Tubing in Florida

We headed to Florida REALLY early one morning to go tubing and to swim in the springs. The younger kids didn't know we were going until that morning. I woke them up at 4 AM and told them to put their swimsuits on and Mariah said, "Don't be silly mama!"
Notice everyone was groggy except Malachi! :o)

The weather was perfect and we were the first people on the river! There was literally nobody on it with us!

Malachi loved it.

Jump baby!

She got the "pretty" tube. :o)

My only regret from the trip is that I didn't have a camera on the river with us. It was gorgeous and we saw lots of wildlife.

Mariah was the only one that didn't enjoy the tubing part of it. She was terrified that something was going to touch her!

To start with I had Myles in my tube. He fussed because I was keeping him pinned down in my lap. Marc made me pass him to him and he let him hang off the side of his tube. He loved it and didn't utter a peep the rest of the time! :o) Daddy is so much more fun than mommy!

After we tubed we had a picnic and then headed to two different springs to swim.

You could see straight down to the bottom of the springs. The water was beautiful and COLD!

I did have alligators on my mind... but we didn't see any.

Of course, like anywhere that there is swimming there is immodesty. The Lord really protected us from the crowd when we tubed. When we got off the river there was a huge crowd coming. When we went to the springs it was a little more crowded when we first got there. Mariah said, "A fat lady with a bikini AND a tattoo...it takes away ALL her good looks." Malachi slapped his hands over his eyes one time and said, "She is so embarrassed!" It was funny, but it is also frustrating that you can't ever get away from it!

Headed home...

Definitely a do again for our family. Next year we will go on a weekday after school has started.