Florid-aaaah

Sunset at Key West.

After a week in the one state I vowed to hate forever, I'm sheepishly admitting I was wrong-- Florida isn't ALL bad, and apparently it isn't as dangerous as I thought. We didn't have to survive a single tropical storm!
My ever-resourceful and economical husband who can't stay in one place for too long planned a lovely little get-away for our little family. We flew for free (thank you Southwest Rapid Rewards), and stayed for free for most nights, and the last two nights we only paid $40 for hotels (thank you Priceline Negotiator!). We estimate that we spent $500 total on our Florida trip--Yay!
It was a lovely week together.
Spencer loved: Fan Boat ride through everglades to see alligators, randomly running into Cliff and Gina and Reese at Bahia Honda beach, and Cuban food.
I loved: The SUN! The tropical flora and fauna, and having the whole family together.
Cadence loved: Alligators, swimming, and sleeping in a huge bed in the same room as the rest of us.
Campbell loved: So many things to look at, wearing cute summery clothes that she missed out on because she isn't a California baby, and bonding with her daddy.

Some highlights:
Gator park: Took fan-boat ride through everglades, saw alligators,turtles, and HUGE iguana. Camera's batteries conveniently died.
Fairchild Botanical Gardens in Miami: One of the most beautiful botanical gardens I've seen. We also had a picnic in an adjacent park--it was a really lovely and peaceful Sunday together. Maybe my favorite day.
Key West: Weather was unbelievably great (upper 70's) and the people watching is interesting. Cadence had more fun at the playground that the locals use and the pool at the hotel than at the beach.
Bahia Honda: A key (island) that is a state park. The beach was much nicer than at Key West, and we just happened to see Cliff and Gina and Reese (Spencer's bro. and fam) at the same beach, only a few picnic tables away! (They had independently planned a trip to the Keys the same time as we did! What are the odds?) It was really fun to watch the girls play together on the beach and to spend the day with them. We're so glad that we ran into them.

Chesterfield Inn: Monday night Spencer and got on Priceline to book our hotels for the last two nights. Have you ever used Priceline Negotiator? You pick the area, then the number of stars you want, then name your price. Within a minute or two the "Negotiator" has come back to let you know if they found anything for you. We got a place in Miami for $40 and hoped it wasn't in a terrible neighborhood and that it was clean enough for the kids. We showed up the next night and...wow! It was along a stretch in Miami Beach that was way posh. The lobby of the hotel looked like a night-club...well, it basically was one. I sat down on the uber-modern couch in the lobby/nightclub and nursed Campbell while trying to keep Cadence from knocking over the white Christmas tree with black decorations. We laughed as Spencer forced himself to ask the guy at the desk if they had a crib...right. Anyway, we are pretty sure that it was designed for men...who like men. And we are also very sure we are the only family to have EVER stayed there! It was fun, though.This is as bright as it gets in the Chesterfield Hotel.

Jungle Island: A small but interactive zoo in Miami. I loved it. So did Cadence. I've never been to a zoo before where the animals were so visible and active. The bird show was amazing. They had a Liger, a snow-tiger, and a 20-foot alligator! It was worth the money.

Snow tiger cub with trainer "China".

Liger. It's big. Guinness World Records: Biggest Cat. Take that.

Now we are in Utah, having a Heavenly time with family. The snow is atrocious and won't stop, although it doesn't feel very cold to us, since it's much colder in Chicago! More on the Utah trip later....Merry Christmas everybody!