Summer Adventure - Day 4
This morning I woke up early (well early for adjusting to the time zone) at 7:15 and started packing up since we had to be checked out by 10am and I knew the kids would want to swim. They woke up, hogged down a donut and went straight for the pool (great parenting, I know). We did force them to load up on the last of the cereal and milk before we left. Calcium, right?
The cleaners arrived at 9am and paced the driveway while we finished packing and the kids swam. I sort of felt bad but 9am, really? That's pretty darn early to check out! We were out by 9:45am.
We headed for downtown Miami and Little Havana. We wanted to check out the area and have some lunch. It was a little dirty and not very "cultural." We walked up and down Calle Ocho hoping to find something interesting on a Saturday morning. We almost struck out. There were some scary people on the street and it was brutally hot and the kids were nervous and cranky. (By "scary" I mean people who were clearly either "on" something or had some serious mental illnesses). There were a lot of nice people too! After walking several city blocks, we ended up at the Domino park and we watched the locals play chess and dominos. The kids thought that was kind of cool. Mikey made fast friends and went right up to the tables and started talking to them. He is so Jeff!
After that we crossed the street for some ice cream at Azucar which was touted as the best Cuban ice cream in the world. I've never had Cuban ice cream so it very well could be. Actually it was pretty darn good. They had some pretty interesting flavors too. Most of the kids got "nutella." Mikey got "Domino" and I got "Guava." The sugar temporarily made the kids forget their previous boredom and near heat stroke so it ended well in Little Havana. And we figured since we had donuts for breakfast, we would just have ice cream for lunch!
We needed to find something fun to do for the next 4 hours before we could check into our new place so we headed out to Key Biscayne, just over the Rickenbacker Causeway from Miami. It's an island (Key) that is 2/3 State Park with a little commercial strip in the middle. We drove out to the end of the island to Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. There was a lighthouse there at the end. We walked the grounds and then climbed the steep spiral staircase to the tip top of the lighthouse. I'm not really afraid of heights unless I'm with my little ones. Then I go into a little bit of panic mode. I imagine the worst and hang on to their little hands for dear life. I rarely experience any sort of anxiety except this and giving talks and I'm not really even nervous about heights if it's just me, only when I'm with my kids. Strange. But I was totally nervous for Mikey and he was pretty nervous for himself too. But we all climbed to the top. It was roasting hot in the top of the lighthouse. We took some pictures and Jeff hung out for a while with the older kids while Kate, Mikey, Isaac and I headed back down. I do love lighthouses so it was still fun despite the height. We found out that the lighthouse at Cape Florida was a path to freedom for slaves in Florida. They would get to the lighthouse and then ship captains would pick them up and ferry them across the channel to the Bahamas, Haiti and Cuba.
Without a pool, beach or swimsuits, it was pretty hot today. Maybe even REALLY hot. And humid! We were totally ready for water! But we decided to "tough it out" and just wait until we checked into the house.
The kids were getting hungry so we "yelped" (Yelp.com) restaurants in the area and found a little Cuban cafe called the Oasis Cafe. It was a little hole in the wall place with no seating but great reviews. Jeff went into Spanish mode and chatted it up with everyone inside: customers, owners, workers. I absolutely LOVE to watch him do that. He is so good with people and I love to see him connect with strangers like they were old friends and watching them light up with the pleasure of conversing with such a nice stranger. We got our food and found some shaded benches out front and sat down to our Cuban sandwiches, pork, beans and rice, fried sweet plantains and bottled soda. I felt a little like I was down in Mexico. I loved it! And I loved watching the kids experience a new place and watching their Dad work the crowd. :)
We loaded in the car hot and sticky from the temperature and eating messy food. We did our best but that's the way it is when you're on the road, right? A storm rolled in and we watched the lightning and drove to Key Largo in the pouring rain. I was glad to be in the passenger seat.
We found the house without any trouble. It's a great little old 70s style beach bungalow in Key Largo. Small, but adequate. But the amenities are awesome! It's right on the sound and with a small pool. The kids went straight for the pool of course! I was jealous. I had to unpack first. We swam and played in the cool, refreshing pool. It felt so good after a long, hot day. Later the kids found the kayaks at the house and took turns paddling around the little mangrove-lined inlet in front of the house. It was so amazing! After another hour or so in the pool, we finally came in the house for pancakes, fruit salad and pistachios for dinner. (I think I need to do a little better with the nutrition on this trip)! We're kind of in cheapskate mode with the food right now.
Kate gave a great devotional tonight. She showed a Mormon Message about sharing our testimonies and then gave a lesson on "Testimony Hamburgers" and likened our testimonies with a hamburger and building it by added layers and condiments to make it more delicious. What a cute girl!
The cleaners arrived at 9am and paced the driveway while we finished packing and the kids swam. I sort of felt bad but 9am, really? That's pretty darn early to check out! We were out by 9:45am.
