never enough water

We spent some days in Florida during our recent stateside journey, and most of the time we were either in/on/or near water. It all started with tubing (Phoebe couldn't go fast enough) on a lake nearby brother John's house in Orlando ...


... followed by a bit of swimming and beaching and picnicing, but there were no butter and brie sandwiches this time because someone beat Stijn to the cutting board - whew!

There were a few dry spells, like when we celebrated everyone's birthday that fell between July and September, which included about half of us. It was a nice excuse for a party, and Nanas cakes were delicious as always! Is Phoebe still wearing her bathing suit?

Wasn't long before we were back in the pool - this time at brother Beau's new house in Winter Garden, which is just 15 mins. from John and Jaynes. We'd been swimming when the ice cream truck drove by, and we couldn't resist indulging in a favorite American pasttime. The next day we'd be hitting Wet-n-Wild (MORE water!), so this was a day of relaxation.

Canoeing and swimming at Wekiva Springs State Park was as beautiful as I'd remembered it 20 years earlier. Saw a family of river otters and lots of BIG, huge banana spiders which creeped the kids out a bit, and lots of fish (and don't forget Little blue herons, ibis, prothonotary warbler!), but no gators - sigh. What a way to round out our trip - a great time was had by all.