St. Augustine

This year during spring break we took a trip to St. Augustine. We had never been to St. Augustine so we were all excited. We usually do not go anywhere during spring break, but this year Ava wanted to go to the beach in lieu of a birthday party and this was the only time we could work it out to go. We had a great time! There are 5 things I was reminded about during this trip: 1) DO NOT skimp on the sunscreen (even if you desperately need a tan), 2) the ocean water is NOT warm enough to get in in April, 3) make sure you have a four-wheel drive vehicle BEFORE driving on the beach, 4) stay at a condo/hotel in walking distance of the beach, & 5) if you beat your husband at any type of competition (putt putt), he WILL be jealous.

We arrived in St. Augustine the afternoon of April 6th. Once we checked into our hotel, we slipped on our swim suits and went to the beach. It was a little cool that evening, but the girls had a great time running around and building a sand castle. After an hour, we left and went back to the hotel to get cleaned up to go out to eat. After a delicious supper at Outback we got ready for bed.

We started the next morning off by going to the beach. The girls played in the water, built sandcastles, and ran around the beach. After the girls had played for a few hours, each curled up with a parent and took a nap. What better place to take a nap than the beach? Once Ava & Claire woke up, they played a little longer and then we got ready to leave. We went back to the hotel & got ready to eat an early supper. We took the opportunity of having a large part of the afternoon left to explore downtown. We looked around at the local shops and ended up eating at a pizzeria. After that, we went to a chocolatier and paid more money for ice cream cones than I care to admit...but it was delicious! We also scoped out some places to visit the next day.

The third day we started off by visiting some famous sites. Our first stop was the Fountain of Youth. This was very interesting and the girls enjoyed exploring. The Fountain of Youth is dedicated to the discovery of Florida by Ponce de Leon and there were many educational exhibits to show how Ponce de Leon came to discover "La Florida". We started off by taking pictures of the beautiful peacocks that were roaming the park. There had to be 20 or 30 walking around. We went to the planetarium which showed how the explorers used stars to find their way to Florida. We also visited the discovery globe which consisted of a huge rotating globe which showed the route the explorers traveled. We also got to see a cannon being fired! The park had beautiful oaks right on the ocean and it was beautiful!

Once we left the Fountain of Youth, we made our way to the Castillo de San Marcos. The Castillo de San Marcos is a bastion that was built to protect Spain's claim to the New World. This bastion was awesomely huge and the girls were so excited about exploring. The bastion had not been remodeled at all so floors were uneven. There were many signs that stressed not to sit or lean on the sides because the sides were very low and it would be easy to fall over the edge. After we left the fort, we stopped downtown at a locally owned diner for lunch. This was a mom and pop diner that served delicious food! After we left the diner, we went to see the city gates for a photo opt. Once we left downtown, we returned to the hotel for a much needed nap. Later that evening we went to the beach one last time before leaving the next day. One interesting thing we witnessed at the beach was the hundreds of jellyfish that had washed up on the beach. There were several places on the beach that you could hardly walk without stepping on a jellyfish.

After we left the beach, we returned to the hotel to shower and enjoy a delicious meal at the Cracker Barrel. Once we finished eating we gave Ava two birthday presents we had brought for her. She got a pretty outfit and the movie Tangled. Needless to say, Kelly and I knew what the girls would be watching on the way home the next day.

Earlier in the week, Ava had wanted to go putt putt (she loves it). We decided we would take her to Adventure Landing before we left St. Augustine. Adventure Landing was a huge building that housed an arcade, putt putt course, and go-cart track. First, we hit the putt putt course where Ava played well, Claire ran around, and I dominated Kelly on the course. We then made our way to the go-cart track. There were two tracks, an adult track and a kiddie track. We rode on the adult track first. Ava & Kelly raced against me & Claire. I was a little unsure of how well Claire would like the go-carts since she hated the race cars at Disney World. She loved it; however, Ava & Kelly beat us. Once we left the big track the girls felt confident enough to drive their own car. Ava was a natural! She lapped Claire many times and would always swerve to miss hitting her. Claire, on the other hand, had a little trouble steering; but she had fun anyway! The next stop was the arcade. We got our tokens and proceeded to the video games. This was so fun! Kelly and I played games we remembered from our childhood and the girls had a ball playing everything. One of the best games was The Claw game. This is where you navigate The Claw to the stuffed animal you want. Ava tried several times (with help from Kelly) and eventually got a zebra. Since Ava got something Claire had to try as well. Claire tried & tried, but could not get an animal. Finally, I stepped in and helped Claire. Not only did she get one stuff animal, she got two!! Talk about a happy girl! Once we used all of our tokens, we began our trek home. We had such a wonderful time and it was a wonderful way to celebrate Ava's 5th birthday!!