My Trip to Florida

I've been home from the beach for three days, and I've finally finished the post on it!

 Me and two sisters flew to Florida and stayed there for ten days with our aunt and uncle and cousins. It was a WONDERFUL vacation, and I'm so glad we got to go! But hold in there, this is going to be a long post. I imported almost 940 pictures onto my computer from the trip. *ahem, yep*

We left the 12th, and came back late the 22nd. Well, it may have already been the first hours of "morning" the 23rd. But we don't need to be that technical. ;P

So we said goodbye to our family and the adventure on our own began. ;) We went through security, and found our gate. Then waited to board the plane. 

When the plane sped up and started taking off... this thrill or something went through me. It felt so exciting. =D

   My lovely plane food. *winks*

We got there at last, and after getting our luggage we went outside to wait for our aunt and uncle to pick us up. They came, and we went to the condo we stayed at all the ten days. :)

   THE FIRST DAY

  

This is the room all of us girls slept in. We had three twin-size beds squished in while the queen bed. ;) Mine's there in front of the dresser.

Ah, the familiar entry... 

Ahem, so the first day, we got up, ate breakfast, and went outside to play shuffle board.

Which... I must say, I was pretty bad at. ;P I scored a lot of negative tens. But I DID make my cousin on the other team get negative ten, so that was probably the best thing I did. Hehe.

Front of some of the condos near ours

We also played some games inside. Our two "signature" games of this vacation were Dutch blitz and kings and queens. :D My favorite was Dutch blitz- we need to get it. 

Nothing says summer better than this, right? *winks*

The best part of my first day there was going to the beach. :D I swam in the ocean for the first time in a very long time. By swam I mean going out into the waves like, waist deep at least. Then I tried boogie boarding, which I was kinda clutzy at, at least in the beginning. Let me tell you one thing about the ocean: it beats on you! Especially when you don't hold the boogie board sideways and the waves slam against it. If you can imagine. ;P

I think I got a few decent runs on it though. :) And it was fun. Saltwater got in my eyes, and "in my lungs", and I got dunked, but I'm glad I did it. :) 

 After that I went and looked for shells. It was a fun day.

THE SECOND DAY

   

After breakfast, I went on the back patio and wrote in my diary. I wrote about the tropical plants and palm trees, and a little lizard I saw on the fence. *winks* 

We went on a walk around a nearby lake at some point, looking at all the cool trees and plants and creatures. :) The one thing I didn't enjoy was how hot it was. I just don't like getting all sticky with sweat, and then it takes forever to cool off and feel normal again. ;P I know, I like warm summers, I like the tropical feel, and getting tan... but that part isn't very fun, lol. 

ALL the awesome palm trees. :D

...my shorts look uneven ;P

There was even cactus!

Pretty, swampy lake :)

There's an iguana!

And a squirrel ;)

See, there's very interesting trees here.

 After shopping a little, we went to the beach again. I took more pictures this time, because I was just looking for shells... and well, taking pictures. ;) We didn't stay too long, because there was a Good Friday service.

Of course you have to take pictures of your painted toenails if you go to the beach. ;P

LOTS of shells. We did a lot of shell-hunting.

When we got back from the beach we got ready and went to the Good Friday service. I don't think we'd planned to stay for the refreshments\fellowship part, but we did. And I got some delicious layered chocolate cake. Nothing better than chocolate, folks. ;P 

I really enjoyed that, just sitting and eating refreshments with my cousins and sisters, with people all around. My church doesn't do that very often at all and it's so big we hardly know anyone. I was actually related to some people at this church. ;)

THE THIRD DAY

I woke up with a sore throat. Some of us went out to breakfast, and then took a little morning walk on the beach. :) That was nice.

I can't really remember what else we did that day. I didn't write about the rest of it in my diary. *frowns at myself* Maybe that's because I got sick. My sore throat didn't go away that day, and sore throats usually begin my colds. :P

My Easter outfit- and just don't mind my face. I DID have a cold, if that's to blame. ;P

THE FOURTH DAY

Easter Sunday! I wasn't sure if I was going to feel up to going to church, but I got up that morning. And I did feel well enough. My sore throat mostly went away, but then my nose ran like crazy, and I was tired. But I made it through church fine, and brought a plate of ham, potatoes and other good things "home" from church. Well, I actually ate most of it on the way. Like you care.

Then, since Trump was in town and leaving soon, (cool, I know), we went and saw his plane. :D That was pretty interesting. 

We drove by his estate, Mar-a-Lago, and there were police and security all over. We even saw secret service vehicles. ;D 

I took this one a different day, but thought I'd include it with these other pictures. 

This was in front of it. See the big gun?

Then we came back to the condo, and I'm guessing I probably read and rested for most of the rest of the day. I think the thing that effected me most with that cold was just being tired. The sick tired. ;P 

THE FIFTH DAY

My cold probably improved some, and I went swimming in the pool, and we walked by the lake again. The picture above is a turtle... obviously, I guess. ;)

Another interesting tree

We went to the beach yet again. It was a little cold at first. Most everyone else had a great time boogie boarding. I should have worn my swimsuit so I could've joined. *shakes head* Oh well.

