Destin, FL (State #3)-Henderson Beach State Park

We are at the beach!!! Yay!!!! Destin is beautiful! Henderson Beach State Park is located right on the beach. It is a little more than a quarter mile walk to the water, but the benefit is that once you get there, you just see beach. The area has grown up so much that there are hotels all over, but where we were, the hotels and people were far enough away that they didn't impact the beautiful view.

The park was nice and very well maintained. The park hosts even raked the gravel between guests! The showers were clean and they had a couple of laundry machines. The sites themselves were carved out from the natural trees and brush, which to me was a little cavernous, but I know some prefer that kind of privacy.

We spent most of our free time at the beach...

Some days were a little chilly but we were lucky to get a couple of warm ones. The water was still quite cold so I just relaxed in my chair. Ahh!  I even started reading a BOOK!

The kids jumped in the waves a little, but mostly they played in the sand. Greg joined us some on his lunch breaks and was able to spend more time on Saturday. He was so excited about his day off that he got up super early and went down to the beach, with his cup of coffee and chair, to enjoy the sunrise!

We did venture out to a couple of places. We had planned to go to some of the historical locations but couldn’t pull ourselves away from the beach and sun.

One of the places we visited was Gator Beach. It is a free alligator exhibit at Fudpucker's restaurant. The gators weren't moving much since it was cool but it was fun to see them all sunning themselves.

They also had a rare albino alligator, named Pearl. She was a little more active than the others and because she was in a tank, we were able to see her up close. She was born from another albino alligator in captivity elsewhere. It was a little sad to see her in a tank, but we learned that she would not have survived in the wild due to her lack of camoflauge and sun protection.

We tried to feed the alligators by dropping a loooooooonnnnnnnng line from a pole into the pool area where they were (this is a permitted activity) but even with the food dangling right above their noses and often on top of their noses, they just would NOT eat!

Trying to feed them made us hungry, so we decided to grab a snack. Jacob enjoyed his very first milkshake at Fudpucker's (Jordan's second)! The kids asked them to mix the flavors for a chocolate strawberry milkshake and they did! They were also kind enough to split the milkshake in two for us and top it with cream and cherries! Jacob LOVED it! It is now known as “leche de wow!” in our family because Mommy didn't know how to say it in Spanish during our Spanish food lesson the next day. Ha Ha! Thanks Gina for giving me the correct term ;)

The other place we visited was the Emerald Coast Science Center in Fort Walton. We got in FREE using our museum pass and the kids had a great time. It was a cute museum although very dated in its décor, like carpeted walls (kind of gave me the willies). That being said, it had a lot of different activities for them to do. We were there for almost 3 hours!

Jordan wanted to test out the hurricane tunnel. The winds increased to 78 miles per hour; the equivalent of a category I hurricane. I was surprised she was able to maintain a standing position!

This was Jordan's favorite. We all took turns making some awesomely big bubbles.

Jacob's favorite was this airplane that by using a button and a lever, you could make it fly.

And both liked this energy bicycle that talked about the number of watts you would need to power various appliances in your home.

They did not want to leave but I just couldn’t see staying any longer while the sun was shining beautifully outside!

We are a little sad to be leaving the beach and are looking forward to coming back next year. BUT checking out the forecast for the upcoming week made it easier for us to go. We left early Sunday morning in the middle of the rain that was supposed to be the beginning of a yucky week, even possibly freezing by Friday morning.

Our next stop is Cedar Key, Florida. We are heading further south!

New Orleans, LA-Week #2

We started out this week at City Park and what a great start it was!

Spanish moss draped from the branches of the trees making them sooo beautiful. This park is about 50% bigger than central park and filled with activities for everyone. There is no way to see it all in one day.

It was a GORGEOUS day! The playscapes were very nice and they were near the water (but not too close) where the kids can feed the ducks and geese. A nice gentleman stopped by and gave his leftover bread to the kids.

There was a little coffee shop, called Morning Call, near the play area so we thought “Why not have some more beignets?!” And so we did. Again, delicious. I keep thinking they probably sell them in bakeries all around but I have never had one and I probably won't have anymore after we leave New Orleans so what the heck, I should enjoy them now.

Across the street, were the sculpture gardens which contained some very interesting and peculiar sculptures. The kids enjoyed running through the area from sculpture to sculpture.

Near to that was Storyland Park. It was a cute little area of storybook characters where the kids could venture, climb and play for hours and it only cost $3 per person.

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I think the best feature was the dragon slide.  It was soooo fast!  Yes, that is fear on Jordan's face.  If only you could hear the scream!  But she went back for more.  Of course, I had to try it out.  I went down so fast that I flew off the end.  Fortunately, I didn't fall and break anything.

