Who needs a boy when you have Megan?

Yes, my little girl is pretending to be Captain Hook! Is she adorable or what? She came to me saying, "Mommy, is this my left?" (pointing to her hand). I said "yes" with a confused look on my face. She responded with "Captain Hook has his hook on his left hand." (Heaven forbid she not be perfectly authentic!) Then she smiled and said "I'm pretending that my left hand got cut off, okay?" Don't you love the mean pirate scowl?

Florida

While we were in Mexico, my parents took Ali, Emma & Austin (my nephew) to Orlando to do the Disney thing . . .

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Saying "Good-bye" to St. Louis

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In the van, ready to go to the airport
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The airplane - this was Ali & Emma's first time on a plane and they were very excited about that!

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Ali was especially fascinated and really wanted to know how planes can fly. I directed that question to Daddy!
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The suite that they stayed in in Orlando had a separate kids room - shaped like an igloo! They thought that was awesome!
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Posing on their bunk beds (and ready to go swimming!)
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At Downtown Disney (the sea serpent is made of Legos)
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The highlights of Ali's day at Disney World were #1) Splash mountain (she especially loved the 50 foot drop at the end) and #2) Meeting the Disney Fairies. Here she is with Fawn (an animal talent fairy)
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Now time to meet Tink (Tinker talent fairy)
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And finally, Silvermist (a water talent fairy - I have been informed that those talents are very important to know.) She also bought one of the Disney Fairy books and had Fairy Dust sprinkled on her head!
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Unfortunately, Emma's day at Disney wasn't such a happy one. She came down with a fever, headache, light & sound sensitivity during Mickey's PhilharMagic Show. Some Motrin seemed to take the edge off, but it resurfaced once the meds wore off. More Motrin helped her to make it through the day, but the rest of her trip was sickly. Vomiting that night, sore throat and tummy pains later. Poor kid. With Tylenol she was able to do most activities, but let's just say that she wasn't a happy camper! Friday morning I took her to the doctor - strep throat! Even after 48 hours of antibiotics she is still completely exhausted and has no appetite. I think it's going to take a while to recover from this one!
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Feeding the Gators at Congo River - this was definitely a favorite!!
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They fed them hotdog slices on a string.
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Boat ride at Congo River
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This was another BIG highlight of their trip. This soon-to-be-Mama squirrel ate right out of their hands!
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Emma's turn!
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This was Ali & Emma's first intro to Mini-golf and they LOVED it. They went 2 different times. Grandpa, Austin & Emma all managed to get a hole-in-one.
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At the end of the Mini-golf course.
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No trip to FL is complete without a few gecko pics!
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The kids would have had a perfectly happy trip if they had done nothing but eat, sleep and play in the pool. Grandma & Grandpa taught Ali some freestyle & backstroke. She is very proud of herself.
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Action shot!
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Ali's turn

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Saying "good-bye" to Florida. They had a good time, but were ready to come home. I'm glad they're back!

Photo Op

Just a few seaside shots . . .

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Snorkeling Adventure!

One thing we wanted do do before we left Mexico was some snorkeling. For the past 2 days the beach here has had the red flag out (no swimming), plus there is no reef here. So, we decided to do a snorkeling excursion . . . and we're glad we did!

Our excursion took us to 3 different places. The first was an ocean inlet:

It was very cool. I had an underwater camera (not digital, so I have no idea how my pictures will turn out) We saw lots of tropical fish and some beautiful underwater formations. Unfortunately, due to rough sea conditions, we didn't go near the open sea, but we loved what we saw.


Next we went to what is called a closed cenote. It's basically an underground cave that is part of an underground river system. The water was "refreshing" as our tour guide liked to call it . . . but it was a really neat experience. Not much to see as far as fish go, but amazing underwater formations. And now I can say that I've gone swimming in a cave!

At the end of the tour, they took our picture. I'm always a sucker for these things!

Lastly, was the open cenote (basic difference - this one has no roof). Here they had a zipline into the water, a platform to jump from, etc . . . We didn't do any of that, but enjoyed some more snorkeling.

Right next to the open cenote there is a cave you can climb down into to get an idea of how all of these cenotes are attached to each other. It was really cool.

Sunset

I had to post this one quick before breakfast. It's a actually a color picture, but looks black and white. I love it!