We have a frog. It started as an inch worm, but evolved. Now there is a little hop. Brit can actually move across the floor. His first real attempt was on Thursday–the 4th. He’s gotten more experienced as the week has progressed. He actually puts his legs under him, and pushes up and frog jumps forward. He does not like to stay in the same place and it always on the move these days. He thinks he’s such a big boy. (*update as of Sept 15, He rocks on his knees and thinks of crawling, but hasn’t gotten the movement down yet. He also leans forward from a sitting position to his tummy now. I’m really disturbed that he’s growing up so fast!)

Obviously, you can’t see the movement, but this is what he does. All the time. We ended up getting a pack and play from the resort so we could keep him in one place….he kept trying to hit his head on the furniture.

Brit isn’t into animals yet. He’s more into the plants. We think he may be a botanist. On Saturday we went to Miami Metro Zoo…and it was hot! We’re not used to the humidity and it was hard to breathe. But, we managed. Brit had no interest in the animals. It was hard to get him to actually look at them. He liked looking at the plants and hedges around their enclosures instead.

But, he looked cute in his little hat anyway.

Mark got some great pics of the animals…this is just a couple. The rest are at kirstenandmark.smugmug.com

Finally we found a ward that wasn’t having Stake Conference on our visit! We went to church near our resort and it was a very nice ward. There were several people who introduced themselves and talked to us. I guess the chapel isn’t as big as ours, and they probably don’t get a lot of visitors, so it’s easy to see when people are new. It was really nice though. I’ve decided to try to be more outgoing and talk to the people at church that I don’t know. I don’t do very well at that right now.

Monday we visited Vizcaya. It’s a huge estate that was built in in 1914-1916 to resemble an Italian Villa that was built in the 1600s. So, walking through it you feel like you’re in Europe looking though an ancient castle or something. Everything is old. Like, old things brought from Europe and put in the house. It’s amazing. The gardens are beautiful too. It’s right on the water, so it has its own breakwater, and dock and everything.

This is the ceiling in a little grotto with a fountain–all shells

The detail of the walkway to the East entrance of the house, with the Venetian-style poles and the stone barge that acts as the breakwater.

Different view with the lattice-domed tea room

The house from the East Entrance. No pictures allowed in the house..bummer!

It was cloudy from Hurricane Ike for a couple of days, so we didn’t really do much. It was nice to just relax though. Mark loved just hanging out and not having to go to work. It was a very different vacation for me too. The first one where I wasn’t visiting family that wasn’t action packed. But, it was still nice.

We did take Brit swimming in the pools. It was cloudy, but warm and we were the only ones there. But, of course I forgot my camera. So, this is after we got back. He looked so cute in his little board shorts!

This one doesn’t show his suit, but I love just love this little guy–and his expressions!

Thursday we went to the Everglades National Park. It was sooooooooooooo hot and humid! Oh my goodness. When we got there, as soon as we stepped out we were swarmed by mosquitos. Luckily there was some bug spray at the little gift shop, and the sweet worker gave us her jacket that had a net on the hood that we hooked over the back of Brit’s seat that came down and covered the top part of his body.

The River of grass. Here, you can actually see the water, but mostly you can’t and it’s hard to believe that underneath all the grass is water. It goes for miles!

Mark and Britton in the Mangroves. All underneath us is water too.

Brit examining the wooden rail

Alligator….

Brit and me with the grass

Cute little face…

After the Everglades we drove down to Key Largo. It’s the first one. We stopped at John Pennecamp State Park. It has coral reefs and boat tours etc. But, it was pretty dead. Hardly anyone around. The visitor center had an aquarium and Brit loved it! He really liked the fish and coral and everything. We’ll have to take him to the Aquarium in Long Beach!

Friday we had time before our flight, so we went to Ft. Lauderdale to the science center. They had some fun little exhibits, and even a children’s area. This is Brit on the tractor. He liked driving for a minute…

We had a great time on our trip. But, in the future we agree we’ll stay away from Miami/the south at this time of year. Way too hot and humid!