Marianna Florida

We did 3 back to back camping trips.  Week 1 was our typical Blue Springs (which the boys went days before us girls), weekend 2 was back to Marianna Florida.  We went to Marianna 2 years ago on a whim and found great caverns and a second blue springs recreation area!  We stayed at a different campground than 2 years ago.  The ONLY draw back I found of this campground was it was just a field with sections for pulling in campers.  Not many trees so not much shade for the trailer which means the A/C was on over drive and didn't get a chance to rest - it felt like it was constantly running!

Tim found a gold dollar coin right a we parked!

This is the office right when you first pull in.  We got to the campground around 2pm Florida time so we just hung out at the camper, got in the pool, then we went to eat dinner at "The Wharf" (which was DELICIOUS by the way), and finished off with some frozen yogurt.

We got up bright and early Saturday morning to try and get to the springs as early as possible.  When we got there I believe we were like 5th in line to get in.  We set up at a pavilion that wasn't reserved for the day.

I was a little upset I didn't bring another book or even realize how close I was to finishing my new Debbie Maccomber book.  I finished it within an hour of being there.

I found a great deal on a Lilly swimsuit at TJMaxx and was so excited to finally wear it!

This was a great book.  A little different from the typical romance novel she writes but it was still great!

The boys loved this slide!

Sunday morning we asked the  campground if we could have a couple hours extra after check out time and they were more than gracious!  We didn't have to leave until 2 pm!  We went ahead and rented kayaks from them (first come first serve) and went exploring on the property.  Merritt Pond was on the property and it was GORGEOUS!  

Because it was Sunday morning most people weren't out on the water (we saw maybe one or two boaters and a sprinkle of kayakers).  We almost had the whole place to ourselves.

I mean ya'll the water was crystal clear!  I couldn't believe it!

We found a dock that wasn't attached to a house and stopped.  The boys got in the water and snorkeled for a bit.

Ya'll know I don't typically get in the cold water but this water wasn't cold and it was clear had there been a way to get into the kayak easily I would have gotten in the water too!  

There were two tree stumps in the water that Tim realized he could use to get back into his kayak.

He found another downed tree stump that he could hop on to get back in on our way back so he got into the water again.

This is when I realized I hadn't taken ANY pictures of the campground.  It was hit by a hurricane 18 months ago so they are still rebuilding a bit.  The swimming pool was right across from our campsite.

There was also a small dog park.

Next to the pool was the activity center, laundry room and bathrooms with showers.

They have a small café attached to the gas station that is right in front of the campground.  We walked over to it Saturday night and ate dinner.

 I wish I had gotten more pictures of the campground, the service and people that run it are amazing!  We will definitely be back Marianna is only 2 hours from our house and it's quickly becoming a favorite of ours.

Las Vegas - Day 2!!

day 2 - of course since our bodies were still on eastern time - we woke up at like 6am!

We had a really cool view from our room - our rooms were "Resort Tower"

Cale was sent home with a homework packet to complete.  So since we were up so early he did a couple of pages.

He brought his binoculars so this kept him entertained for a good 30 minutes!

We brought Cale's gizmo watch with us on this trip.  Normally we wouldn't but in a town like Las Vegas it's super easy for him to wander off when he sees something cool or get grabbed by someone in the streets.  This gave me insurance on where he was with the tracker in his watch.  And should he get separated from us he can call.

When he was younger we used the backpack leash on him because he was a runner.  His watch has become his "leash" on ventures such as these.  Just a little piece of mind.  We are so glad that we never had to use it on this trip because he was lost.

The rest of our group was up and we were all ready to head to breakfast.

We walked across the skybridge into New York New York and found the crepe place.  I got in line while we were waiting for everyone.

I got egg, cheese and sausage crepe. These things are HUGE!

Bet you can't guess who ordered this!?

Kennedie got a peanut butter and chocolate crepe, which is weird for her.  She loves peanut butter and she loves chocolate - generally she does not like them together.  She won't eat a Reese's cup.  Whatever though because she LOVED this thing.  So much so she texted a picture of it to her friends!

Picture of our crew!

