March 16

We love hiking at home, so hiking in Florida would surely be fun, right? 

Except that today was cold and windy. I thought to bring light hoodies and pants for the kids, but it wasn't enough to stand up to the winds. Still, we decided to give it a shot and headed out to Myakka River State Park to check out their Canopy Walk and hiking trails. We visited here last year and did their alligator boat tour, but this time we focused on hiking.

Lily brought Pink Bear along on our hike. She also wore her Princess Sofia dress, pink water shoes, and pink sunglasses. Girl knows what looks good.

Sweet.

Sweet.

(aren't Eli's little sunglasses perched on top of his head the funniest thing ever?)

The Canopy walk wasn't quite what I was expecting. I suppose I thought it would be longer? We climbed 25 feet up a wooden structure, then walked across a suspension bridge. The kids were a bit scared, but it was fun.

Once we got across, there was another wooden structure that went up 80 feet in the air. This was when they started to get nervous. It was all enclosed, but once we reached the (more open) top, even I felt too uncomfortable to take any pictures. My justification is that I had a baby wrapped on my back, and that threw off my center of gravity and set off my Mama Bear instincts. I wouldn't have been nervous if we were child-free.

Right?

Picture at the bottom. The tower was so tall that I couldn't even fit the top in my frame.

Daddy and his happy kiddos!

(It was too cold for Eli to be in short sleeves without a jacket, but he intentionally removed it and left it on the ground. The boy has some serious opinions.)

Then we drove the length of the park and found another trail to hike. 

The older two insisted on wearing blankets wrapped around them because they were "so coooollld!"

Shameless babywearing selfie, with a stick.

Chris wore Lily on his back in the meh dai, and she loved it.

Hiking.

Poorly lit family hiking selfie. It really was lots of fun!

As we drove out of the park, we crossed a bridge over the water and saw some alligators! We immediately pulled the car over and got out to look. (Don't worry, Mom. We were at no risk of being eaten!) The kids were thrilled to see three alligators, enjoying the warm sunshine. It was the perfect end to our visit at the park.

Since this was our last day in Florida, I really wanted to make one evening trip to the beach to watch the sunset. We made gluten free pizzas for dinner at Maggie's house, and then drove out to the same beach we visited for sunset last year. Unfortunately, it was still cold and windy, so we layered hoodies and blankets and towels over the kids' swim clothes.

There are a Caleb and a Daisy hiding under the striped towel.

Finally, the kids were too tempted by the ocean and got out to splash.

I know. It's gorgeous. This is why we came to the beach at sunset, despite the wind.

Lily looks like a surfer girl!

Eli was the first one out in the water.

I thought this was Daisy, but it was Lily.

And then, while I was snapping pictures with my feet in the water, and Chris was standing up to his ankles in the water, Eli splashed into a different section of the beach where there was an unexpected drop-off. He was immediately face-down in the water, and  unable to touch the bottom. It was terrifying.

Luckily, Chris was right there. He turned around and scooped Eli up. Eli was cold, wet, and scared, but otherwise fine. As we were panicking over Eli, Lily did THE EXACT SAME THING. Chris had his hands full with Eli, so despite the fact that I was wearing jeans and had about $3,000 worth of camera gear around my neck, I ran right into the ocean and grabbed her. I didn't realize that the sharp drop-off was what caused the issue, so when I hit it I lost my footing and twisted my ankle. Most of the water at this beach was only ankle-deep, but this spot was up to my knees. It wasn't a super deep area, but the drastic change was the problem. I lost my balance and fell in up to my thighs before I regained my footing. 

Amazingly, I was able to rescue Lily (who was floating face-down) and keep my camera dry at the same time. Just like Eli, Lily was cold, wet, and scared, but fine. It was scary for all of us, but the kids are familiar enough with water that no one panicked. We were right there, and got them out before breathing in water was a risk. 

After we got everyone warmed up, I tried my best to get a picture of all four kids at the beach at sunset. 

IT didn't go well. You can tell that Eli and Lily are worse for the wear. Right after this, we called it quits and Chris and Maggie took the little two back to the van to put on dry clothes. Caleb and Daisy chose to stay on the beach with me and watch the sunset.

Daisy let me take this picture of her, and asked if we could share it with her friends and teacher at Classical Conversations.

My boy was not feeling well - he had caught Daisy's awful cold - but he is still so handsome.

Beach flowers. Love them.

Sunset. It was a good trip. After this, we went back to Maggie's, packed our bags, and put the kids to bed. Once they were asleep, we loaded up the van and went to bed. At 1:30, we woke everyone up and got in the van to begin our drive back home. Aside from the fact that everyone in the family caught Daisy's nasty cold, the trip was absolutely perfect. We had so much fun with Maggie, who is such a gracious host. The kids sure love her! Hopefully she'll let us come back again!