboat tour the boys got to hold a little baby alligator.

Jake was really upset with me because I forgot his go pro memory card :/ so I took the below video for him with my DSLR camera. He wasn't impressed with me!

We decided to drive into Everglade City and have seafood there. We have heard great things about this particular restaurant but were not terribly impressed especially when we saw all the frozen fish packages at the dumpster... oh well!

We then headed over to the Everglades National Park for our stamps (more on than in a separate blog post coming soon) and then Cypress National Preserve for another stamp, a Junior Ranger program and a Ranger program on Manatees.

On the way to Cypress National Preserve we saw many more alligators then we saw on the airboat tour! Oh well...

We came home late that day! And ended the day with take out and some Netflix!

The next day was our 10 year wedding anniversary and New Year's Eve! We left around 8:30am for a stroll on the beach and ended up staying until after sunset! I don't have many pictures from that day (I left my camera at home and we only used the go pro) but it was hands down my favorite day of all of 2016! The weather was perfect! The kids played all day. The food was amazing we had at a small concession... mahi mahi tacos and a frozen pina colada for me! We found some amazing shells and I even found a perfect sand dollar. The sun set was spectactular... I could go on and on! It was just perfect!

The next day we left Florida for a very long drive home to a very cold Ohio. We will be back next Christmas!

Christmas Trip to Florida - Tarpon Springs, Tampa, Siesta Key - Part II

After we left the Homosassa area we drove on to Siesta Key, but not before we didn't make two stops! First stop: Tarpon Springs! When Scot suggested a pit stop at Tarpon Springs, I was honestly skeptical. I have never heard of it before. He used to visit TS with his Dad and buy sponges there for race horses. We arrived in TS and I was immediately smitten by the small Greek town. Soon after we parked, a lady called us over and sold us tickets for a Sponge Diving Tour. It wasn't expensive and she gave us Finn's ticket free (because I lied about his age, and Finn totally gave me away and she thought it was hilarious!) and so we went. 

Honestly it was so much fun and very interesting. I never thought about where sponges come from... the Sponge Factory? and to learn about the different types of sponges and how they are harvested from the ocean floor just totally blew our (especially mine) minds.

The tour guides even did a demonstration dive and the kids were able to "wear" his diving helmet.

Afterwards we found this great little Greek restaurant. The kids wrote good old fashion postcards to their friends while waiting for our food. Jake had a pound of shrimp that he absolutley loved. Scot and I had an Gyro and Finn, a big plate of Pasta. Scot gave him the 101 in Spaghetti Fork Twirling.

After lunch we knew we wanted to buy a Sponge, but we don't really like cheesy Souvenir shops. It didn't take us long to find a little stand with just the perfect sponges. We ended up buying two sponges and buying the BEST Lemonades anyone of us ever had. Seriously, I am not really into Lemonade but I could have sucked this whole cup down in a few minutes!

Everywhere in Tarpon Springs you see these bikes... love it!

From Tarpon Springs we drove on to Tampa to visit Scot's old Elementary School and Baseball field. Obviously nothing looked like when he was a kid, but it was still interesting for the boys to see where Daddy played baseball and went to school.

We arrived in the evening at Siesta Key at another amazing Airbnb and headed right away to the beach for the sunset and a little swimming! Enjoy Jake's video!

EDIT: after putting this post together I noticed a little boy releaving himself after being in the car "forever" and a large cup of lemonade ;)

Christmas Trip to Florida - Atlanta, Homosassa, Crystal River - Part I

We surprised the boys this year with a trip to Florida. It worked out perfectly. They had no idea. Scot teased them before Christmas with hinting that we will be going skiing in Wisconsin over Christmas break and they were not amused by that idea. Christmas morning came and the very last present under the tree was a box filled with their own swim trunks, goggles, a little kayaker, a US map and a note. Here is what happened:

TOMORROW? Yes! They were so excited! We packed the car up the evening of the 25th and left at about 6 am on the 26th! We stopped in Atlanta at the Martin Luther King memorial, visited the Ebenezer church where he preached and went on to The Varsity. The Varsity is a place we have hard about before and wanted to try it out. The ambience in there was really cool, but the food was less than mediocre.

On our way down to Florida we also stopped in a large Pecan store in Georgia, where we did not buy anything with Pecan's but Licorice. What can I say... I love me some Licorice. Scot also saved a turtle running across the highway.

Our first stop in Florida was in Homosassa. Our AirBnB was awesome! Really big, lots of room for us, very pretty up in the trees and pet alligators in the backyard!

The next morning we went kayaking with manatees on Crystal River. We booked with the Crystal River Kayak Company and I can only recommend them! Everything was perfect. We ended up actually swimming with two manatees at Three Sisters Spring. The water was ice cold in there but so worth it. Finn needed a little extra warming on top of the kayak afterwards. We booked two tandem kayaks for 4 hours and including swimming and kayaking out in the bay, it was perfect timing. Jake got this awesome video of a manatee next to his kayak with his go pro.

You probably notice Finn's blue gloved hand in the pictures below. Unforunaly he burned his hand before Christmas and it was bad enough that we needed to protect it a little more, so he could swim with his Manatees (his second favorite animal btw)

During our stay in Homosassa we went to the beach. As soon as we arrived on the beach a thick cloud of fog rolled in and stayed! This didn't keep Jake out of the water... not much ever keeps him out of the water including water snakes! Anyways, while Jake swam we watched this guy catching crabs! It was pretty facinating. He threw a string with a large piece of chicken tied around it out in the water, stood really still and waited for a crab to grab the chicken, then he would slowly pull the string in until he could grab the crab. More often than not the crab would let go before he could grab it and he had to start over again.

Part II will be up soon!