during our summer vacation/ my birthweek, ale and i spent as much time as we could outdoors. it was such a treat not worrying about our schedules or being bogged down with work stress. we just kicked back, and relaxed with our family and little girl.
we’re always on the hunt for our “what to do in florida” blog series and although we’ve visited the springs a few times, we have never taken the time to document our visit. one of our “outings” included a family trip to florida’s natural water springs. ale’s parents visit the springs at least once a year and they’re pros when it comes to knowing where to find the best spots for swimming and snorkeling. this time around we visited silver glen springs for some swimming and the next day we drove over to rainbow springs state park and rented a pontoon.
^^the views alone were worth the four hour drive. we don’t usually see trees this big in south florida or water this clear. the water was freezing but it was soothing and therapeutic even^^
^^our little lady did not mind the cold water at all. i think she was braver than most of us and toughed it out without one complaint (i complained a little) also, how cute is my brother-in-law’s girlfriend alexa?!^^
^^ see what i mean about the trees?? us south florida folks don’t see those often^^
^^silver glen springs has a really neat trail (springs boils trail) where you can actually see the sandy surface “boiling” from the force of the water pushing out from under it^^
^^there were vultures and all sorts of weird critters everywhere. i wasn’t too fond of them and neither was alexa. however, ale and his brother alexis were like two little explorers seeking out funky spiders and taking pictures of them^^
^^my parents^^
^^we shot this picture from the car window, on our way to rainbow springs state park. gracie loved seeing horses on every corner and we had a blast reading all of the “unique” restaurant names like uncle willy’s fish fry^^
^^this was gracie’s first time at the springs and she enjoyed every bit of it. she loved swimming in the freezing water, running around the pontoon and hanging out with her daddy in a tube. i think this little girl is destined to be an outdoor gal. also i couldn’t stop singing the pontoon song by little big town^^
^^it’s always so sweet seeing gracie and her grandparents. she learns so much from them and they are always so willing to love on her. we’re so blessed to have them^^
^^these two are just about the cutest^^
^^ my childhood consisted of never ending competitions with my three brothers. i had to show them that i was as tough and as brave as they were. i would climb every tree they climbed and would jump off an even higher branch to show that i had more chutzpah than they did. funny enough, everything changed for me after i got married. i realized that i didn’t have to compete anymore and that i could just be a woman who didn’t care to jump off anything or didn’t need to prove that i could. so, that’s where i’m at now. i’ll jump if i’m in the mood, and if i’m scared or not interested, i won’t. there’s no competition. it’s wonderful! ale allows me to be as gentle or as tough as i wish to be and i am perfectly happy with that. this was the extent of my “courage.” just one jump. just me and my growing babe^^
^^i don’t have a picture of it, but my parents tubed longer than any of us did AND my dad snorkeled into a cave and dove off a tree… in the rain… and he’s 56!. i’d like to see any of my brothers top that!^^
^^this picture reminds me of when ale and i were 13 at summer camp and we would take selfies with our disposable cameras^^
^^i think this was my father-in-law’s favorite thing to do. he must have jumped off at least 10 times!^^
^^ ale and i often talk about how cool it is that our parents are such good friends. they’ve known each other for years and always enjoy each others company. i hope when ale and i are older we can befriend gracie’s in-laws and enjoy vacations together just as much as our parents do. there’s already talk of taking a trip to tennessee^^
p.s: here are some really neat pictures of the springs, shot from up high. they’re incredible!
