Our first full day in Florida was not an ideal vacation day. Everyone was still tired from the long drive and it was extremely windy. The sun was shining, but it didn't matter because the wind chill must have been in the 30's. The chilly weather did not stop the girls from playing outside in the morning and late afternoon.
For our big activity of the day, we decided to visit the Mote Aquarium. Turns out the rest of Sarasota did too. The aquarium seemed a little small. The crowd plus the layout of the aquarium made it seem cramped. I think the aquarium was meant to be mainly an outdoor experience. Hard to spend a lot of enjoyable time outdoors when it is cold and windy.
Everyone had a good time in any event. Jacqueline loved the sharks, turtles, rays, and dolphins. Sophie was more interested in running around like a banshee....a sure sign she was tired. Grandparents and Dad enjoyed the aquarium too, but became a little wind-blown by the end of the day.
By the way, zoo membership reciprocity is a wonderful perk. We paid ~$100 for a NC Zoo membership in October. Mote Aquarium offered full reciprocity...so everyone was admitted free...a $50 savings. One more visit to the NC Zoo or any other zoo/aquarium with reciprocity will pay for our membership.
We ended our excursion with a nice lunch at a dockside diner. Decent food, good beer, and happy girls.....could not ask for anything more.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent trying to find a gas station, get the fuel door open on the Volvo, and help the girls nap. To keep it short, we finally found a gas station, had to break the fuel door latch (easily fixed with velcro), and naps were not going to happen. The girls were over-tired and kept falling off the Grandparents' bed. Fortunately, the girls went to sleep easily that night after a traumatic bath experience. No one liked taking a bath in the RV shower.
As for sleeping arrangements, we started the girls sleeping on the floor in the back bedroom (3 falls off the bed were enough), then moved them to the pack-n-plays in the kitchen when everyone else went to sleep.
It was nice to see everyone quickly adapted to a daily routine in a new place. A key event for a smooth, enjoyable vacation.
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