Oranges Galore!

On our last full day in Florida, we decided to go visit an orange grove - after all, we WERE in FLORIDA! Shauna left on Monday, so it was just the 4 of us left - didn't feel the same, but we still had fun.

We got a little turned around on the drive out there (my GPS, Amanda, was a little confused.....), but we finally found it and it was so cute! Here's Renee, Claire and Allison.....

Tons and tons of citrus!

In addition to the obvious oranges, apparently they like alligators too - here's Allison with her 'new friend'.....

And you could buy an alligator head/mouth.....ummmmmm - NO.

This place was just like stepping back in time - a super cute country store!

Unfortunately, it was raining when we were out there, so we didn't venture out into the groves. We just hung out in the store and checked everything out.

They had about a kajillion kinds of jams, salsas, marmelades, honey, etc.

Ummmmm........no thanks - I'll pass on the frozen alligator meat this time...........

I just had to get a picture of this sign - funny!

I felt like I went back about 40-50 years - everything was so quaint and cute!!

And here's the orange that I bought - it was perfect!

Ummmm....OK - that's awesome.

I loved this sign. It's about time that tourists got equal treatment! HAHA!

Universal

The park that the group decided on was Universal Studios. I'm not really a theme park kind of girl, so I didn't really have an opinion, but I went with what they picked and it was kind of fun. The bad thing about this day was that it rained pretty much the entire time, so it got pretty gross walking around in it.

Here's Allison and Shauna messing around right when we got there....

Allison at the entrance.....

I love this one - it was in the "New York" section of the park. Allison, Shauna and Renee showin' their stuff!

Shauna getting wacky with the Jaws souvenirs!

Claire getting arrested for indecent exposure - wait, I mean.......

And Renee and I went to a show with trained animals - the dogs were super cute and I loved this orangutan!

I wouldn't want to live in Florida myself, but I must say - they have AMAZING landscaping. The flowers at Universal Studios were GORGEOUS! These yellow flowers (below) were my absolute favorite:

Just beautiful and bright!!!

These were cute - unique shapes and all manicured so well.....

And last, but not least - these beauties that were all bunched together with a rainbow of colors - fantastic!

Beach Bums

After the Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral, we drove a few more miles to Cocoa Beach. It was kind of overcast and windy, so we didn't go swimming, but we did hang out in the soft sand and get some great pictures!

We also visited Ron Jon Surf Shop - the ORIGINAL store. Here's Claire hanging out by the door....

It was a HUGE 2-level store with a BILLION surf items to buy. It's not really my thing, but it was interesting to see!

And then off to the beach for us......here's Allison and Claire leading the group.....

The beach.......from my vantage point.......

Toes in the sand!

Renee and I (and her peacock ponytail!)......

Shauna and Claire, playin' around.....

Me, Renee & Allison......

It was a great time for pictures and relaxing!

Spaced Out

On our first full day in Florida, we made the trek out to Kennedy Space Center and Cocoa Beach. I had been there in 3rd grade with my Dad, but didn't remember much, so it was like seeing it for the first time (plus, I'm sure a LOT has changed since 1985!).

Here we are, waiting in the security line to get in.....

First full group shot of the trip!

Is Shauna in the astronaut suit?? Nope - she's taking the picture.....

Claire and Allison, headin' for the shuttle.....

Another group shot - is Renee in the shuttle or taking the picture???

A picture inside that big space shuttle - very interesting!

It looks all prestine from far away, but as you get closer, it looks kinda rough! The sides are made up of tons of small tiles - not smooth surface. WEIRD!

This is the 'gravel' road that the shuttle/rockets travel on when they make their way out to the launch pad. The road is made up of 4 kinds of crushed up rocks - to withstand the tremendous weight/pressure of all that equipment! There are 2 launch pads, so this is where the road diverges to both of them....

And that's the launch pad in the distance. I guess the shuttle only goes 1 mph all the way out to the launch pad - it takes 8 hours just to drive it a few miles!

And a close-up of the launch pad......

Here's Allison and Claire up in the observation tower.....

And this is the obligatory cheesy "Olan Mills" pose - Allison and Renee acting so sweet........

And the question everyone has about living in space - how do they go to the bathroom??? Well, now you know - this is a picture of their toilet in space. Looks awfully complicated and scary!

And here's the shower.....

This is a picture of the side of the special van that drives the astronauts out to the launch pad so they can board the shuttle before take-off!

This is a picture of one of the 'little' side rocket engine things that drop off the shuttle once it's gone up and been up in the air a while. It was MASSIVE! They look so little on TV!

An astronaut suit - looks pretty neat!

The back of the rocket........

This is the front of the rocket - at the other end of the building!

We had a fabulous time at the space center - we thought we would only be there for a couple hours, but that place could keep you busy for an entire day or more!