Walled Lake has a mid winter break every year that is a week long! It's so great to get out of Michigan at that time. And boy did we pick the right time to get out! A huge winter storm went through most of the country, dumping over a foot of snow, and Florida was sunny and 70 degrees. We flew into Tampa and stayed in Madeira Beach. Our condo was on a harbor and it was right down the street from this cool shopping district. The DeJonges happened to be in Tampa the few days before we were so we were able to have lunch together as they were on their way to the airport!
Mike's cousin Alex and her family, along with his Aunty Amy, were down in Florida as well so we met them all at Hollywood Studios on Wednesday. It rained off and on throughout the day but nothing too bad. We had a fun time exploring the park. Some of our favorite rides were Rockin' Roller Coaster and Rise of the Resistance, a cool interactive Stars Wars Ride.
The following day was the most beautiful day we had so we decided to make it a beach day. It got up to 84 degrees! This was the beach across the street from our condo! It was beautiful. But we decided to get in the car and head to Venice Beach, to search for sharks teeth.
Venice has a cool pier and a nice restaurant right on the beach. The girls and Mike found many teeth while I relaxed on the beach! We found out at the end of the day, that Caspersen Beach, which is about a mile up the road, has even more sharks teeth. We checked it out but didn't have a sifter. So we will definitely make our way there next time we're down there!
This picture is out of order but this was the group that went to Hollywood studios!
Allie got a Henna tattoo and Hannah got a hair extension.
We drove up to Clearwater to check out the aquarium. I've never seen Dolphin Tale but this is where a lot of the filming took place, and is also home to Winter, the dolphin that the movie is based on. We actually got to see him swimming around. This place was really cool because they take in injured animals and try to rehabilitate them. If they're deemed not well enough to go back in the ocean, this becomes their permanent residence. They had sea turtles, otters, dolphins, sharks and sting rays. We had a fun day exploring!
Our last day, we tried to spend as much time at the beach, soaking up the sun, as we could! The girls went swimming, we played volleyball, and we watched the sunset over the gulf.
What a lovely vacation. It's so nice to get out of the cold for a little while! Now only two more months till spring!
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