Florida!!

We had been planning a getaway to Florida for months! And finally the day came! We flew from Boise to Orlando on January 1st! It was so so beautiful the whole time we were there, which was a much needed break from the stormy inversion that was Boise.
In true Kyle and Mary fashion, we put 1600 miles on our rental car in the 10 days we were there! We had it all planned out, and the first thing we did after getting our luggage and car was to drive all the way to Miami, where we stopped for a bit before continuing to Homestead where we stayed the first night.

The next morning we headed into Everglades National Park! There were tons of alligators to see which was super cool. We drove to the very end of the park where it meets the ocean. 

Then we headed on down the Florida Keys! We had to catch a boat the next morning, so we stopped at a few places in the Keys but not everywhere. It was actually perfect because the beaches on the Keys weren't all that great. Perfect to stop and admire, but not much sand to speak of. We ate at a little hole in the wall seafood place and then camped that night in Key West! 

The next day was my favorite part of the trip! We got on our boat first thing and it took us 70 miles off the coast of Key West to the west, to Dry Tortugas National Park. Such an interesting NP! The entire thing is one single small island that is home to an old Civil War fort/prison. The fort covers almost the entire island. We got to explore the history there and walk all over the fort and see the old canons, etc. The beach around the island was fantastic, and we went snorkeling and found conch shells and I fell asleep sunbathing (I was like 9 weeks pregnant after all, and fatigue was my biggest symptom.) I got quite the sunburn, but that didn't start hurting until the next day, so it was still the most perfect day ever:) We got back to Key West in time to have a Five Guys burger (haha) and then we drove back up north towards Crystal River, FL. 

On Sunday, we drove in to Crystal River where we were able to go swimming with manatees! It was the coolest thing ever! The water was a bit chilly, but it was so worth seeing those amazing animals. There weren't tons, but we saw about 7 or 8 of them, including a baby with its mama. Such a fun part of the trip! 

Sunday night we drove back to Orlando, where we spent the next three days. A friend from Kyle's mission and us met up and stayed with a mutual friend who works at DisneyWorld, and we got to spend 3 days in the parks!! It was so much fun! It was Kyle's first ever time to DisneyWorld, and it did not disappoint. On Monday we went to Magic Kingdom and Universal Studios. Our NJ friends hadn't arrived yet, so we spent the first day just with our hosts, Sheila and Alex. It was great. We love Disney magic:) and my doctor even okay'd me to ride roller coasters, so that was awesome!

We met up with everyone that night at dinner! (By this point in the trip, my face was very swollen from the sunburn in Dry Tortugas...)

Tuesday was Epcot day! We got a little later start to the day than we wanted, but we still had such a fun time there. I adore the World Showcase, and even though we did most of it after dark it was still so great. Kyle and I ran through it all like little kids, kissed in France, got the most expensive ice cream of all time in Italy, kyle made Canadian jokes in Canada, we talked to a hilarious cast member who was sure we must have met on farmersonly.com because we were from Idaho, and just explored all the different countries:) 

From the Spaceship Earth ride... 

The last day of Disney we spent at Animal Kingdom! That park closes earlier than the others, and we had reservations for Sheila's luau dinner show that night, so it worked perfectly. Expedition Everest was me and Kyle's favorite ride of all the parks, so we did that one twice:) We also went on the safari which was cool, to see all the animals! 

Then it was time for the Luau! Kyle even got chosen to go up and dance on the stage for a minute and it was hilarious and awesome. 

After the show, we decided we weren't ready for Disney to be over, and we still needed some souvenirs, so we went to Downtown Disney! It was really fun, and we bought baby his/her very first anything, a Mickey onesie:)

The next morning we were off on our next and last adventure! We stopped by the Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral National Seashore on our way to St. Augustine and then spent 2 nights there. It was the coolest city we have probably ever been to together! It is like the oldest town in America, founded long before America was. There was a cool war fort, and the old main street was so much fun to wander. So many cool old buildings were all over. At night, all of the town had white Christmas lights turned on and it was seriously magical and so cute. There was also a beautiful lighthouse that we spent some time checking out. We ate outside at the most delicious place on our last night. It was a little but chilly while we were there, but even so it was the perfect way to end our trip. 

We absolutely loved getting to go on this adventure together! It really was the best to spend so much time together having fun. That Kyle is the best husband and best friend a girl could dream of!