Great Escape to South Florida (2013)

Dear Friends, Followers, and Readers of "I Think I Can...",

We just wanted to take a minute to say hello and explain our mommy's absence. She has been crazy-busy with taking us on a two-week vacation to south Florida (see pictures) and undertaking two extreme bedroom makeovers.  

It seems our mom started this blog literally just days before embarking with our dad and us on a 3000-mile road trip to south Florida.  Our family drove from Kansas City to Port St. Lucie, FL and back over a twelve-day period.  We did so many fun things including visiting friends and family along the way as well as the mandatory trips to reefs, aquariums, and different beaches.  It was definitely an educational trip!

Here are just a few highlights...

...and our mom promises to get back into the swing of things this week!

Hugs from,

Mary Catherine, Benjamin, & Luke

Hutchinson Island, Stuart, Florida, July 2013

Mary Catherine - 8

Benjamin - 6

Luke - 2

Driving through our mom's "hometown" of St. Louis, Missouri

Have YOU ever been up in the Arch???

First "potty break" in Metropolis, IL

We stayed overnight with dear friends in Fayetteville, TN on their working farm.

Good times included playing in the barn loft, feeding the cows, taking tractor rides, and practicing target shooting (both guns and compound bows).  Two families...seven kids!  LoVe!!!  :)

As we made our way down the east coast of Florida, we made the requisite stop at the World's Most Famous Beach!  Wow, the Atlantic Ocean is so COLD!!!

We finally arrived at our destination of Hutchinson Island (in Stuart, FL near Port St. Lucie).  Our daddy's boss owns the condo we stayed in.  The view from the lanai was the marina.  

Our daddy surprised us with a 1/2 day boat rental one afternoon while we were there.  Daddy took us up and down the St. Lucie River and we beached ourselves on a private island.  The locals taught us how to hunt for Conch shells. They were amazingly beautiful and HUGE!

View through the lanai screen.

Another afternoon, our mommy and daddy took us to a local oceanographic institute. We learned about sea turtles, sting rays, and sharks.

Of course we enjoyed ice cream several times!

Another day, our mom took us out to Bathtub Reef (a living reef off of Hutchinson Island).  Our mom taught us all about respecting the sea life and not walking/climbing on the reef.  She managed to photograph the reef with her camera phone without dropping the phone in the water!  

If you notice that the water is suspiciously absent of people...it's because a shark was spotted in the water. Fortunately, daddy shared this info with mommy AFTER she exited the ocean...otherwise, she might have panicked...and truly dropped her phone.  That would have been the least of her concerns! 

Our  last day of vacation found us touring the Elliott Museum (dedicated to inventors!) which was right near the Marriott property we were staying at.  Of course, our mom could not get enough pictures of the  beautifully restored 1931 School Bus!!!  It was actually once used in the Stuart, FL area school district.

The Elliott Museum opened in March of 2013 and was totally amazing. While were there, they were hosting the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit.  Completely hands-on and child-friendly...us kids were encouraged to touch and explore while searching for simple machines!  (Luckily, our mom used to teach Third Grade Science Lessons which really came in handy helping us find planes, screws, levers and pulleys!)

We wrapped up our Great Escape to South Florida with a quick stop at Elvis Presley's birthplace in Tupelo, MS.  

So until next year, we bid the ocean farewell...adios...au revoir!

"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in

its net of wonder forever."

~Jacques Yves Cousteau~