Random Trip Fun Facts

 

Our Homeschooling is unconventional.  The girls do math most days.  It is often in the car while we are driving.  It seems to be going well.  I get asked lots of questions, but most of the time the girls ask each other and help each other.  I am sure that math time is their least favorite part of the trip.  

The rest of their school is experience based.  They get tons of science and history from the places we visit.  They write in their journals everyday and they all read a ton.  

Other Fun Facts:  Hector is by far the best wildlife spotter.  He is almost always the first to notice a bird, or see something scurry in the bushes.

When the girls need/want something or have a question, they always start with, "Hey Mom..."  It is always Mom.  Sometimes it feels non-stop. Hey Mom...Hey mom...Hey Mom...

Estelle is the best at remembering facts and then sharing them whenever she has the urge.

All three girls have failed in the personal technology department.  Estelle and Sienna both had sport watches.  Sienna lost hers and Estelle's died when she wore it in the ocean.  Both gone within two weeks of the trip.  I set up an old phone for Natalia to use on the trip.  I thought she would like taking pictures and she would also have access to her own library account for digital books.  She loved having it and I could tell it made her feel grown up.  She shattered the screen the first week she had it. No more phone for her for awhile.   

I do have iPads and a kindle I let them use to read books and they have all done a ton of reading.  The digital books have been the best for this trip.  I can just keep checking out books as we go and it takes up no space.  

Biscayne National Park

The girls love the Junior Ranger program and I love that they love it!  Initially, we did not have Biscayne National Park on our itinerary.  It is a National Park made up of 98% water and we did not have a boat.  Well, the Everglades Junior Ranger Badge booklet was actually for Everglades, Biscayne and Big Cypress.  You could get a badge at each place, but if you completed all three, then you got a patch too.  Well, the girls were serious about getting that patch so we found a way to fit in Biscayne National Park.  Since we had to do some backtracking in Florida (there is only one way in and out of the Keys), we were not far from Biscayne after we left the Keys.  We made what we thought would be a quick stop, but it turned into a whole wonderful afternoon.  

The girls finished their books on the drive and were ready to be junior rangers when we first got there.  They got sworn in and while at the visitor's center we saw signs for some ranger activities.  First we learned about plankton.  The ranger was fantastic and made it really interesting.  We got to go the lab and use the microscopes.  We saw so many cool things wiggling around in those microscopes.  We had fun learning.  Estelle was really into it.  She asked so many questions and she could have stayed all afternoon.  

We were also able to participate in a ranger led canoe trip.  The rangers taught us about canoeing and safety.  It was simple, but great for the girls since they had never been canoeing before.  Then we got out on the water and enjoyed the bay.  We did not get to canoe too far, but we had fun and learned about the Bay and the habitat from our rangers.  I had Natalia and Estelle in my boat.  They both did a great job paddling.  They got better as we went and were pros by the end.  Natalia said that it was not really her thing.  Hector and Sienna were together and they looked like a good team in their boat.  Sienna really liked it, but said she prefers kayaking. 

Since we were at Biscayne so much longer than planned, and ended up not getting to our campground until late, but it was worth it for a fun day.  Hector is amazing.  Not only can her park that trailer in the light of day, he can also do it in the dark.  

The Florida Keys

 

I'm so glad we made it all the way down to the Florida Keys.  It was a journey to get here.  I knew how difficult it was to book campsites in the Keys, especially in the Winter when all the the retired people go to Florida escape cold winters.  I was ready to book campsites 11 months ahead of our trip when they first became available.  I was ready the second they opened on two devices to hopefully book one campsite.  I failed day after day and could not find a camping spot.  It was very discouraging and I didn't know if we would make it to the keys on our trip.  I finally just put of scheduling Florida and planned the rest of our five months.  Finally, a few weeks before our trip I found a campsite for two nights in Big Pine Key, right next to Bahia Honda.  It ended up being the perfect location and an amazing camping spot.  We loved our days in the keys.  

We left the Everglades first thing in the morning and headed to the keys.  We stopped at John Pennecamp Coral Reef State park.  We learned all about Coral Reefs and enjoyed the little aquarium and tanks there.  I had debated booking a snorkeling tour, but I didn't think a tour was best for my kids' first time snorkeling and I was worried the water would still be a bit cold for us to really enjoy it.  It was the right call.  

