Hand On Children's Museum

Our last day in Jacksonville was spent at the Hand On Children's Museum where everything is kid sized. The mini grocery store was the biggest hit. They loaded and unloaded their carts, put their groceries on the counter and Timo even rang up his purchases!

I've seen the little firetrucks at children's museums before but never a mini sized police car!
And this was the first time I've seen a handicap basketball court. I'm don't think the kids understood the purpose but they sure did have fun in the rolling in the wheelchair and walker...
Timo spent time cooking in the kitchen...he made me eggs, while Cameron tried to rescue all the animals in the Animal Doctor area.
And of course we had to hit the ball pit, super slide, pirate ship area.

We were there for over two hours and didn't even touch the face painting part, puppet show stage or restaurant/cafe section. So much to do and so little time. This place will be at the top of our To-Do list on our next visit!

Bug Bites!

I forgot...the one draw back to playing outside so much...mosquito bites and fire ants! Poor little Cameron got eaten up by ants playing in the sandbox. She had over 20 bites on her legs but Timo hardly had any...guess Cameron tasted a little sweeter!

Flamingo RV Resort

We were lucky enough to be able to stay in a family RV resort while in Florida. My parents were staying at my late Grandmother's house, working, painting and cleaning out so we stayed in my parent's "house" in the RV Park. In case you didn't know, my parents live full time on the road in their 5th Wheel RV trailer...this is home sweet home for Granny and Grandpa!

We had a bit of down time to explore the park and enjoy the amenities. I grew up camping with my family but had forgotten how fun it is being a kid and just "exploring" the campground...so much wide open space to run around. We would walk around the lake at night with our flashlights, looking for "crik-criks" and frogs or just picking up sticks for fun. And the sunsets were so beautiful over the lake...

Just next to the pool was a great little playground that was all on sand. We didn't have our sand toys with us so we raided Granny's tupperware drawer and found suitable substitute.

But the best was playing at the park at night! It was so hot there, we could stay out till 9 or 10pm just swing in the warm summer night...
The resident turtles got frequent visits from us as we walked down the little pier...
Thank you Granny and Grandpa for giving us such a great place to stay...it was so much fun!

Close Sleeping Quarters

While in Florida, the kids and I shared a bed...which I loved, most of the time...

Often times they went to bed before me and this is what I would find when I was ready to go to bed...where am I supposed to sleep??

I did really enjoy sleeping with the kids. We had so much snuggle time that we don't get to do at home. I also learned that Timo is typically the first to fall asleep, which I always thought Cameron was the first. Another tidbit...Cameron seemed to be the trouble maker in bed, sneaking little girl. But I have to say it's nice to be back in my own bed without arms and knees in my back or the occasional sleepy hand slapping me in the nose!

Mud Puddle Madness

Afternoon thunder storms, or "under torms" as the kids call them, are a regular occurrence in Florida. We had a huge one a few days ago that lasted over an hour. We were couped up while the storm was going on so as soon as it was over we headed outside. My intention was to let the kids run around, throw some rocks in mud puddles, maybe see some frogs or something...but not jumping in the puddles! Oh well...

We started off nice, Timo took his flashlight to look for bugs and frogs and Cameron just admired the masses of water...just calling her name.

It started raining again and we were getting all wet...so why not take a jump in a puddle. Timo slipped and sat right down in a puddle and got soaked. Guess that's what baths are for!

First LolliPops!

I think first lollipops were a huge success!

Afternoon at the Beach

One of the the things on my Jacksonville to-do list was going to the beach. The beaches here are so nice and beautiful...and warm, unlike the beaches in SF. My cousin Linda belongs to a beach club that has a private beach and pool area so she invited us down for the afternoon. THANK YOU Linda!!

The beach area was so nice and not crowded at all. I knew it would be hard to get Cameron out to the water because she is scared of the waves when we go walking on the beach in SF. But luckily these beaches has seashells! So in her hunt for the perfect seashell, she inevitably ended up at waters edge.

This stretch of beach was great because it had small tide pools away from the actual waves breaking that the kids could play in and look for seashells.
We ended up staying out there so long, the tide came in and we didn't even notice. I looked up once and saw no sand, just water....it was so beautiful.

Once the water got a little deep we headed up to the pool area. There was a kiddie pool and an adult pool...but who needs the big pool when the kiddie pool is just your size!

We finally got the kids lured away from the water but it wasn't easy. It was after 8pm, getting dark and way past dinner time. We finally got them out of the water and had a fun dinner. Thank you Linda for having us and giving us such a fun afternoon!!

Jacksonville Zoo

Jacksonville has an amazing zoo! It's so nice to go to a zoo that actually has animals in the exhibits (unlike some zoos I've been to, hum SF). But we really only saw the Aferican loop because there was so much to do there, who had time for animals??

I only have two shots of animals...and one is all foggy because it was my first picture out of the air condition car into the heat. You can see some rinos and an ostrich. Then we saw some elephants...oh, so exciting.

It was sooo hot outside, upwards of 100, so we sought out some relief on the train.

We got off on the other side of the park, just infront of the large splash pad!! I had heard there was a one at the zoo so I brought their suit just in case. It was a huge hit. They kids took to their first splash pad like pros. Cameron was all over the place, even running under the water and getting her face wet...something Timo wasn't quite ready for but he did enjoy holding the water down in the pipes.



We stayed at the pad so long, it was lunch time and then time to head home. My Great Aunt Lois was a donor to the zoo and had a plaque put up for her late husband, Uncle George. After her death, her daughter Linda had a plaque put up for Aunt Lois just across from Uncle George's. On our way out I searched for the plaques and explained to the twins how special these two people were...I think they understood.
The kids are getting used to having their picture now...it's not hard to get them to pose and say "cheese".



We had a such a good time at zoo that Grandpa took the kids back today!