My parents were very nice and agreed to watch Kaitlyn for us while we went on a trip with just the two of us. We got to Utah a few days before our trip to help Kaitlyn acclimate before we left her for the longest we have been away since she was born.
We got to Utah right at the perfect time for the Fall colors up Little Cottonwood Canyon. Alta was a little grumpy at this point. The girls were all starving and going to die, but somehow a few goldfish brought them back so we could go on a little hike.
I've never seen aspens so red. It was incredible.
Kaitlyn and Ellie were so cute have a picnic just to share the goldfish.
We took off for Orlando, Florida on October 7 and got there early the next morning. We rented a car and went straight to Universal Studios. We had a great time and loved all the roller coasters. The Incredible Hulk was definitely a favorite. We also loved the new Harry Potter world and were very impressed with all the details. Here is Hogwarts Castle.
Don't let the snow deceive you, it was pretty warm. We lucked out with weather and it was cool for Florida and not too humid either.
Olivanders' Wand Shop was one of my favorites. Look at all these wands. The kids were in heaven.
After a wonderful day at Universal Studios, we drove to Naples about 3 hours away. We drove a lot on this trip, but it was a great way to see a new part of the country for us.
The next morning we went to Sanibel Beach because it is a beach made of seashells. There is no sand and it was really cool and fun to look for shells. We were even interviewed by a reporter on why we chose the beach. I think he was just surprised to see two young happy people. It is a bit after tourist season so we were unique in the area. We never found the article though.
This was a handful of "sand."
Next we drove to the Everglades. We went to Captain Mitch's Airboat Tours and had a great time. The Everglades were amazing and very different from anything we had ever seen before. We also saw 8 different alligators. It was a successful tour. This alligator was right next to the dock and Jeremy tried to get it to move. They are so still until they SNAP!
Here was another alligator we drove right up to in our little boat. I could have reached out and touched it. It was quick once it decided we were too close though.
We got to hold a baby.
The everglades were a highlight of the trip. Very beautiful landscape.
After our tour, we drove through the Everglades down to another corner of it. We went on a short boardwalk and saw more alligators.
These Anhinga birds were funny to watch. They eat fish, but have to dry their feathers after every dive. They just sit in the trees like this till they can fly again.
We stayed at the Key Largo Marriott Beach Resort which had a fun beach and fun pool. We loved swimming at night in the ocean. I discovered I really like swimming in the Ocean as long as it is really warm like in Florida and not freezing like in California.
On Friday, we drove to Marathon Key only to discover our snorkeling tour was cancelled due to weather. So we kept driving to Key West (it takes 2 hours to drive to the tip). It was a beautiful drive and we ended up renting stand up paddle boards and teaching ourselves. I saw a sea ray underneath me and tried to follow it, but I wasn't fast enough. We also tried two different key lime pies. The one at Ma's Fish Camp was incredible and worth the wait. Delicious! We didn't take many pictures that day but here is one of the bridges from island to island.
We drove back up that afternoon and ate dinner in North Miami at a Cuban restaurant. It was so good. We really like Cuban food, its sweeter than Mexican food and the plantains at the end were yummy. We dove to our last hotel, the Turnberry Isle Miami, and were blown away by how nice it was. It was a 4 1/2 star hotel (everything looks cheap when you compare it to Palo Alto prices so we went for it). We definitely felt out of place but enjoyed it anyways. They had a mini water park with a lazy river and water slide at their swimming pool. The only problem is we don't know how to tip valet's. I'm sure they were laughing at us as we drove up in a cheap rental car with our stuff all over the back seat. They asked to take our luggage and we had to pack it all up first. Then we wanted to go to the theater and thought it would be better and faster to walk instead of waiting for the valet's. It was fun to people watch here too. There are different worlds we live in.
Our last day, we drove to Miami Beach and saw some yachts that dwarfed the mansions next to them. We walked along the beach and enjoyed the heat, (this was the only really hot day), and we ate at a little restaurant that was selling way too much alcohol to people. We also had some yummy ice cream and then drove back to Orlando to catch our flight. We had a great time and were excited to get back to Kaitlyn. Too bad she didn't miss us at all...
Kaitlyn had so much fun with Alta, Ellie, Olive, and Beck.
