We recently drove down to Miami. Yes, drove! Okay, so we have a new and totally pimpin' mini van and, yes, it is totally unnatural to use the term "pimpin'" (not in my Webster!) to describe a minivan. But, if you have two children ages 2 and 6 months and, well, you're driving a minivan, then it doesn't take much to feel like you're too cool for school. Especially when you arrive at the Hilton Downtown Miami in said vehicle.
But, as usual, I digress.
The girls did great on the drive down. I cannot stress how well they did. I have driven Dalton to Miami BY MYSELF several times and this drive actually went faster. And, no, they weren't heavily sedated.
We had such a good time! We just wish we could have visited longer!
When Bob and I lived in Miami we didn't get to see the city through a child's eyes so this was our first visit to do just that.
Our first stop was Parrot Jungle:
We never actually paid for bird food. Leola, who is just like her daddy, would check the bird feeder machines for any extras that other people had left behind and was usually successful!

Ella, who is a typical second child (just like her mommy), just went with the flow:



We had to take a picture in front of this banion tree. Another thing I miss about Miami!!!

This is the view from our hotel room...sigh...


We also visited the Miami Seaquarium. Leola loved seeing the sea lions, turtles, dolphins, and Lolita the killer whale but for some reason thought she would be able to get in the water with them. This is the closest we got:

More on the trip in a later post...