And with that... today ended our time in the Keys. Well, technically tomorrow we will drive back through them and we have a few stops planned, but this was our last full day spent entirely in the Keys. We are a bit sad that our trip is coming to an end so soon. It seems like it just started. We have a couple more days though to do some more fun things so we are looking forward to those that.
We started our day bright and early again. Both kids started stirring right around 7am. At about 7:15 they still were not actually awake but I rolled over to Steven and asked what time we were supposed to meet Grandma and Grandaddy at breakfast downstairs... and that was in 15 minutes so we got everyone up and got dressed. We just put on bathing suits again because we had our big beach day planned. Breakfast went better than the day before (thankfully) but neither kid ate a whole lot. As long as they got something in their bellies, we were just calling it a win. We knew that it was likely that the kids would eat less towards the end of our vacation. That is normal for them so we weren't worried. After breakfast we finished getting ready to go and then headed out for Publix to pick up subs. Grandma and Grandaddy ran to K-Mart because they liked our shirts from the day before so much that they wanted ones of their own to wear. We met them in the parking lot because we wanted to drive into Bahia Honda State Park before them just in case we could get them in. We were able to drive over the Seven Mile Bridge again which is always a highlight. Well, we actually HAD to drive over the bridge as it is the only way to get there so I'm glad the kids seem to like it so much. Unfortunately, we were unable to get Grandma and Grandaddy into Bahia Honda as part of our pass. They are a lot more strict around here than at the state parks in our area. We tried.
We started by heading over to the bay side to walk out on the Old Bahia Honda Bridge. The day before Grandma told Kenzie all about how the train went into the water during a hurricane. So... in true Kenzie fashion, she told each of us at least 4 times each over the next 12 hours. Every time we saw or talked about the bridge, she told us the story. Similar to the day before in Key West, Will was obviously hot and uncomfortable. Plus, he is still short on sleep overall so he wasn't having it again. He ended up walking up to the bridge and back but we carried him portions of the way off and on. Then Kenzie had to potty so I left him behind and ran around the area looking for a bathroom. Always something with these kids. Everything tends to take longer than necessary just because... well... because kids. Steven and Will ended up walking with Grandma over to the lookout below the bridge and they got some good pictures. Will was a bit upset with us I think that there was no actual train on the bridge. I don't know if he really thought there might be one but he seemed annoyed that there wasn't.
Once we met back up with everyone we decided to head over to Sandspur Beach (still in the park) to swim. You can swim on the bay side too but Steven and I have never really been into that area. We also knew that the kids would prefer the beach side more as it has a lot more area and the water is very shallow at low tide. We all got a bit turned around figuring out exactly where we wanted to be, but we made it and were set up pretty quickly. We timed our visit well, though it was entirely on accident, and we hit low tide at just the right time. The water was gorgeous! Kenzie was super excited to try out her new goggles. They took some adjusting to get right but once they were, she loved going underwater. We had some issues with her at first because there were what seemed like millions of little fish near the shore and she needed to walk through them to get into slightly deeper water. She wasn't so sure about that. Will thought they were awesome though and he kept trying to catch them in his bucket he was carrying. He would call, "Here fishy, fishy, fishy." then dip his bucket and yell "Gotcha!" but he never actually had one. I tried to catch one for him too but was unsuccessful which wasn't actually surprising. I probably could have tried harder but I still don't think I would have gotten one. Will loved this beach. It was super clear water and there were minimal waves so he was so excited with it. He was doing his kicks and was willing to go to people other than me in the water which shows his comfort level. He even stood up and walked around in the more shallow areas which is something he doesn't often want to do. He never asked to get out of the water and kept telling me it was "so nice" and "bootiful" which is one of my favorite pronunciations of his right now. Will is definitely a Keys or Gulf Coast beach kind of kid. He loves any water once he gets used to it as long as he feels safe, but he gets there much faster at a Keys style beach. Kenzie loves any beach but she loved this one because it was smoother water and she was able to go underwater with her goggles. Eventually Steven decided to do some snorkeling. He came back with a conch shell to show the kids. They thought it was pretty awesome. We decided then that Grandma and Grandaddy would sit under the tent for a bit with the kids so I could snorkel with him. Then Grandaddy decided he wanted to get in on the action too so he joined us. He didn't stay out as long but I think Steven and I were out there for at least half an hour. I eventually asked to come back because most of the time we were in water over my head so I was constantly swimming or treading water. I can do that for quite some time but fighting a current makes it that much more difficult. We did find one other conch and saw quite a few longhorn cowfish. I had to look up what kind of fish it was which took me quite a while but after seeing a picture, it is definitely what we were seeing. Steven also made friends with two tiny little reef fish. They circled him the entire time we snorkeled just about. They would swim under him as we were snorkeling for protection. It was beyond adorable. When we came back to the shore, both kids came running towards us. I got a huge hug from Will. I think these kids lack confidence in our skills and think we may go out and never come back.
