Daytona Beach

After Silver Springs, the girls all said they liked the beach better so that's exactly what we did.  Daytona Beach was foggy this time so I optimistically planned on it burning off.  It didn't work out that way, but we didn't let a little fog or drizzle ruin our time. We spent a lot of time playing in the sand and even braved the water a bit.  I did not let our towels get wet this time so that was a total win!  

Indie pulled this stick out of the ground, waved it around, and yelled in baby talk forever.  We all decided she was like a little old lady sitting on her front porch.  So cute!  

Silver Springs State Park

We weren't going to waste our time in Florida sitting inside so we headed out on another adventure!  This time we checked out Silver Springs State Park since it was closer and supposedly had a sandy beach with 70 degree water.   The beach wasn't exactly sandy, but still a good swim.  We really enjoyed the little hike around the spring and stopped at the end to enjoy the view and scout for alligators.  I planned on seeing several alligators on our trip, but we only saw one and it was a little disappointing.  Oh well, probably better that it worked out that way.

Christmas

We continually talked to the girls about not opening presents Christmas morning because of our family trip so they were totally on board (or at least said they were haha.)  But, they lucked out because Grandma Kat completely ignored the plan and spoiled our entire family with gifts.  Kat and Jack generously gave the girls cute cups, golf set, and pjs and that was all before Christmas.  When Christmas morning rolled around, they got to open Barbies, Minnie Mouses, crafts, sewing stuff, and necklaces.  Indie was completely spoiled with a little car and mini ball pit.  Dave got a cool dental decoration and homemade pj pants from Kat and Milan.  (Those pants took a good 30 hours of work, but they both seemed to enjoy the project and they're awesome!)  I got some sweet Flamingo PJs and a comfy sweater that I have lived in since getting back to Omaha.  

We were very appreciative of the thoughtful gifts, but the best part was sharing Christmas with family.  I loved watching Milan and Grandma work on their sewing project while Eden and Cora played with their new gifts and lots of wrapping paper on the front porch.  We reheated a yummy meal from a local restaurant and that was brilliantly easy.  We ended the night with a field trip to feed geese on a beautiful night.  

Blue Springs State Park

The adventure continued on Christmas Eve with a road trip to Blue Springs State Park so we could check out the Manatees.  We got to see lots of Manatees floating around, play at the park, do a little hike, and check out a pretty white house with the perfect front porch.  We didn't plan it, but ended up sitting on the front porch, rocking, and enjoying our family for quite a while.   

"I'm not tired mom."

Blue Springs was only half an hour from Daytona Beach so we decided to keep driving and enjoy the last couple hours of day on the beach.  We got to drive on the beach and play next to our car so that was neat and convenient.  I probably should have paid better attention to the rising tide so our towels didn't get soaked by waves and definitely could have brought dry clothes for the drive home.  But we grabbed some Happy Meals, bathed when we got back to Jack and Kat's, and nobody complained (well not that I remember anyways.)  It's not every year that you get to spend Christmas Eve on the beach! 

Cocoa Beach

We didn't plan on hitting the beach with Marie and Brynn, but they had an extra day to kill and we're always up for an adventure.  We stopped at Walmart for the essentials like towels, buckets, and food, and were off by mid afternoon.  After an hour or traveling and filling the backseats with laughter, we made it to the beach and it was a blast!  Unstructured play and relaxation was exactly what we needed after our busy days at Disney World!  

Milan and Eden became professional body surfers.  Cora and Brynn found a new British friend and they stayed busy with their sand creations.  

We tried to buffer Indie from eating all the sand, but at some point we kinda gave up, then realized that she just wanted to play!  She had a blast moving it around, moving herself around, feeling it in her fingers and only ended up eating a little bit.  I also forgot her swim suit, but she rocked that swim diaper like nobody's business. 

Don't let this picture fool you.  It looks like Indie is crawling here because she has and totally could, but she hasn't been in the mood for the past month or so.  We'll save that for another post.