We went to the Children's Museum at Thanksgiving Point.
Olive loved the water and made all the older kids jealous that they couldn't sit in the tiny chairs.
There was a lot of jumping time. Kaitlyn got really good at jumping with other people on the trampoline. They loved playing "popcorn" with Jeremy bouncing them.
Jeremy, Kaitlyn and I went on a short hike to Cecret Lake up Little Cottonwood Canyon. There was a little snow and mud, so Kaitlyn didn't hike when it was too muddy or snowy.
The girls went shopping and Kaitlyn saw the TV and didn't move.
Lindsey Patterson and her kids came to visit us, it was great seeing her after so long.
More jumping.
We went over to Dan and Shalane's house and the girls had so much fun playing dress up together.
Jeremy did his own hike one day up to the Pfeifferhorn in Little Cottonwood Canyon. It looked beautiful!
Thanks Kevin!
We also went to the Hogle Zoo and had a great time.
Fake animals are more approachable.
We had so much fun with everyone! It was another wonderful trip. I am so glad we have made so many memories this trip!
On Friday, we drove to Marathon Key only to discover our snorkeling tour was cancelled due to weather. So we kept driving to Key West (it takes 2 hours to drive to the tip). It was a beautiful drive and we ended up renting stand up paddle boards and teaching ourselves. I saw a sea ray underneath me and tried to follow it, but I wasn't fast enough. We also tried two different key lime pies. The one at Ma's Fish Camp was incredible and worth the wait. Delicious! We didn't take many pictures that day but here is one of the bridges from island to island.
We drove back up that afternoon and ate dinner in North Miami at a Cuban restaurant. It was so good. We really like Cuban food, its sweeter than Mexican food and the plantains at the end were yummy. We dove to our last hotel, the Turnberry Isle Miami, and were blown away by how nice it was. It was a 4 1/2 star hotel (everything looks cheap when you compare it to Palo Alto prices so we went for it). We definitely felt out of place but enjoyed it anyways. They had a mini water park with a lazy river and water slide at their swimming pool. The only problem is we don't know how to tip valet's. I'm sure they were laughing at us as we drove up in a cheap rental car with our stuff all over the back seat. They asked to take our luggage and we had to pack it all up first. Then we wanted to go to the theater and thought it would be better and faster to walk instead of waiting for the valet's. It was fun to people watch here too. There are different worlds we live in.
Our last day, we drove to Miami Beach and saw some yachts that dwarfed the mansions next to them. We walked along the beach and enjoyed the heat, (this was the only really hot day), and we ate at a little restaurant that was selling way too much alcohol to people. We also had some yummy ice cream and then drove back to Orlando to catch our flight. We had a great time and were excited to get back to Kaitlyn. Too bad she didn't miss us at all...
Kaitlyn had so much fun with Alta, Ellie, Olive, and Beck.
We went to the Children's Museum at Thanksgiving Point.
Olive loved the water and made all the older kids jealous that they couldn't sit in the tiny chairs.
There was a lot of jumping time. Kaitlyn got really good at jumping with other people on the trampoline. They loved playing "popcorn" with Jeremy bouncing them.
Jeremy, Kaitlyn and I went on a short hike to Cecret Lake up Little Cottonwood Canyon. There was a little snow and mud, so Kaitlyn didn't hike when it was too muddy or snowy.
The girls went shopping and Kaitlyn saw the TV and didn't move.
Lindsey Patterson and her kids came to visit us, it was great seeing her after so long.
More jumping.
We went over to Dan and Shalane's house and the girls had so much fun playing dress up together.
Jeremy did his own hike one day up to the Pfeifferhorn in Little Cottonwood Canyon. It looked beautiful!
We went to Snogression (Kevin's business) and Kevin was nice enough to let us play around for a little bit. Kaitlyn was scared of the foam pit, but Beck showed her what to do since he has grown up here. Stacking blocks was also a really fun thing to do, and jump, like always. The super tramp was almost scary it's so bouncy.
Thanks Kevin!
We also went to the Hogle Zoo and had a great time.
Fake animals are more approachable.
We had so much fun with everyone! It was another wonderful trip. I am so glad we have made so many memories this trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment