Our Florida Road Trip -Weeki Wachee

             We arrived home Saturday night after a wonderful week in Florida!  My parents rented the same little cabin [as last year] on the Weeki Wachee River.  We spent our time on kayaks and playing the beach.  
                           Pine Island has a VERY kid-friendly beach.  No waves and knee-deep water out 100+ yards.  We loaded up the garbage truck and dump truck [that we brought from Atlanta], a couple buckets and shovels, and the kids were amused for hours.  HOURS!!                 Of course we did have to watch out for the occasional stone wall jump.  If there is an adventure, Mateo is on it.  And funny enough, this little guy wants to do EVERYTHING big brother does.
                 One word: Daredevils.  We are in so much trouble.                                                                                                             Yes, these padres have their hands full, but look how much fun we are having!                 My brother Tim drove up from The Keys with his son for the weekend.  It was so great to see them. 
Whenever Tim and Ernesto are together, delicious food is created!  How about starting offf with shrimp and fish ceviche?  The main course? Fish tacos with a freshly roasted salsa. Oh My!! I may have had one too many tacos, because this was the excitement that ensued after dinner. 
My brother and I are notoriously out by 9pm.
Mateo wanted to do EVERYTHING with his big cousin Noah.  And Marcelo wanted to was all into the soccer ball Noah brought.             With a plethora of outdoor activities, the boys were not bored ...and with that comes better behavior.  Now, don't get me wrong, we had our moments.  Like the morning where by 10am I felt like it was already 4pm and I was going to pull my hair out.  The boys were restless and we were coloring easter eggs before 7am.  Grandma always has good ideas!             Yes, Marcelo's whole cheek is green.                    Im not sure why I never thought of turning the tv on in the mornings while here.  Without the normal routine of cartoons and fruit....we had fruit with chaos!  One morning I filled up the sink with water and bubbles and they had a ball for about an hour.
            Even though we didn't see hardly any fish off our dock, we tried our hand at fishing. This did not hold their (or anyone elses) interest for very long.                            We did get to see a lot of fish at the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park, about 20 miles north  of Weeki Wachee.  It was a pretty great place for adults and kids alike.               You start off with a boat ride from the visitors center to the park where you are able to see lots of birds on the river.  With mostly shaded walkways, you are led around the park to see all kinds of native Florida wildlife.  Manatees, black bears, flamingos, snakes, alligators, deer, bobcats, and more.  Oh and one random hippo named Lou, who was made an honorary Florida citizen by the Governor. Wha?
             We have friends who moved to Winterhaven from Atlanta a few years ago, so we arranged a short visit at their house while we were down that way.  They have a 2.5 year old little girl and so it was pretty cool seeing our kids play together.  Little ones make friends so easily.        Thanks to Stuart and Livini for the hospitality and great memories!  The drive home was smooth with only a few pits stops.  When we were 40 miles outside of Atlanta we hit horrible traffic that lasted for 20 miles.  Very Frustrating!  So happy that we came home to a clean house.  That is the best welcome home!
Also, my garden was really starting to pop up.  
So excited to garden!  Sprfing is here and one of my favorite trees is blooming all over Atlanta!  Garden updates to come...stay tuned!