Spring break

Tampa night!

Hey guys. If your reading this right now you might of noticed that recently we had spring break. Well, I hope you guys had a good spring break. I had a pretty good spring break. Firs,t I was very excited about spring break because my family and I were going to Miami and later we would go to the Everglades National park for a kayaking trip. On our first day we were in the car going to Miami but it was getting late and we wanted to see the clear water beach so my dad checked in for the night. We went to the clear water beach like we wanted to. Me and my sister started building sandcastles. Later, it was 8 at night so we walked around the city and looked at all the lights. We finally chose a restaurant which was very fancy. We ordered new food items that we never tried but I didn’t like any of them. The only sea food items that I liked there were the spring rolls and the mini crab cake appetizers. Later we just went to our hotel, which was called Hotel Express. When we went in, the 1st floor was very fancy with chandeliers everywhere. We saw a place where there was a kitchen. Me and my sister thought it was the place that we eat breakfast at.

Our first day in Miami!

Today morning we got a fresh breakfast and headed our way to Miami. The breakfast at Hotel express was amazing. The light and fluffy pancakes were delicious. I also got a cinamon bon bon, which was extremely delicious and creamy. After we were done eating we started driving to Miami. It took us 4 hours to get there. The car ride was pretty boring. Finally, we checked in to this fancy hotel called Royal Palm. We saw the building and it was gigantic. First, when we arrived there this man put all of our luggage onto the luggage carrier. Inside it was really cool with many restaurants and lounges. After that, we went to our room. It was small but pretty. The mini desk lights were beside both of our beds and there were many paintings. We didn’t have a beach view but we had a city view. After we unpacked we went to the beach. The beach was called The South West beach, which was very famous. We went in the water with our new swimming suits and played in the sand. Later, we got hungry and searched for a good restaurant. We went to this Italian restaurant that was very delicious. I got a Pink Alfredo pasta, which was delicious! For dessert, I got a Key Lime Pie. I didn’t really like the Key Lime pie, but my mom did. Later we just went back to the hotel when we realized that our room was right next to the spa. We went to check it out but kids were not allowed. We watched some T.V and went to sleep.

Our second day in Miami!

On our second day in Miami we woke up and went to breakfast. I got a yummy panini. I wish I got pancakes though. Later, we went to the gigantic pool. The pool was cold at first but then we got used to it. Later, I was happy that it was cold because it started getting really hot. We splashed and swam. Personally, I liked doing flips and stuff more than swimming. My sister and my mom started getting hungry so we went to lunch. We went to this Mexican restaurant that didn’t really have stuff that I liked, but the Fajitas were amazing! I liked the grilled chicken more than vegetables. I personally think vegetables are disgusting. After that, we got tickets for paragliding. My dad didn’t want to go because he thought it was a waste of money. Me, my mom, and my sister were going together. I was excited and nervous. I have this weird habit of getting stomach pains when I’m nervous or scared. My mom was the one that suggested that we should go paragliding. She was the most excited. We got on a boat with 6 other people. We waited for a few other people to get on the boat. Finally, everyone was on, and the boat started moving. After a few minutes the music started playing. I took a few selfies of myself and the buildings behind me. Each person kept flying into the air and coming back. Finally, it was our turn. My mom, sister, and I put the equipment on and clipped ourselves to the parachute. Boom! Quickly the parachute started lifting into the air. I was so excited! I looked down and hoped that I wouldn’t fall down. Later, it was just boring. All we did was look at the buildings and the ocean from the sky. When we were almost done with the ride the parachute went down and we started touching the water. Our legs went right to left and left to right. Our clothes got soaked but it was the most fun part of the ride. After that, we just took a lot of pictures and went back to the hotel. We started searching for a restaurant for dinner. We went to this restaurant that was sweet, tasty, and amazing. We found this place called Sugar Factory. When I looked at the menu I was stunned by all the sweet and yummy items that I could gobble up. There were milkshake towers, ice cream sandwiches, Goblets of drinks, etc. I couldn’t choose but after a lot of consideration, I decided to get the milkshake tower that was called the Dye shake. The milkshake was vanilla flavored with vanilla syrup and straws that had cotton candy pieces pierced into the milkshake. The milkshake also had candy necklaces on the top with a mug that was made out of chocolate with crushed graham crackers sticking to the chocolate. There were different colored syrups dripping from the sides. It was like heaven in a cup. Not only that but, the food was also great. We got a food platter with macaroni cheese balls, chicken wings, and mozzarella sticks. My favorite was the macaroni cheese balls. I thought that the sauce that went with the cheese balls were great. After all of that food, I felt sleepy. I was in desperate need of sleep. Finally, we got to the hotel and slept.

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Our third day in Miami!