We headed for downtown Miami and Little Havana. We wanted to check out the area and have some lunch. It was a little dirty and not very "cultural." We walked up and down Calle Ocho hoping to find something interesting on a Saturday morning. We almost struck out. There were some scary people on the street and it was brutally hot and the kids were nervous and cranky. (By "scary" I mean people who were clearly either "on" something or had some serious mental illnesses). There were a lot of nice people too! After walking several city blocks, we ended up at the Domino park and we watched the locals play chess and dominos. The kids thought that was kind of cool. Mikey made fast friends and went right up to the tables and started talking to them. He is so Jeff!
After that we crossed the street for some ice cream at Azucar which was touted as the best Cuban ice cream in the world. I've never had Cuban ice cream so it very well could be. Actually it was pretty darn good. They had some pretty interesting flavors too. Most of the kids got "nutella." Mikey got "Domino" and I got "Guava." The sugar temporarily made the kids forget their previous boredom and near heat stroke so it ended well in Little Havana. And we figured since we had donuts for breakfast, we would just have ice cream for lunch!
We needed to find something fun to do for the next 4 hours before we could check into our new place so we headed out to Key Biscayne, just over the Rickenbacker Causeway from Miami. It's an island (Key) that is 2/3 State Park with a little commercial strip in the middle. We drove out to the end of the island to Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. There was a lighthouse there at the end. We walked the grounds and then climbed the steep spiral staircase to the tip top of the lighthouse. I'm not really afraid of heights unless I'm with my little ones. Then I go into a little bit of panic mode. I imagine the worst and hang on to their little hands for dear life. I rarely experience any sort of anxiety except this and giving talks and I'm not really even nervous about heights if it's just me, only when I'm with my kids. Strange. But I was totally nervous for Mikey and he was pretty nervous for himself too. But we all climbed to the top. It was roasting hot in the top of the lighthouse. We took some pictures and Jeff hung out for a while with the older kids while Kate, Mikey, Isaac and I headed back down. I do love lighthouses so it was still fun despite the height. We found out that the lighthouse at Cape Florida was a path to freedom for slaves in Florida. They would get to the lighthouse and then ship captains would pick them up and ferry them across the channel to the Bahamas, Haiti and Cuba.
Without a pool, beach or swimsuits, it was pretty hot today. Maybe even REALLY hot. And humid! We were totally ready for water! But we decided to "tough it out" and just wait until we checked into the house.
The kids were getting hungry so we "yelped" (Yelp.com) restaurants in the area and found a little Cuban cafe called the Oasis Cafe. It was a little hole in the wall place with no seating but great reviews. Jeff went into Spanish mode and chatted it up with everyone inside: customers, owners, workers. I absolutely LOVE to watch him do that. He is so good with people and I love to see him connect with strangers like they were old friends and watching them light up with the pleasure of conversing with such a nice stranger. We got our food and found some shaded benches out front and sat down to our Cuban sandwiches, pork, beans and rice, fried sweet plantains and bottled soda. I felt a little like I was down in Mexico. I loved it! And I loved watching the kids experience a new place and watching their Dad work the crowd. :)
We loaded in the car hot and sticky from the temperature and eating messy food. We did our best but that's the way it is when you're on the road, right? A storm rolled in and we watched the lightning and drove to Key Largo in the pouring rain. I was glad to be in the passenger seat.
We found the house without any trouble. It's a great little old 70s style beach bungalow in Key Largo. Small, but adequate. But the amenities are awesome! It's right on the sound and with a small pool. The kids went straight for the pool of course! I was jealous. I had to unpack first. We swam and played in the cool, refreshing pool. It felt so good after a long, hot day. Later the kids found the kayaks at the house and took turns paddling around the little mangrove-lined inlet in front of the house. It was so amazing! After another hour or so in the pool, we finally came in the house for pancakes, fruit salad and pistachios for dinner. (I think I need to do a little better with the nutrition on this trip)! We're kind of in cheapskate mode with the food right now.
Kate gave a great devotional tonight. She showed a Mormon Message about sharing our testimonies and then gave a lesson on "Testimony Hamburgers" and likened our testimonies with a hamburger and building it by added layers and condiments to make it more delicious. What a cute girl!
The best Cuban ice cream in the world!
Cape Florida lighthouse.
One of my favorite quotes of the day: Mikey to Isaac while sitting on the rocking chairs in front of the old lighthouse keeper's house: "Isaac, we're like two old men sitting in these rocking chairs!" Another is Mikey's new expressions: "Oh darns!" and "Oh nuts!"
Isaac has been an awesome big brother to Mikey on this trip.
Cafe Oasis - Comida Cubano
Jeff "hablaring" espanol. Ya, tu sabes!
Mikey enjoying a Cuban sandwich.
Kate: "Mom, I think I'm a natural!"
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