So Long, Spring Break

I couldn't resist posting these last pictures of Florida that I found on my iPhone. We took a picnic dinner (Publix subs) down to Deerfield Beach one evening and then walked along the beach and out onto the pier.

So long, Florida. We'll miss you until next time!

Tennessee Aquarium

At the end of our time in Florida, we were ready to get home. We decided to drive on through as fast as we could, so we drove nine hours the first day, from Boca to Atlanta, GA, where we stopped for the night on the north end of the city. The next day, we were gone by 8:00 a.m., but we took a nice little stop in Chattanooga, TN to spend a couple of hours at the aquarium.

It's a good aquarium, and it was a nice break in a long two days of driving. They have some nice hands-on exhibits and the kids enjoyed dipping their hands into ray water.

When we arrived at the butterfly habitat, I asked the kids what they were doing. "Shhhh, we're being like plants so the butterflies will land on us."

The penguins are always cool. (Get it? Cool?)

And the shark cage . . . (all photos taken with my iPhone in a very dark venue).

It was a good stop and a nice ending to Spring Break 2014. It almost made me remember that we ARE mostly a happy family.

Gumbo Limbo

On our last day in Boca Raton, we took ourselves . . . where else? . . . to the beach. But first, we stopped by Gumbo Limbo, a little nature center across A1A that we used to visit occasionally when we lived in Florida.

 

Gumbo Limbo does a lot for sea turtle conservation in Boca Raton. They host nighttime turtle watch and hatchling release programs during peak turtle season. I remember going once without children and once with Lutece. Good times.

 

After Gumbo Limbo, we enjoyed one last day at the beach.

Phoenix and Stayc stayed in the water most of the time.

Lutece was in and out . . . in the water with the boys . . . on the sand with me.

It was a great last day in Florida!

Fort Lauderdale Temple

When we decided to head to Florida for Spring Break, Kim mentioned that the newly built Fort Lauderdale temple would be hosting its open house during the exact same week we were in South Florida (it actually ran for two weeks).

I was so excited that as soon as reservations opened up, I snagged some for our family. It is a gorgeous temple, and we had a wonderful time touring it with the kids. All of us were in awe, and Lutece and Phoenix really enjoyed seeing the inside of a temple.

As it turned out, the Bishop of our ward during our time in the Boca Raton ward was called as the new temple president. We enjoyed seeing President and Sister Boggess at the temple, as well as a few other friends from our old ward who were volunteering at the open house. I'm so happy for the members in South Florida who now have their own temple nearby (instead of having to drive the three+ hours to Orlando). What a blessing!

p.s. I wish I could say that this was a completely wonderful and spiritual day for our little family (the pictures make it seem so), however, this was probably our worst day of the entire vacation. When Stayc and I got into the car to drive to the temple in the morning, the kids were already fighting something fierce. Phoenix had thrown a shell at Lutece, and Lutece threw one back even harder. It hit Phoenix in the mouth, taking a small chip out of one of his teeth. Oh. My. Gosh. SHE CHIPPED HER BROTHER'S TOOTH!!! Needless to say, Stayc and I were furious. She got a spanking in the back of the car, and the kids were not allowed to talk for the entire 40 minute-drive to the temple. "We are a hap-py fa-mi-ly!"

Boca Raton, FL

From St. Augustine, we drove the last stretch of our Spring Break road trip down to Boca Raton, FL. Only four more hours (whew!), making about 19 in all. That's just crazy! (We cut three hours off on the way home by taking a different, less-exciting route, and not stopping nearly as much.)

We stayed with our good friends, the Pattons, in Boca and hung out there for a few days.

On Tuesday morning (our first full day in Boca), we took some water, scrub brushes, and cleaning materials supplied to us by Kim and headed to the Boca Raton Cemetery to clean Sela's and Catalina's headstones. The mold and algae had gotten into the letters and engraving, and it was a tough job scrubbing it out (I doubt it will last long). When we were finished, the kids laid down some of the shells they had gathered on the beach in St. Augustine.

Kim had also given the kids some bubbles to blow at the cemetery, and the kids thought that was a grand idea.

I never would have thought of something like that, but it turned out to be the perfect thing. Leave it to Kim to remember a detail like that.*

After the cemetery, we drove the mile or two to Red Reef Beach in Boca. The water was lovely blue and WARM, and the Phoenix stayed in the ocean for the rest of the afternoon.

Phoenix learned an important lesson that day . . . how to do a surfer's change.

 I couldn't resist taking pictures. So stinkin' cute. These are the kinds of things a father can teach his son.

* Kim was recently hired by Hospice by the Sea, the same wonderful Hospice that worked with us for a year with Sela, as their social worker overseeing child bereavement. So great!

Castillo de San Marcos

Before heading to the beach in St. Augustine, we made a visit to the old fort to brush up on some military history. The Castillo de San Marcos is a fort build by the Spaniards in 1672, and subsequently used in various wars since then.   

 

As part of the National Park Service, it boasts the "Junior Ranger" program which caters to helping children learn more about the National sites. I love this program, and if you've never heard of it, next time you are at an historical site run by the NPS, you should definitely ask about it. Lutece is an ACHIEVER, so she, of course, filled out the entire pamphlet, including the essay at the back, in order to earn her badge AND get a cool patch.

 

Phoenix was less interested in doing anything that even remotely stank of schoolwork. Instead, he messed with the cannons.

 

When he bored of that, I let him use my camera. He took a ton of pictures.

Here's one of Stayc and me watching an educational video.

Super exciting, I know.

St. Augustine, FL

As soon as we disembarked from the ferry at St. Mary's, GA, we hopped in the car and drove the hour and a half to our next destination, St. Augustine, FL. Actually, we stayed in Vilano Beach, a hop, skip and a jump over the intracoastal from St. Augustine.

Vilano Beach turned out to be a sleepy little beach secluded from the town but still only 5 minutes away. We LOVED it and would even consider returning for longer (I'm thinking of renting a beach house for a week?*) since St. Augustine has so many fun things to do.

The beach was littered with shells; they blanketed huge swaths of it, down to 4-6 inches deep. Big ones, little ones, bits and pieces of shells. Even the beach that could be classified as "sand" was very coarse-grained . . . much like broken up shells. Hmmmm.

Needless to say, it was awesome. Clean sand is the very best kind of sand.

Even though the pictures here seem to tell a different story, the temperature at the beach was a bit chilly (high 60s?). I stayed in shorts and a shirt, Lutece mainly stayed out of the water, but Phoenix went full tilt. Ain't nothin' keeps Phoenix out of the ocean!

Poor Stayc just tried to stay off the beach altogether.

While I read a book, and Phoenix played in the waves, Lutece dug a hole.

Then she tried it out.

 

Then she buried Phoenix.

 The kids wanted the whole process documented.

 So I took pictures of each stage of the burial.

I love that Phoenix's smiles are so genuine in these pictures. The beach is Phoenix's sweet spot. I honestly don't know if there is anywhere else in the world he would rather be.

As soon as he was buried and photographed . . .

 . . . he broke free.

And then she buried him again.

Until she got bored.

And he got cold.

And then we left.

It was a good afternoon.

* Oooo, how about a DuBravac family reunion in St. Augustine?! Now that would be fun!