On our third day in Miami we woke up and ate at the breakfast buffet at the lounge downstairs. It was very fancy! Each group of people had their own large booth. I ate pancakes and cereal with some yummy apple juice. We went shopping at the famous Lincon Street. First, I went to this fruit booth and started off with some fresh fruit. Our first shop that we shopped at was Zara. It was pretty big and fancy at Zara. We bought a lot of clothes there. After that, we went to some other shops and ended at this dessert place, which was really cool! It had marshmallow treats, different types of apples, pralines, etc. I got a caramel apple. We just ate our treats in the car because we needed to go to the Everglades National park. It was a long boring ride but, we finally got there. My dad took a room at this motel called the Everglades City Motel. For dinner, there was only 1 restaurant in town so we went to that restaurant. We went to the restaurant and saw the menu. There were a lot of sea items that I didn’t like. I just ordered some mac ‘n’ cheese balls. After that, we got dessert. There were only a few ice cream flavors but, I liked all of them. I got the pralines and cream flavor. Finally, we went to the park rangers and my dad asked them some questions about when we should kayak because the day after we’re supposed to go kayaking and camp at the wooden platform called Chickee.

Our first day in the Everglades National Park

When we woke up we just quickly went to breakfast, which was complimentary. We headed straight to the kayak place and got our kayak. We were trying to be quick because if we’re late, the tide’s going to go in the opposite direction, which will make it harder to kayak. We got our 2 kayaks and went to this place that was a good place to start kayaking. We went there and packed all of our stuff for the camping trip in the kayaks. It was hard to fit everything in. After we put everything in we started to go kayaking. There were 2 kayaks that could fit 2 people in each. My dad and I went on one kayak while my mom and my sister went on another . My parents started kayaking first because the first mile is in open waters. Later on, me and my sister started kayaking. It was hard because the wind kept pushing us in the opposite direction. On the fifth mile, I and my sister wrote in our junior ranger booklets. We saw these branches and trees blocking our view of what’s behind it. So we took a turn. We were so relieved. It was the Chicken campsite. We paddled and helped each other get on the dock. My parents tied the roped to hold the kayak in place. We stepped on the platform and started eating snacks. me and my sister worked on the junior ranger booklet and watched the lake for some fishes. I saw these fishes that had pointy noses. I thought it might be a Swordfish but later I realized that they were actually Needlefish. We were starting to get hungry so my mom said let’s eat dinner. Then my dad realized that the gas tank didn’t fit the stove, so we had to eat bread and Nutella instead. I finished all the snacks in one night. We were supposed to camp for 2 nights and 3 days but, since we didn’t bring the right gas tank we only stayed 1 night.

Our second day kayaking

We woke up early and got ready. We ate bread with Nutella. We just kayaked back. We had to kayak 3 more miles because last time we kayaked 7 miles from the spot that we drove, but now we have to go all the way back where we left our car. We were halfway there when my mom told me to look at my right and she pointed to some animals. I was so excited! There were 2 dolphins swimming in front of us. We were going to take pictures but by the time my mom got her phone out the dolphins swam out of our site. It was really hard to push because the weather that day was harsh. If we even took a break for one moment the kayak would end up going the other way and we would have to push miles to get back on track. It was hard so we stopped at the spot that we started our kayaking trip at the day before. After a few minutes, we continued kayaking when I told my mom to stop the kayak. She stopped the kayak when I saw these fishes jumping up and down. We took pictures and continued to kayak when we saw this bridge. The park ranger told us that when we saw the bridge we had to cross it and take a right but when we looked at the bridge there were open waters. We started getting shocked and worried so we asked the fisherman below the bridge which way to go to reach Everglades national park. Just like the park ranger, the fisherman told us to cross the bridge and take a right. We were thanking the fisherman for telling us the direction when I saw a shark swimming at high speeds. I was so nervous. I was praying that we wouldn’t get eaten by the shark. My dad told me not to worry and that as long as we don’t fall off the boat and into the water the sharks can’t eat us. I was scared enough that we didn’t know the exact direction but know there were sharks in the water. When we crossed the bridge and took a right we saw our destination which was the Everglades National Park recreation center. We unloaded the kayak and into the car. We didn’t exactly know where we were going to go because we were actually supposed to stay there for another day but since we didn’t bring the right size stove for our gas tank we had to come a day early. It was 11 a.m and my dad and mom decided that we should stay the night at Saint Peters Burg which was about 4 hours away from where we were. We stayed at a cheap but great hotel. First, we went to the giant swimming pool and had some fun! Later, at night we just ordered room service for dinner. I and my sister shared the fajitas with roasted veggies. Our parents didn’t want room service so we went to the restaurant at the hotel. Lastly, we watched this t.v show which I really liked and was called Last Man Standing and slept.

A boring day in the car

Today all we did was drive back to home. When we were almost there my uncle called and said that his family was coming back from vacation too. He told us that we should come over to his house since his house was closer to where we were than our house. We went to their house 2 hours late because we went to Starbucks and got frappes. I got a caramel frappe. It was delicious! When we arrived at my uncle’s house I thought my cousins were going to be asleep but surprisingly they weren’t so we played until midnight and went to sleep.

Our last day of vacation

In the morning my uncle took me and my sister back home. I was kinda sad that spring break was over.