The kids were having so much fun they forgot about lunch!!

When MOM finally demanded food, we walked to this field area to have a picnic lunch. Did I mention it was a GORGEOUS day?! It was perfect! Everyone was out enjoying the day!

I really liked these bench swings where you could sit, swing and just take it all in.  There was another swing on the backside of this one so you could face either way.

We did not make it to the botanical gardens or the amusement park area (which was not open this time of year anyway).

Unfortunately, the days were not so perfect after that. The next day started out beautiful, then by early afternoon the rain began. And it continued the next day and night. We were definitely in the swamps! Water, water everywhere! We were lucky though that it was not as cold as Austin!

Midweek was very special. Our little girl turned 5! So hard to believe and bittersweet. Jordan wanted bacon and donuts for breakfast so we went to a local bakery/cafe, called Coffee & (Yep, that's the name) and had breakfast.

Then after lunch, we went back to the Children's Museum since the kids enjoyed it so much the first time and it was still yuck outside.

Our afternoon snack was King Cake (another New Orleans treat). It tastes a lot like a cinnamon roll but they do have other flavors. There is a little plastic baby baked inside and Jordan found it in her piece (No, I did not plan it that way)! Perfect for the birthday girl! Although, I am not sonsure that it is a prize since tradition says that the person who finds the baby is supposed to buy the next cake!

For dinner, she wanted macaroni and cheese and salad. And then we had birthday cake and skyped with Grandma and Grandpa so they could watch her open the present they sent.

One of Jordan's gifts was this dollhouse.She loves playing in it with her ponies. Fortunately, it is collapsible and slides under our sofa. She says she likes it better than the Loving Family dollhouse she has back home.

Another exciting moment was when Jordan got on her bike (without training wheels) and rode it around the loop by herself AND without whining!!! Yeah!!!! She says she can do that because “I am 5 now.”

The next day, Mommy took of on a walk but about 8 minutes into it, I got a call from Greg saying to come back immediately. Jordan had busted her nose again! This time it was on Jacob's head. The bleeding subsided much quicker but, without going into too much detail, it was a bit more sickening. Ick!

And another momentous occasion happened this week! Jacob learned to tie his shoes! Yes, it may seem a little late since he is 7, but nowadays one doesn’t need to know as long as the shoes come with velcro ;)

The kids had the opportunity to go fishing a couple of times.  It wasn't anything like fishing at Grandma and Grandpa's :(  Jordan caught a coffee can or jug and that was the one and only catch.

Greg had another day off on Friday. It was time for a swamp tour! Jean Lafitte Swamp Tours was close by and we got a good Groupon deal. They took us and about 10 other people out in a pontoon boat in the swamps next to the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park. It was still a little cold so the chances of seeing alligators was pretty low.

Our boat captain was friendly, but extremely corny. For example, we saw two turtles sunning themselves on a log and he said that they were the internet turtles because they were “logged on”! Ha Ha! Not really funny especially when you have to listen to such jokes for an hour and a half!! I was feeling a little sea sick but I think it was just the jokes!

Otherwise, the trip was enjoyable. We saw otters and nutria,

various water birds and what we all were longing to see.....

an alligator! Did you know that you can estimate the length of an alligator by adding one foot for every inch in length between its eyes and the tip of its snout?  

At the end of the tour, the guide pulled an alligator out of his ice chest and passed him around for all to hold. I'm not sure that I have ever held a reptile before (not even a lizard) and I know I haven't during the winter. It was COLD! This makes sense because it is cold-blooded but it was “cool” to actually feel it! Ooooh that was as bad as the boat captain!

Jordan wanted to try out the alligator jaws and Daddy tested out the turtle shell.

After the tour, the kids did a little alligator wrestling.

For our last day, we went back to the Barataria Preserve. We had a picnic lunch in the Pecan Grove then enjoyed a talk given by the Park Ranger on the history of New Orleans by La Salle and his discovery of the delta. He explained why New Orleans was not built at the mouth of the river. Ships could not easily sail up the river through the English turn and there was easier access through the bayou from Lake Pontchartrain.

Sadly, we were reminded that a football field of land along the coast of Louisiana disappears every 40 minutes because the levees built to control the Mississippi river's path do not allow for deposition of the sediment along the coast to build it up. Instead, it flows into the gulf.

We finished off our trip with a hike through the the swamp and marsh.

Jacob and Daddy found this guy!

We really enjoyed our stay in New Orleans! There were so many things to do and we met some wonderful people, including Loy, Mike & Louisa (who had their own special language since she was Spanish and he was Cajun), the family from Canada who were full-timing for four months in the US in their RV they named Paul, and all the other people whose company we enjoyed in the laundry room ;)

Next stop: Destin, FL