Florida Wrap up

Well, we had a great time!  We got up at 4 am in Jacksonville today.  Flights were smooth and uneventful.  And, when we arrived in Buffalo, we ran into Ryan Miller, Johan Enroth (Sabres goalies who happened to be on competing teams in the Olympics in Russia--only one brought back a medal!!) and another player.  And Ryan Miller's french bull dog "Puck" was there.  He hadn't seen him for a while and Kat was all over the adorable pup wearing a Miller jersey!  No pics, as my phone was still full.  Anyway, it was pretty cool and they looked like they'd been traveling all night.  So we didn't discuss what went wrong in Russia......

So, back to Florida.  We saw everyone, nearly and it seems did everything!!  We had three 80 degree days.  Before we lost the sun entirely.  But that's ok.  We thoroughly enjoyed SeaWorld.  Kat & Dan got splashed by a killer whale's tail.  We fed sea lions & seals.  Saw the dolphin/diver/bird show and the sea lion show.  And the Pets Ahoy show, which is always entertaining.

Busch Gardens was good.  Sea World was better, but we had fun.  Of course, the river ride we all wanted to ride was closed. But we rode the bumper cars w/ grandpa & Grandma.  Kat enjoyed that and also the wild mouse, or whatever they called it.  Dan, Kat & I rode the Tanganika Tidal Wave several times and got good & wet!  And Kat got to feed a baby kangaroo (wallaby?) which was a fave!

Then it was time to swim with the manatees.  Which I highly recommend to everyone.  Even though it was overcast, windy, storms on the horizon and it was cool and highly unlikely that we'd see the manatees, much less swim with them.  But, our fearless captain found us some and we did get in to swim with them!  And even though the turbidity of the water was significant and visibility was about 10 feet.  Or less.  So even though we were often right on top of them, we couldn't always tell where they were.  Check out the videos.  I apologize for the shakiness, but I think they're still pretty cool when the manatees come up.  I think the camera could see them better than we could!

On Saturday, we went to Aunt Norma's where almost all of the Florida family (& Mel & Greg as well) came out for a day of hanging out and dinner.  We got to catch up with the southern branches of the family and Kat played with her little cousins that she met last year in NC.

After a boatride Sunday, 5 of the FL branch, mom & Dad & Mel & Greg and us all went to check out St Augustine.  Unfortunately, it was raining most of the time.  But we had fun, until Kat had an epic melt-down that resulted in her huddling underneath her rain poncho up against the building, looking like a homeless person.  It was all we could do to to not get her a cup.........  We were all nearby, but she wasn't having any of us, so we kept our distance.  And some nice lady actually asked her if she needed help, if she was lost, etc.....Another proud parenting moment!

That sums up the bulk of it.  It was a whirlwind.  We had a great time, saw & did a great deal and left FL absolutely exhausted!!!  I can't wait to go to bed.  And to go back to bed after putting Kat on the bus tomorrow!!!!!

The up-close pics of the manatees are not mine, but are stock pics from the tour guide.  Videos are mine.

Cousins and drunken pirates

siblings & spouses

Cousins

siblings

She wanted to take him home!

brown water snake

street urchin?  or a munchkin who. has. had. enough.