Kennedy Space Center

Our flight home wasn't until the evening, so on our last day we checked out of our condo and decided we could spend the day at Kennedy Space Center.  It had been years since I'd been there and the kids had never been there so it was fun to show them a glimpse into our space program.  It was a really rainy day, so we were glad most of the exploring was done inside.

We learned all about the Apollo program, the shuttle program, and the new Journey to Mars initiative that we have now.  Lots of learning and fun was had before we headed to the airport and flew home.  Phew...what an amazing trip!

St. Augustine beach and a fabulous dinner

Our next stop was St. Augustine beach for a quick stroll before the impending storm set in.  St. Augustine beach is a pristine beach with beautiful white sand and blue sea water.  It is also dog friendly and cars can drive down to park on the sand.  It was a beautiful place and I wish the storm could have given us more time there.

After cleaning up and visiting a bit at the house, we headed out to a wonderful dinner on the beach.  We tried some fried gator tails and all had amazing fresh seafood.  Oh...soooooo good!  It was so fun to continue catching up and sharing stories and good food.  Really the highlight of our trip...family is the best!!

Then it was time to say goodbye and head back to get ready for our last day and trip home.

St Augustine and visiting family

 One of the reasons we decided to go to Florida was to reconnect and visit with my only paternal uncle that I hadn't seen in years.  We were very excited to spend time with Barry and his wife Terri in St. Augustine.  St. Augustine is the oldest city in the United States and Barry was a great tour guide showing us all around.  We enjoyed St. George avenue with the quaint shops and yummy treats.  We then explored the Castillo de San Marcos fort on the shore in St. Augustine.

We then continued our walking tour through Flagler College and other historic buildings and hotels in the area.  We walked down Aviles Street...the oldest street in America!

After finishing our round trip walking trip all over downtown St. Augustine in the humid heat of the day we headed to the St. Augustine lighthouse to climb the 219 stairs up to the top!  It was quite a hike up there and it was super hot inside that tower, but up top was a welcome breeze and beautiful views of the area.

St. Augustine is a very fun place to explore and we got a great behind the scenes and informative guided tour by Barry.  It was so good to do some catching up and there was still more to come....

Kayaking the Indian River and Cocoa Beach time

 After leaving Orlando late Monday night, we arrived to our condo in Cocoa Beach for our next home base.  The following morning we had a guided Kayak adventure planned that was really fun.  We weren't able to take the camera with us, but we snapped a few photos before we left and one with our phone on Party Island.  We loved exploring this natural area and learning about the birds, the fish, the dolphins, the plants, and the creatures that are all a part of this partly salty inlet.  Our guide Mike was amazing and we learned a lot!

After our morning kayaking we had lunch and headed to the beach!!  We enjoyed the warm Atlantic ocean and jumping all the waves.  It was perfect weather and the beach wasn't crowded at all.  It was a great relaxing and renewing time for all 4 of us!!

Juniper Springs

On Sunday after we went to church and came back to our hotel Dave and I took a long drive to Juniper Springs.  It is a state park in Florida that has a pool at the natural springs that bubble up in the river there.  The water is a constant 72 degrees and crystal clear.  Unfortunately about 10 minutes after we got in the springs for a swim, lightening was spotted and the park rangers made us get out.  So we explored around the trails and grounds and drove back to Orlando.  It was  beautiful place and I'm glad we got to visit it.

Disney World 2017

Right after school got out we started our summer vacationing off!  We headed to Orlando Florida to explore and enjoy Disney World.  It was an amazing 4 days there, riding rides, eating food, and spending crazy times together with our two youngest kids.  The first day we explored the Magic Kingdom (just like Disneyland, but more spread out) and enjoyed our hotel pool.  We met up with some friends from our Michigan days, the Petersons, for dinner and enjoyed catching up with them.

The second day we explored the Epcot center and really enjoyed the Animal Kingdom.  The new Avator area and especially the Flight of Passage ride was AMAZING!!  It felt like you were really flying on the back of a live animal.  You could feel it breathing and moving as you soared and swerved through the enchanted land!  So much fun!

Sunday we really needed our day of rest and enjoyed the Dinsey Wilderness hotel we stayed in.  Dave and I took a drive up to some natural springs and enjoyed exploring that park in the rain.  Mostly we rested our tired feet and bodies for our final day Monday at Hollywood Studios.

All in all we had a great time at Disney World.  It is now checked off the bucket list!  Luckily we still had more Florida fun to come in the second half of our vacation...

McKinley's hair!

McKinley was wanting to get her hair lightened and we did it.  My hair lady did such a wonderful job and McKinley loves it.  Such a beautiful girl all around!