For our day at Disney, we chose to go to Hollywood Studios. We'd never been there with the kids and that's the park with most of the Star Wars fun! Tyler stayed back at The Villages for a fun day with Grandma and Grandpa since he's too small for most of the rides in this park. He had a great time with them, and the rest of us really enjoyed the day at Disney! One of the highlights was the Jedi Training Academy, where the kids attended light saber training and had the chance to battle Darth Vader himself.
They also really enjoyed the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" playground (we had just seen this movie prior to the trip) as well as all the roller coaster rides that they're finally both tall enough to ride!
Our next day trip was to Clearwater Marine Aquarium on the western coast of FL. Before we arrived at the aquarium, we stopped briefly at the beach in Clearwater - we love to see the ocean at least once when we're in FL...
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| (Still working on "selfies" with Tyler!) |
Our next stop was just a few minutes down the road at the Clearwater Aquarium. This is where the movie "Dolphin Tale" was filmed, which is the true story about their resident rescued dolphin named Winter that has has a prosthetic tail. Their building needs some renovations, as it's fairly small and has to accommodate large crowds each day. They are in the midst of a large-scale fundraiser to build a brand new aquarium. But for now, we had a great time seeing Winter and her younger best friend, another recused dolphin named Hope. We also took a fun boat excursion with a tour guide out to a tiny island and back, learning fun facts about the aquarium as we rode along.
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| Tyler and Grandpa on the tiny island |
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| They have some other fun creatures beyond dolphins, like this cool eel! |
Our last day trip was over to Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park. The highlight of this state park is the underwater observatory where you can see manatees every day of the year in their main spring. It was amazing to see them so close as they slowly swam by...we also got to watch them have their snack (giant heads of lettuce!). We all agreed that manatees look like giant baked potatoes! After seeing the manatees, we wandered through the rest of the park trails and were so impressed with huge variety of other animals they have...black bears, bobcats, deer, alligators, birds, river otters, bald eagles, and a famous hippo named Lu. Lu is 50+ years old and has starred in many movies over the years.
As always, our time in Florida was filled with great weather, fun adventures and special times with Grandma and Grandpa. Until next time! (Below is the sweet thank you note Gavin wrote to Grandma & Grandpa after we got home - those words were his choosing and just warmed my heart! I'll want to remember this someday so I snapped a photo!)
