Joe has a business trip planned and Terra decided to stay in Florida for a little longer, so I packed up the kids and headed to grandma and grandpa's house for a short weekend trip. Joe caravanned with us to Ocala where Silver Springs was hosting a special event called Kidfetti. We met the family there for the day. Here are some pictures.
First up was a glass bottom boat ride down Silver River. The boat route was staged with all the old archaeological dig stuff and it made me itch to get back into my anthropology state of mind. It was really cool to hear all about Florida's first underwater archaeology dig and hear about the history of the area. I certainly would not have survived as one of the first settlers in Florida!
There were 20-something booths set up with crafts and activities for the kids. Rosemary only wanted to go to booth #2- decorating a picture of a ducky, with glitter and stickers. After that the day got a little, well, three-year-oldy (if that makes sense), but was saved after a pretzel and big drink of lemonade.
Kidfetti is essentially a craft and music fest for kids. Here is the main stage. I rolled my eyes at the thought of spending the day listening to kid music (in my mind I was thinking of Justin Bieber and Jonas Brother wanna-bees). But then Gina Marie got on stage. She was diagnosed with Autism at age 2, didn't start talking until 3, and now at age 9 is one of the most sought-after artists in the country to sing the national anthem at events. So it was hard to not be in awe and inspired by this little lady on stage (even though it's hard to see her in this picture, she's there!). And she has such charisma, too. What a surprise!
Rosemary found this little boat ride and was so excited when two other kids joined her in it. She talked all about her "friends" after getting out!
After a few hours, we gave kisses to daddy and hopped in our cars to head to grandma and grandpa's house for a couple days. Here are the grandparents with all three grandkids.
Tomorrow I'll pack up my herd and head home. I really hate leaving. Hopefully one day my whole family will be in one place.
Sounds like a great day! I love how you find all of these great kid-oriented events to take them to.
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