Florida Summer Vacation 2015 - Children's Museum and Aquarium

We drove to Tampa on Tuesday to the best children's museum on the planet.  I was so impressed I was almost ready to open one in Spartanburg when I got back home.  It was fantastic.  The boys spent 4 amazing hours there and did not want to leave.  It had so many different things for them to do, I can't even remember them all.  3 stories of fabulous fun, including a Subway to eat at on the first floor.

 One of the first stops was on the second floor right outside the arts and crafts room (they scribbled markers on a paper butterfly and then ran out the door).  They had a disco room with TVs and cameras set up for the kids to watch themselves dance and they got to choose from 8 stations what kind of music to dance to.

 One of Alex's favorite areas was the ball pit.  Evan enjoyed it to, but Alex kept wanting to go back to it over & over.

The fire station had a truck with sounds and a real pole they could slide down (once they get older & can hold on tight).

They shopped at Publix.

 Fixed food at Outback Steakhouse.

 Let all the animals out of their cages at the veterinarian's office.

 Fixed pizza at Carraba's.

Learned about the human body at St. Joseph's hospital.

On the first floor, they went fishing at the pier, caught a fish & drove the boat.

The entire 3rd floor was dedicated to the Wizard of Oz.  They picked vegetables, fed them to the cow, walked in a crooked house, slid down the castle drawbridge, and more. 

I wish we could go there every day.  It was so fun.  The boys were asleep in the car before I could put on my own seat belt.  We then headed over to the Tampa aquarium. 

After a long, fun day, we headed back to the house.  I think the boys really enjoyed their first half of our Florida vacation.

Florida Summer Vacation 2015 - Botanical Garden and More

After driving all day Saturday and being at a theme park all day Sunday in 98 degree heat, we decided we would stay local to Spring Hill and do things fairly close to the house.  Vince found a botanical garden that was amazing and huge.  It was filled with lizards, butterflies, and I even saw a long black snake slither under a bush to hide.

The best part was that it was free!  The boys weren't that impressed, but they remained calm and enjoyed the ride through the various gardens.

We also found the Bayport dock and park.  It had a nice view of the Gulf of Mexico and tons of picnic tables. The history lessons were all over the area with stories on both sides of the signs, spread throughout the park.

Aunt Susie got to visit with the boys several times during the week. And we took them swimming in perfectly warm, lovely water in her swimming pool.

We enjoyed dinner at the Greek City Cafe on Sunday night and the Masaryktown Cafe (Cuban sandwiches and garbanzo bean soup) on Monday night. 

Florida Summer Vacation 2015 - Busch Gardens

We took the boys to Spring Hill, Florida to stay at my parents' beach house. It's only about 45 minutes from Tampa, which had loads to do for toddlers.  We drove all day Saturday, and luckily, there was not much traffic so we were able to eat at one of our favorite seafood restaurants, the Bayport Inn.

On Sunday, we had reservations at Busch Gardens for lunch with Elmo and friends.  Evan and Alex don't watch much Sesame Street as they are so preoccupied with Mickey Mouse, so I had bought a DVD for them to watch on Saturday during the 10 hour car ride.  They loved watching Elmo.

We arrived at Busch Gardens in time for the Elmo show, which included all the kids being able to run on stage and have a big dance party with Elmo, Grover, and some other character that I kept calling Zoe, but found out later she was Abby.  Both boys wanted to watch and touch them, but weren't too keen on being touched back.  They clapped and danced for 30 solid minutes with the characters.

We then rode a few rides.  Evan liked riding.  Alex liked riding for approximately 20 seconds - just long enough to want to get off as soon as the ride started.  He only went on 3 rides and did the same whining to get off every time.  Then the real fun started when it was time to eat lunch with all the characters.

Elmo, Bert, Ernie, and Cookie Monster all came in to the dining area dancing and ready for pictures.  It was not crowded at all, so the boys had lots of attention from all the different characters.  They both were entranced by Elmo & kept searching for him.  Alex was keen on wanting to photo bomb all the other kids' pictures with Elmo.  The lunch itself was a buffet filled with great food.  It was totally worth it even if there were no characters and a free 6 x 8 picture involved.  The kids absolutely loved it.  It was the best hour we spent in the park.

The best part is that we got a free extra day with our ticket so we can go back anytime within a calendar year & do it again! The day was 98 degrees and very hot, but Vince had rigged the stroller with two fans for the boys and a shade cover.  We kept them hydrated and in the shade a lot, and took several breaks for drinks or ice cream.  I love that the lines are short and you get a lot for your money at this park.

Leslie Family Reunion - Camp Cockamamie

We celebrated the umpteenth Leslie family reunion on Memorial Day at Uncle Alan's house this year.  It was dubbed "Camp Cockamamie" since they live in Cocke County, TN.  I have forgotten how many years in a row we've been gathering on Memorial Day, but I think it's close to ten.  The boys slept in the same room with us at Uncle Alan & Aunt Linda's house. It made for interesting nights since three of us (the boys & me) had a bad cough.  In fact on Saturday night, I held Evan up right against me from 3:30am to 4:30am since he was coughing so bad he was hardly breathing from all the drainage.  We moved Alex's crib to the huge walk in closet (& left the door open) to give him a little bit more privacy from the noise.  That worked great as he slept all night until after 7am.  I think he liked the dark and quiet room of the closet. 

Tallest cousin, Andrew with shortest cousin, Alex.

The siblings (minus my dad, who was in Alaska on a cruise).

We ate our traditional Friday night fare of lasagna and/or poppy seed(less) chicken.  Aunt Linda doesn't like to put the poppy seeds in her version. On Saturday, all the aunts, uncles and cousins from near and far arrived to Cosby, TN and we feasted on smoked pork and lots of fixings.  Sunday we visited with some more cousins and ate hamburgers and hot dogs. 

The older kids fished outside in the big pond stocked with fish and snapping turtles.  We saw wild turkeys every morning.  And my cousins saw a small black bear run from them on the other side of the pond.  There is lots of wildlife in the mountains! 

The boys loved playing on the big porch outside and we blocked them in with relatives that gave them lots of attention. 

I only wish everyone had felt better.  We came home and both boys were diagnosed with a bad ear infection that Tuesday.  The only up side was that Evan loved just being held and snuggled by his relatives all weekend long. I think everyone was able to get their baby fix.

We ended the trip on Monday morning by dining at the local restaurant called Janice's.