Florida 2013 Part 4

On Wednesday, April 10, we woke up early and drove to the Keys. We were at John Pennekamp State Park by 9:00 for our glass bottom boat tour. The bottom of the boat had two glass sections to look through. For our ride to the coral reef we sat on the top deck.

Titus looks a little skeptical, but he was just fine.

Corinna covering her ears from the loud blast that is kind of like a turning signal, letting other boats know they are going to go around a sharp turn.

Kara snuggling with Titus

It was a nice view from the top deck.

Natalie's favorite look on vacation

This is not edited!! This was what it looked like when we got to the coral reef.

The lady who told us everything about what was at the reef was very knowledgeable. And very nice. She told us what all the fish's names were and where they lived and their eating habits and such. She also told us about the coral. There was coral that waved in the current. It looked like a plant and was either purple or brown depending on its feeding stage. We saw lots of cool fish and even a stingray!

We sat on a bench while the lady went back and forth between the two sides of the boat. Each rectangle had a number so she could point out exactly where certain things were. Also, the captain of the boat could hear everything she said so he could move the boat for the other side to see something.

This is what the view down looked like.

That is the coral I was talking about on the left edge of the picture. It is brown with purple on the edges and purple "veins" running through it.

Look at the cool striped fish and the bright blue fish!

This is a brain coral. The top was damaged by a boat scraping across it. It takes a really long time to grow.

Here is another brain coral.

Titus ended up falling asleep after we left the coral reef. :-)

 After the tour, we went into the giftshop that was at the state park and Natalie and I each got a necklace for our souvenir with the money that Grandpa and Grandma had given us. She got one that had a stingray on it and mine had a sea turtle on it. They were silver with black accents.

For our "lunch" we went to Bob's Bunz, a place we had been to on our previous trip. It is a very good bakery. Their cinnamon rolls (or "bunz") are really good! This is definately a place you would want to go!

After our lunch we went to Robby's to feed giant fish called Tarpon. They are like five feet long! After Corinna got over being scared, she had fun.

That night we went to The Wreck for supper. It was recommended to us by somebody in the Marina next to our hotel. If you are planning a trip to southern Florida, DON'T GO THERE! That is unless you want slow service, a bar-like atmosphere, and mediocre food. We didn't. We still ate there, but, as Daddy said, supper was a wreck. Literally!

All photos courtesy of Mommy except the coral ones. And the one of her. :-)

Florida 2013 Part 3

The day after we went to the beach we swam in the pool for the afternoon where it was more shady because we had all gotten so burnt the day before. There was another big plus about the pool: it was really warm! Not just compared to the ocean but to other pools too. It was a good temperature for swimming. Mommy even got in!

He's got a funny look on his face, but he's cute!

Another funny look.

He's sticking his fingers in his mouth. Yet again.

Finally! A genuine smile from Corinna!

He's trying to get that foot in his mouth.

There we go!

Now he's using both hands to get it in! :-)

I totally forgot about this picture in my first post about Florida. When we got to our condo in Fort Lauderdale, we found this in our bathroom. It is just towels and googly eyes. Isn't that cool?

Florida 2013 Part 2

On Monday, April 8, we spent the day at the beach that was "out our backdoor." All we had to do was walk down to the lobby and out the back door. The beach was only a walk across the pool deck. Mommy had made a big umbrella for the beach, so we set that up for some shade. Daddy, Mommy, and Titus spent most of their time in there.

Don't you love the color?

She is SO cute!!!!

A perfect Land's End model. Only one problem. It's a Children's Place swimming suit.

I love this one!

Kara and I were in the waves together a lot.

I like this one too.

We all had a lot of fun in the waves and the sun as you can see. And we definitely got sunburnt for it!

This was another morning. All of us girls had headbands in that I made.

Photos courtesy of Mommy. I didn't take any while I was in the water. :-)

Florida 2013 Part 1

It has been about three weeks since our vacation to southern Florida and I have finally gotten around to posting about it! Anyway...

We left for Florida on Wednesday, April 3 and arrived in Fort Lauderdale, FL on Friday, April 5. As you probably guessed, we drove. We went to Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza for supper that night, a place we had gone on our trip to Florida three years ago. We got two pizzas: one with mini meatballs and ricotta cheese and the other with mushrooms and prosciutto. They were both very good and it was definitely a place we would go back to (obviously :-))


The next morning we went to The Daisy (a coffee shop and bakery) for breakfast. We got it to-go and walked to the beach to eat our breakfast. (Yeah!) Kara and I got a breakfast sandwich on an onion bagel with bacon, egg, and cheese on it. When we opened it up, it was warm and the cheese was melting. They had even cut it in half for us. We also got a blueberry muffin with lots of crumb topping. It was was very sweet, but still really good.


After breakfast we drove to a state park. We walked down a path and got this cool picture. We also saw some lizards and a blue heron. It was a nice walk and we also got to see several boats go by in the intercoastal waterway.

The next day, Sunday, we just kind of hung out. One time, after getting out of the elevator onto our floor, we smelled... chocolate chip cookies! Which of course made us want some. So, later in the afternoon, Daddy and I went to Whole Foods to get some cookie dough. Then we had fresh baked cookies after supper. And probably made everybody else on our floor jealous. :-)