moroccan birthday {Epcot}

David and I had fun at Epcot celebrating my birthday yesterday. I am now 35! Wow, it seems like a big number to me. I got in free since it was my birthday, and got to wear a HUGE birthday badge that said, "Happy Birthday, Kristina." I don't think I've ever been wished "Happy Birthday" by so many strangers before. An amusing experience for sure.

We ate a late lunch at the Marrakesh Moroccan restaurant, and it was incredible! The food was delicious, and the service was outstanding. I would highly recommend it. It was a great all-day date, topped off by our favorite Christmas program, the "Candlelight Processional." Thanks for a fun day, David! I love you :)

bok tower gardens

David's parents were visiting us over the weekend. We love visiting new places, so we headed to the Bok Tower Gardens. It was gorgeous!


The "singing tower" was built in 1927 and is is home to the carillon. What is that you ask? It's basically a keyboard that is mechanically attached to a set of bells. 60 of them to be exact.


Here is the size of the largest bell.


And here are the keys.


The tower is built on Iron Mountain, Florida. I got a chuckle out of this. The "mountain" (290 ft.) is the tallest point in Florida, and overlooks beautiful orange groves. We enjoyed listening to carillon concert from this spot. We also spent quite a bit of time sitting at the summit reading books and relaxing.






This place was very kid friendly. At the visitor's center, we checked out a little book bag of kids' nature books with a little picnic blanket. We also got some "magic paper."


There were 8 posts located throughout the gardens. Each of the posts depicted a different creature.


Here's the magic: upon rubbing the white stick on the shiny side of the paper, voila! The creature appeared. The girls eventually got tired of this, but they finished 6 out of the 8 posts.




I had to get in at least one shot.






Grandad and Abuela.

barbara manatee...

you are the one for me,
sent from up above,
you are the one I love!
-a Veggie Tales Silly song
Major, major photo overload in this post!

While Kendra was visiting, we went to visit the manatee at Blue Springs Park. November 1st-March 1st is peak season to see them. Everyone else thought it was a good day to see them too! Our first two attempts to enter the park failed, as it was at capacity. Luckily there was a park with a really cool playground just down the street, so we hung out there for a few hours.


This is one of the coolest playground toys I've ever seen! We got quite a workout on this one.






Sweet baby A awoke from her nap.


On the third attempt, we finally got into the park, but only by two cars. This was one popular place! I recommend going early in the morning or later in the afternoon.


Currently this area is closed, but in the summer it's open for swimming. Doesn't it look so inviting?


There they are. A big "plump" of manatee as A called them.


Here's one coming up for a breath. After seeing lots of "plumps" my girls were unimpressed. They wanted to go back to the playground. We got a tip from another tourist that a calf had just swum near the dock in the swimming area, so we headed down for a closer peek. That was more interesting!


There were also cool trees to climb...


and little seashells to collect. Overall, it was well worth the visit. I would definitely go again.

black and white, baby!

Sometimes you take a photo of something cool, and it's just blah. Look at these below. Nothing special, right?




But, then, when you convert them to black and white, all of a sudden, you've got an eye-grabber.




These are coquina (shell walls) in St. Augustine, the oldest city in all of America. It was founded in 1565! We were lucky to have a chance to go there last week while we were at the beach. If you love history, this is one cool city! We only had a few hours in the afternoon, so it's on my list of places to get back to. And, of couse, I have more pics to share later! :)

the arctic, really! {Ice! at Gaylord Palms}

Ever since we've moved to Florida, I've been dying to go to the Ice exhibit at the Gaylord Palms Resort. Yes, there's an ice exhibit in Orlando. A bit ironic and extravagant, but nonetheless, fascinating! Ice sculptors from Harbin, China are brought in to create some amazingly detailed work.


Upon entering, everyone receives a beautiful blue parka to keep warm. It's a balmy 9 degrees inside the exhibit.








The most exciting part of the exhibit: ice slides! A and I had so much fun going down these. By that point, M (who refused to wear her down coat), was freezing cold, and had to leave.






My favorite part of the day? Seeing everyone dressed in hats and scarves! (And the free hot chocolate afterwards!)

I was a bit concerned about taking my camera into and out of such extreme temperatures. (The danger is that condensation can form inside the camera and cause damage.) Apparently putting your camera and lenses into a Ziploc bag during the transitions can help. That way the air temperature around the camera has time to adjust, and if condensation forms, it will form on the bag, not on the camera. It worked for me!

tarpon springs

My parents were so great to keep the girls overnight for us so that we could getaway for an overnight stay in Tarpon Springs. You can see the whole town in a day. It's perfect for a day trip. We enjoyed walking along Dodeconese St. next to the harbor which is full of Greek food restaurants and little touristy shops mainly selling sponges. Tarpon Springs is famous for its sponging industry. We also visited the historical museum which gave us our first glimpse into Florida's history. It was fascinating! We love history :)

I took my new fisheye with me, and got in some good practice!

Us, being cute :)


We ordered this massive Greek pizza for a late lunch/early dinner. The menu said it fed "two or more." I'd say it was more on the "more" side.


Tarpon Springs is known for it's Greek culture. So, we had to go inside the Greek Orthodox church. It was fascinating!


David is a part time seminarian himself, and was enthralled to talk to Father Cristodolos about the Greek Orthodox faith.


The church was full of icons and amazingly beautiful artwork.

delightful {Epcot}

We went to enjoy Epcot a few weeks ago and got a tip to go see the candy maker in Japan. She was absolutely delightful! Lumps of cornstarch-based candy were transformed before our eyes into animal creatures of all kinds. The creations were free, one per family.

It was mesmerizing to watch her hands work so quickly and skillfully. Who knew candymaking was such an artform?



The girls could hardly wait to eat their cat. It was delicious! Not to sweet and just the right consistency. I hope we can visit the candy maker again!