In March of 2024 we wanted to be somewhere warm (at least I did!). We ended up deciding to go to Key Biscayne, Florida. So off we drove to Detroit to catch our flight.

Breakfast for dinner is always a good idea with these two.

We arrived to Ft. Lauderdale at 2 in the morning, almost three hours later than scheduled, very tired and hoping to find a rental car, which thankfully we did!

The next day we drove up to Orlando. We were planning on visiting three different friends/family from Venezuela that I hadn’t seen in many, many years, but we only made it to two of them before everyone ran out of steam. It felt rushed, but was still so lovely to spend time with people I love and I’ve missed, people that knew me when I was little and as I was growing up. I vowed to go back for more time to visit with everyone.

The next day we headed to Hollywood Studios. We started off meeting Mickey and Minnie (Benji didn’t want any part of it). Then we were off to Stars Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, where we enjoyed walking around, did the Star Tours ride, and saw the Mandelorian!

Then we happened to watch a great (and very convincing) performance by a First Order Lieutenant and a couple of Storm Troopers, and that was it for Benji, who said he “didn’t like those people yelling” and was done with Star Wars.

So I went off to Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy with him while Ben and Peter stayed to do the Millennium Falcon Ride.

And then that was it for Peter, who started feeling nauseous, proceeded to throw up, followed by a really bad headache. So I stayed behind with him letting him rest for a bit, while Ben went off to ride the Alien Swirling Saucer with Benji in Toy Story Land. At the time we thought he had gotten bad motion sickness from the rides, but when we were back home I heard from a few other families about kids being sick with similar symptoms on the first days of their Spring Break as well, so most likely it was a 24-hour bug that he brought from home, thankfully it didn’t spread and it didn’t last.

We were able to do a few more things, including meeting Darth Vader (Peter’s choice) and having a drink in Oga’s Cantina, but soon after we decided it was best to call it a day and headed back to our hotel to let Peter rest and recover and let Benji enjoy the pool, a highlight of the day for him. The next day we leisurely made our way down to Key Biscayne. After checking in our vacation rental we made the short walk to Key Biscayne Beach before the sun set.

Going out for a walk in the evening I noticed they get orchids to grow on palm tree trunks by tying them up until they manage to wrap their roots all around the tree, it was quite interesting a so beautiful.

The next day we went to Bill Baggs State Park, where we walked for a bit, and then got settled at the beach for the morning.

The boys found a pair of siblings to play in the sand with, and we swam for a bit, watching out for Man O’ War since there was a warning for it -we actually saw one wash up on the shore.

In the afternoon the boys enjoyed the little pool at our vacation rental, which they loved and swam in every afternoon we were there.

The next day we decided to head to Crandon Park Beach for a while.

The following day we decided to take the boys to the Frost Science Museum, Aquarium and Planetarium. We always try to take advantage of the great free museum access that Ben’s EAA membership offers through the ASTC Travel Passport Program. We had a great day exploring and learning about so many things, from sharks to the story of flight and outer space.

The next day it was time to leave Key Biscayne, so we got one last walk on the beach before heading out.

Since we had an early flight the next day, that night we stayed in Ft. Lauderdale. We decided to head to the beach once again before meeting up with a good friend for dinner.

Then it was time to leave Florida. Thankfully our flight was on time for our return. Not surprisingly, we were greeted by a snow storm on our drive home… welcome to Petoskey in March/April!