This year for spring break, we decided to go just the three of us down to Florida. We haven't taken many trips without extended family, so we were excited to spend more time together.
We left late April 1st and Brandon drove us through the night while Jackson and I slept. We made it to Panama City Beach that morning, had breakfast, then headed to the beach. It was pretty chilly, so we didn't do a lot of playing in the water, but we did play in the sand a bit.
Brandon was pretty wiped after driving all night, but Jackson wanted to get in the water so bad. Because he's a great dad, he agreed but it was pretty short-lived since they were both freezing! I love watching them together - Brandon is so attentive and fun and Jackson just adores him. That makes two of us. :)
Meanwhile, I sat on the beach all wrapped up in a hoodie and towels to keep myself warm while I read. We did a good job of keeping Jackson covered in sunscreen, but for some reason didn't even think about putting sunscreen on ourselves. I think because it was cold and I was pretty covered up, it didn't really occur to me that my face and chest and feet weren't covered up. So Brandon and I both got burnt pretty badly that first day. Jackson didn't get any sun at all, though!
After the beach, we picked up some food and supplies and headed to our cabin - about 30 minutes from the beach. It was a great spot - very remote and quiet and right on a small river so the boys could fish right there while I hung out doing other things. The first night there Jackson caught a good-sized fish!
The next day we headed back to the beach - this time to St. Andrews State Park. We visited Gator Lake (where we didn't see any gators) then settled on the beach. Brandon fished from the pier while Jackson played in the sand and I read in my chair.
Because I was burnt so badly from the day before, I kept pretty covered up on the beach. Fortunately, it wasn't hot so I was still comfortable. I've decided I prefer hanging out at the beach when it's not hot - you're not all sweaty so the sand doesn't stick to you as badly and you don't need to get in the water so you're not all salty.
Jackson played in the water and in the sand and soaked up the sun to warm up after getting wet. It took me a while, but I finally convinced him to make some sand angels, too.
The next day it was supposed to start raining, so in the morning we snuck in a boat ride with Dave, the owner of our cabin. He took us through the rivers and tributaries near our cabin, pointing out wildlife (a couple gators, turtles, a snake, some birds) then on to a natural spring.
Jackson was a great first mate to our Captain Dave!
The only alligator that really let us get a look at him - we saw a few others but they quickly jumped in the water when we approached.
Dave spotted a turtle stuck in a tree, so we pulled up closely and Brandon helped knock him out so he wouldn't get eaten by an alligator. Brandon's a hero!
My favorite part of the trip were these gorgeous old cypress trees reflecting in the smooth swampy waters.
When we made it to the spring, we took a break and had a snack - the water was a gorgeous bright green color.
That afternoon the rain started so we took it easy inside the cabin. Fortunately we had books, games, and TV to keep us busy.
We had planned to leave Saturday morning, but Brandon was supposed to go on a deep-sea fishing trip Friday morning and it got cancelled due to storms. So he rescheduled for Saturday and we stayed a bit longer. While he was on his fishing trip, Jackson and I checked out the zoo.
These ostrich-looking birds were very friendly and there was food available to feed them. I didn't bring my wallet in, though, so we couldn't buy any. I told Jackson to hold his hand out, though, to see if they would try to eat from it and instead the bird bit his finger! I don't think they have teeth, so it was just a quick snap but it startled him and we laughed about it for a while.
They had a petting zoo, as well as some exotic animals. It was a pretty small place, though, so the enclosures weren't big.
They had a TON of alligators, which I guess makes sense for a Florida zoo. It was kind of creepy to see so many of them all together in one place!
There was a really cool bird aviary full of tiny little birds (canaries, maybe?) and a few chickens. I sat down inside and this chicken went crazy on my shoe - he kept pecking the rubber part of my shoe, no matter how much I tried to shoo him away.
The zoo was pretty small so we got through it pretty quickly. Afterwards we did some souvenir shopping and drove along the coast.
We got back to the marina in time to watch Brandon's boat pull in - he's the orange shirt guy on the top deck.
He did great on the trip - catching more than the limit you're allowed to keep so he had to throw some back. They cleaned them and packed them up for us and we brought them home to eat the next day. They were delicious!
We started for home that afternoon and made it home early Sunday morning. Fortunately, it was General Conference weekend so we didn't have to go to church that day. We took a few-hour nap then took it easy watching conference and getting settled back at home. It was a great trip!