I felt this peace, or fulfillment or something when I got my camera and started taking pictures. Guys, this is what I was meant to do. ;P

This bird had a piece of bread, and I happened to catch it dropping in mid-air. ;)

We had a really good supper of soup and cornbread that night. Then we played Kings and Queens and watched my sister and cousin arm wrestle. ;)

THE SIXTH DAY

On this day, we packed a lunch and went to Florida's Everglades. If you don't know, they're a huge swampy area with alligators, pythons, and all kinds of birds. The pictures above is the first alligator we saw there.

We went on an air-boat ride, and while I still had a cold and everything, the ride was really nice, and the breeze felt good. :) And when you go over something with those boats, you expect to clunk or something, but it's really smooth. 

Yea, that was fun. We ate lunch outside after that, and then headed back to the condo.

And saw an iguana in the ditch on the way.

That same day we went to a new beach, one with a pier. Isn't it beautiful?

Me and my sister decided to take pictures of each other. And there my day became awesome. It was such fun taking my sisters pictures, and the beach setting and lighting were spectacular... just the thing to make a zougy-feeling day turn lovely. :D

These are a few pictures my sister took of me. :)

And then we looked for shells once again! :) We looked for them IN the water. And those annoying waves had to come and get my shorts wet. You seriously have to be very alert and paying attention, otherwise you'll definitely get wet. ;P

A teeny little crab :)

THE SEVENTH DAY

We went to the beach for a little while again, but it wasn't the nicest day for it. We also went out to eat for lunch.

Then we walked the streets of an interesting town. That's always fun. =D

We got ice cream too. Technically, I think it was frozen custard. Same thing, basically.

That night I rode scooters in the dark with my cousin and sister. ;) Just around the condo parking lot.

THE EIGHTH DAY

We got up the morning of the 8th day, packed a lunch, and went to a Safari. :) A little like a zoo, you know, but you drive through with the animals. We even had an ostrich pecking our window. ;P

This one looks so sad... I don't know what it is.

After driving through all the animals, we walked through the other parts. We looked at other animals in cages and walked through a little maze. We even rode a merry-go-round! ;D And we went on paddle boats. That was pretty fun. 

There were some huge giraffes, which we fed lettuce. I can say that I got licked by a giraffe now. :D

Fed some little birds too.

We all went down this big slide with gunny sacks. My stomach actually "flew away"- like, it felt like in the dreams I have where I'm flying through the air. I was probably cringing as I went down. ;P I'm a wimp or something!

  Before we left we went drove through the safari once more.

This rhino was coming toward us! We quickly drove forward- nobody wants to risk having a rhino tip their car over. ;P

That was a really fun event!

THE NINTH DAY

The beach once again. The water was really vibrant that day. More shells, more waves splashing my shorts. ;P

 Back at the condo we went and visited with our great grandma for a little bit and then said goodbye to her because she was leaving. And my great aunt and her daughter too. It was really nice seeing them. :)

We played games and watched a movie while my aunt and uncle took them to the airport.

Later I went to the lake and took my two boy cousin's pictures. :) I hope I got some good ones... it's always harder for me to take pictures of people who aren't my siblings. ;P

That night I was playing a game on my sister's kindle in our great grandma's condo while she waited to check into the airport- we were leaving the next night. Then we joined the others in taking saunas and swimming! That was like, the highlight of the day! Night swimming is fun. =D 

THE TENTH DAY

On our last day, we got up early to go and watch the sunrise. It wasn't the greatest when it first rose (too many clouds), but it got prettier later. :)

                It's interesting how it got whiter after awhile. :)

We went out to breakfast after. And saw a Lamborghini there! I think those cars aren't very common to see, so that's cool. :D We might've saw a Ferrari the same day. I should've had my camera.

I got a tan! :D I call it a tan, anyhow. 

Later we walked in a "rich" shopping area. There was a sheet on sale for like, $700 something dollars! That's ridiculous. There was a lot of well-dressed people around, probably disgusted with my shorts and flip-flops. ;P LOL

 A little while before we left for the airport, we went out to ice cream. Three of us got some. Mine was peanut butter cup- so good!

Then we had to leave. Had to say goodbye. And we were once again on our own in the airport. Then flying. I was SO tired. When we got close to landing, we circled for awhile, probably because  of the storms there had been. I probably drifted on and off even circling. It got a little creepy right before we landed, but we DID land safely. We didn't die. ;P

And so, we are home. 

I had such a fun time with family there. Laughing with my great grandma, laughing at my "little" sister and cousins recording fake radio interviews, swimming, getting pestered (lol), playing fun games, eating sorbets and popsicles... I made lots of great memories.

It was amazing, and I'd love to go again next year!!

DID YOU GET BORED WITH THIS GIGANTIC POST? WHAT SOUNDED\LOOKED THE MOST AWESOME?