Next we headed to our campground.  We enjoyed the drive along the overseas highway.  Key Largo is ugly and dumpy looking, so if you ever go the Florida Keys, you have to get past the first keys to really enjoy the beauty.  The girls like to see if they can hold their breath when we drive over bridges.  They had lots of opportunities on this drive.  They believe that they get a wish if they hold their breath the whole time over the bridge.  I encourage this game because I get a moment of silence while I look at the beautiful views from bridges.  

After checking in and setting up, we headed to Bahia Honda State park for some beach time and snorkeling.  It was only five minutes from our campground  We had fun swimming around the shore and getting used to our snorkel masks and fins.  We saw some fish and enjoyed our water time.  It was beautiful as the sun was setting.  Since we were already wet and in our swimsuits, we came back to camp, ate dinner and then headed to the campground pool for a late night swim.  Heated Florida pools are amazing.  The pool was on the top floor of a rec room and it had purple lights and warm water.  It made for a really fun late night family swim.  

Our campsite was right on the water.  We had a dock behind us and the bay to the side of us.  Lots of birds and fish.  We even had a Key deer walk through our campground the last morning.  I really wanted to see a Key deer, but turns out it looked just like a normal deer.  

Key West was about an hour away and we had a full day to spend there.  We took a tour at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park.  Our ranger was great and we learned all about Key West History.  After the tour we headed to the old part of town to eat Key Lime Pie.  We sampled LOTS of pie.  We had (in order from my favorite to least favorite) strawberry key lime pie, regular key lime pie, coconut key lime pie and pretentious expensive key lime pie (not the real name).  They were all good, but our bellies were full.  We still had to try conch fritters though.  I waited until the girls had tried the fritters and liked them before I told them it was snail.  

We walked around Duval street a little but it mostly seemed to appeal to the cruise ship people.  We did stop at the oldest house museum and talked to the guy working there for awhile.  He shared a bunch of great Key West history with us.  Talking to the locals is always the best.  Then we headed to the Tower Gardens.  It is another old fort, but this one has been turned into public gardens that are all maintained by volunteers.  It was gorgeous and such a great way to juxtapose the live plants with the old fort ruins.  

We thought we would take a picture with the most southern point marker.  It marks the furthest south you can get in the USA.  But we saw the line of people waiting to take a picture and we decided we did not care that much.  I snapped a picture from the truck as we drove by.  

Then we headed back to the park for some beach and snorkeling time.  The water was a little cooler than we expected, so while it looked like a good place to snorkel, no one really wanted to venture out. One of the cons of having great weather that is warm but not too hot...the water is still cool.  The girls played in the water for a bit until they saw a Portuguese Manowar Jellyfish.  That was enough to scare them out of the water.  It was sunny and warm, so we still had fun on the beach.  Estelle collected shells and old coral.  Sienna, Natalia and I explored the rocks.  We watched the cruise ship pull out of port and then we watched a manatee swim around the rocks we were on.  

Just before sunset we headed to Mallory Square for the sunset celebration.  We really enjoyed it.  There were lots of street performers.  They would whistle and get everyone's attention.  Then a crowd would gather and watch.  It was like a traveling circus and very entertaining.  Our favorite was the guy that rode a 15 foot high unicycle and juggled knives and fire sticks. He was very funny and put on a great show.  

We also watched the sun set over the water; beautiful.  It was very crowded and hard to get a good unobstructed picture.  Something you need to see in person.  

Hector even got pulled in to help with one of the shows.  He had to hold a rope that helped to support this pole a guy was doing tricks on.  

I needed one more day in Key West.  There were a couple of museums that sounded really interesting that I would have loved to visit and I really would have loved to get out on the water away from the shore.  The beaches are not amazing in the Keys, but it is a boaters paradise.  I may just have to return to the Keys sometime.  

In the morning as we were packing up to leave it decided to rain.  It went from sunny to a down poor in a flash.   Estelle and I had ridden our bikes to the bathroom and we were stuck there until it slowed down.  Hector had ridden out to the bridge to take pictures.  He got soaked because he had no shelter.  After tent to fifteen minutes of rain it stopped but the campground was covered in huge puddles of water.  It looked like a totally different place.  There girls got to use their rain jackets for the first time.