Week 3 Continued

The weekend before we left FL, Mia wanted to have an early birthday party with her cousins.  We met up at Wikki Wachee Springs  to meet the mermaids and see their performances.
It was realistic and magical for those little girls.  Maya now mostly plays "mermaids" whenever she's around her cousins.
They loved watching the show and then they even took pictures with a 'real' mermaid.

We only went to the mermaid side of the park, not the water park side, so there wasn't a ton of stuff to see and do.  However, we made the best of it.  We had a great time.  My dad also came with us and the kids loved having their Lito around...although, playing with cousins is also a lot of fun.
I think we had a great time because we were together.


After the mermaid show we walked around their gardens/walkways and took some funny and silly photos.


We arrived to the Reptile Theater to see the Reptile Show. It was outdoors and we were so hot and sweaty.  I thought we were going to pass out, but luckily the show started promptly...although it was probably less than 15 minutes long and only 4 reptiles were presented. In a way, we (the adults) were glad the show was short, so we could escape the heat.
Once the show ended, our clan stood in line to pet some creatures...who doesn't love petting some creatures?

Next, came the trip down the river.  We waited and waited for the boat to arrive...most of the people in our group gave up and went to see another mermaid show...in the Air Conditioner theater. While some of us, continued to wait and wait.  Finally, it was our turn.

It was worth it.  The water was crystal clear you could see to the bottom...which isn't very deep. There were so many fishes, I thought Arden might want to jump in and try to catch one of them....Luckily, no diving for fish on this trip.
After our shows and boat trips, we were famished.  Off to Chick -fill-A  for a late lunch.

Arden with one of his favorite people

The kids were happy eating and playing.  Arden and Maya gave their cousins lots of hugs and said bye, until  next time.

We had a fabulous day.






The following day, we went to church and later on, we drove to the beach to see the sunset and play.

Again, there's not much to say for the sunset-beach trips, expect that it was a beautiful sunset and I was glad to be there with my parents and my children.

Maya kept asking her Abby and Lito to take her over to the waves and swing her.  What fun!


Our final day in FL, I took the children to the Gamble Plantation. This is a place I've driven by so many times, I couldn't even count them, but I had not visited.  It was an educational experience and I feel like I learned a lot.  I think the children learned a bit and enjoyed the tour.




 
The following day was time to come home.  We arrived to the airport on time only to find out, once we boarded the plane and waited for two hours that it had broken down and there was another plane on the way. By the time the second plane arrive, we boarded, and landed in Arizona it was going to be 2AM and then, we were expected to catch a plane at 6AM.  We changed airlines, got a hotel room at the airport and spent the night.  It was a nice hotel and I liked walking out of my room and being at the airport...no parking hassle!  After we got our tickets, we boarded the plane...and guess who we found?  Mia and Karen...they were on their way to visit a friend.  We promised we would chat, but we waited in the tarmac for about an hour and once the plane took off, Mia fell asleep.  So no cousin time.
We only had a short layover in Atlanta.  We were next to last out of the plane and we had to walk, literally, across the entire airport to catch the next flight.  When we got there, the doors had closed. They had been closed for perhaps a minute before we arrived, but they wouldn't let us in.  I was tired and disappointed at that moment, and boy did I want to curse at someone! I was told I could wait until the next plane at 12:30PM, but it was full, so they couldn't guarantee us any spots.  We might have to wait until 7PM.  I was livid, but I knew there was nothing they or I could do.  That sucks.  After a somewhat relaxing voucher breakfast, we headed back to our gate and waited some more.  By this time, my children were spent and I don't blame them.  We got lucky and were three of the few people on standby that got to head home. 
After that ordeal, it was so nice to be home.