New York New York also has the World of Chocolate.  Tim left to go find a poker table because he doesn't generally like shopping and he has seen a lot of Vegas touristy stuff from our prior trips.  Also walking around all day would have KILLED his knees and back and he would have been in pain the rest of the trip.

Big Uncle photobombed her!  He was the one that was supposed to fight!

I paid the $5 for all 8 pressed pennies.  I didn't have enough quarters and pennies for them to get one each, thankfully this machine took cards!

Girl loves chocolate!

Cale HATES chocolate - so he was excited to see other candy in the World of Chocolate!

Cale took a picture of me while we were waiting on Kennedie in the bathroom!

Then we went exploring down the strip!

Rest of the Ohana with Kennedie went to M&M world right next door.  Cale was mad because again he doesn't like chocolate.  So I took him into the World of Coke!  Living in Georgia where we founded Coke and have the museum it was hard to say yes because he's been to the coke place several times.  But heck we were in Vegas.

Of the Coke products Fanta is his favorite.  We also bought him Fanta socks for wrestling.

I mean, his face says it all....

While one family was waiting on pictures to be printed on M&M's I snuck over to my favorite place Tix 4 Tonight.  We discovered them in 2012.  The ONLY draw back is that you have to wait until you are IN Vegas to purchase the tickets or to even see what was available for that night.  They did however change some shows to a weekly rate and you just had to submit your voucher for that night.

We purchased adult only tickets for a Cirque Du Soleil show.  We had already seen Mystere but the others hadn't seen ANY Cirque show.  Normally they are $180 tickets but with Tix 4 Tonight we got them for $98 AND they gave us a discount coupon for several of the buffets and eateries around town.  Sometimes our military discount was better and sometimes the card (that was good the rest of our stay) was better.

We kept trucking and finally made it to the Eiffel Tower which was our first destination.

Because we were a big group we qualified for a lot of "group" discounts.

Kennedie HATES heights.  It's normally the getting up that freaks her out once she is up there she is generally fine.

Bellagio Fountains

We came back down and the mom's had to use the rest room.  We found a close rest room and one of the dads waited outside with the kids.  But the kids apparently can't just stand around on the Casino floor so they made them go wait in the gift shop.  They were VERY strict on these rules.  Several times we were ALL standing around discussing what we wanted to do or what direction to go but because the kids were with us they basically were shoving us along out of the Casino floor.

Right in the Paris and Bally's walkway we decided to have lunch.  We found a place that a lot of us could share a plate.

She had a Sushi wrap.

Cale had white rice.

Then she came after my fried rice!

Tim sent us a picture of him at the poker table!  At this point he was about $250 dollars up!

Walking out Bally's

Down the escalator to another shopping area right across the street from the Bellagio fountains and sky bridge.

Of course Cale had to check out the candy store!

We walked across the street to the fountains.

Cale went back with part of the Ohana to Excalibur to rest and get ready for dinner.  Kennedie, myself and another couple had to continue on to Treasure Island to get seats for the Mystere show later that night.  The lady at the counter suggested we go over now because there was crowd to get good seats!  So the 4 of us hopped on the Monorail (we purchased a 24 hour pass for $13 a piece) and got as close as we could to TI.

Because it was such a long jaunt from TI back to MGM (where there is a sky bridge to Excaliber and the end of the Monorail system), we decided to hang out near the buffet area since that was were it was decided to eat at earlier that afternoon.  No way we were walking anymore than we had to, just to come right back over 20 minutes later!  This was us belly's full and on our way back to Excalibur to change for the Cirque show!

All the adults waiting to get inside for Mystere!

We had awesome seats!

We taxi'd back to Excalibur, and then walked to New York New York and tried to go to Coyote Ugly, one of the guys had their pocket knife on them so we couldn't get in.  So we went to the casino floor.  Tim and me did a slot machine together.  At one point my $5 get us up!

But again the time change kicked my butt, Allie and myself went back to the rooms to head to bed and left the other three at the casino.  I got to our room and this booger was in my spot!  I sent this photo to Tim and he said "he better give me my spot back!" I said "well he is too heavy for me anymore so good luck!"  He ended up sleeping there all night.  I was asleep so hard I didn't even hear Tim come in the room later that night.

Ya'll look how much we walked that day!