Adventurous Leila

Hi, We’re back down in the keys staying at a coconut grove that we actually stayed at back in 2021. When we arrived I had to hop on my Spanish class while my parents got all set up. After my class Tom and Delmara showed up so we chatted for a bit before heading to bed. The next morning we woke up early to drop my mom off at the airport because she was flying back to Arizona for a night. While she was gone we just hung out at the RV, watched movies and waited for her to come back because she was flying back with my grandparents.

The next morning I woke up to my mom and grandparents already there, I was so excited to see them! We got ready and met up with our friends from the event we hosted, at an alligator farm. We watched the alligators get fed and learned some cool facts about them. Afterwards we went for a walk around the farm to check out the other animals before heading over to the alligator show. We watched the guy “wrestle” the gators but really it was more him showing us tricks and educating us on how to properly handle alligators and respect them. Once the show was over we even got to hold baby alligators. Lastly, we ended our time at the farm by taking a fan boat! It was a wild ride doing 360s, drifts and flying through the Everglades. Captain Crazy sure lived up to his name, but we all had a blast and would definitely do it again. We sure worked up an appetite so we stopped for dinner before calling it a night and heading to the hotel.

The following morning we ate some breakfast before heading down to the pool. It was the perfect sunny day so we spent most of it there. Landon’s swim instructor came and did another private lesson and by the end of the day he was swimming like a fish! Speaking of fish, we went to Sharkey’s for some delicious food and drinks. Since we’re on vacation my parents got us virgin pina colada’s, they were so yummy! We decided to get to bed early because grandma and I had a big day ahead of us.

I woke up early super excited because today I get to go scuba diving with my grandma for my first dive as an official scuba diver. Our hotel shared a parking lot with Rainbow Reef so we were able to just walk over to get our gear and hop on the boat. Once on the water it was about a 30 min ride out to the open water, so we had plenty of time to set up our gear and prepare before getting in. We dove down to a ship wreck, i got to see a cute sea turtle and tons of colorful fish. We also seen a coral and sea plants that were absolutely fascinating, even with the visibility being poor due to all the recent storms. Even though it was poor diving conditions, it was still amazing to have the opportunity and bonding time with my grandma.

Our second day of diving got canceled due to poor weather, so we ended up hanging out at the hot tub and heated pool all day. In the evening we went to a sports bar/restaurant to watch the playoff game and get dinner. The game was very entertaining and back to back the whole time but unfortunately our Packers lost the game. With the sad loss we headed back to the hotel for the night. Sadly it was time to pack up and head home because my grandparents had a flight to catch.