At this point it was time for lunch. We decided to just eat at our spot on the sand because we knew we would want to go back in the water afterwards and didn't want to pack up and move on to another area of the park just to eat. After eating we headed back into the water. Grandaddy elected to sit in the shade of the tent and snooze while we swam. The water was just so amazing that no one wanted to get out. We spent around two and a half to three hours in the water today and likely would have been there longer if it wasn't for that pesky thing called the sun. As it was, we only applied sunblock to everyone once and Kenzie spent so much time in the water (and without her hat for part of it because she was going underwater) that she ended up with quite the rosy cheeks by the end of the day. She also burned the tops of her hands somehow which seems like the craziest place to get a burn. That's how you know she is my kid. I burn in weird places like that. Will on the other hand seems even darker than he was two days ago. That kid can tan. I wish I did that. Eventually Grandma had to go in because Grandaddy and her wanted to get back to the hotel to rest up some. We stayed out in the water another 15 minutes or so after she left before we decided to call it a day. We wanted to give Will some time to rest and also knew we had been out in the sun for a long time and spent most of it in the water. I think at some point Grandaddy asked Steven if we were beached out yet because Steven mentioned that we planned to hit up Siesta Key in a few weeks. Beached out? Is that a thing? Is that even possible? And the answer was a resounding no. Definitely not beached out. We would go back tomorrow if we could. It didn't take long to clean up and get the kids rinsed off enough to make it back to the hotel.
We stopped for gas on the way back because Will fell asleep almost as soon as we left the park. He slept all the way back to the hotel including through our stop. Steven ended up carrying him in asleep which was all fine and dandy until he sleep peed on him. Yep. He was still asleep and not in a pull up because his suit was wet so it wouldn't have worked. And he peed all over Steven. Hilarious. For me. Not so much for Steven. We made it back to the room and set him up on towels on the couch to finish his snooze. He ended up waking up but he laid there for quite some time just relaxing until he had to potty, which he thankfully told me about instead of sleep peeing on the couch in the hotel. That rest was what he needed to recharge some. We all got cleaned up and started prepping some for checking out tomorrow while we discussed what to do for dinner. We had a few ideas including going back to Bahia Honda with a picnic dinner but we elected not to do it because we didn't want Kenzie out in the sun too much again today since she was already burned a bit. We eventually decided to just go to Pizza Hut. We didn't want chicken or anything again for the kids and didn't want to spend too much so pizza seemed like a good idea.
The kids ate pretty well for dinner and then we headed back over the Seven Mile Bridge to Bahia Honda one more time before we say goodbye to the Keys. We had plans to meet up with Grandma and Grandaddy again on the bay side to watch the sunset. We beat them there so we walked back up to the old bridge again. While we were up there, Will had a poop accident which sort of put a damper on all things fun until we could get him cleaned up. I admit, I was sort of happy to see the doggy clean up bags. That made my life easier but I never thought I would be using them for my human child. Oh well. It worked. By the time we did all that and then I took Kenzie to the potty, Grandma and Grandaddy were there. We walked around a bit but decided that the sunset left something to be desired because the clouds were pretty prevalent. We instead decided to drive over to the beach side to walk on the beach for a bit.
Will was getting a bit tired at this point so he didn't really want to walk much but we went down the beach a little. It was also high tide so there was minimal beach. We wanted to make sure to keep the kids as clean as possible so we didn't want them playing in sand or in the water. Yeah, we aren't fun but we really didn't want to deal with super sandy and wet kids again. Especially since we didn't have towels or anything in the car. Will was adorable though. When we got on the beach he asked, "I dip my toes in the water, please?" So sweet. After a short walk down and back up the beach, we headed to our cars. This was where we split with Grandma and Grandaddy for the remainder of the trip. They have plans to be out of the hotel early tomorrow and we are going to mosey along back up US 1 stopping along the way. We have had such a great time for them and we are very, very thankful for all they have done with us this trip. We couldn't have done this trip without them.
On our way out of Bahia Honda I happened to catch a glimpse of the sunset and despite us thinking it was going to be not as magnificent as some of the others, it was gorgeous. Thank you Keys for next disappointing. I asked Steven to drive back to the bay side so I could snap one more quick picture and we could get a glimpse at one more Keys sunset before we leave tomorrow. Worth it.
The kids had a hard time going to sleep tonight. They were sort of wired and we had to get on to them more than once for giggling and carrying on in their bed. They are finally asleep though and will hopefully get a good night's rest.
We are going to be so sad tomorrow to drive away from the Keys. We have talked about trying to make a short trip down again next summer although initially we didn't think that would happen because we have another trip in the planning stages already. We will see what we can work out. This is truly a happy place for us. Beaches, blue-green water, amazing sunsets, and family memories. Can't beat it.
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