Florida in July

We had a chance to take a family trip to Florida this past week.  With my in-laws moving to Orlando, this has become at least an annual trip for us.  This past week the circumstances were hosting a baby shower for my sister in-law.

We flew out Thursday night and had social events Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday morning.

I did have a chance to get in a dive trip on the Rainbow River again.  I used the same shop for rentals and took advantage of the Rainbow River Water Taxi.  The Port Hotel and Marina dive shop is under new management.  While they still accommodate divers, it was a little tedious to secure rental gear.  Fortunately for this trip, I brought down my regulator/console and only had to rent BC, tanks, weights and fins.  This worked out great, but in the future, I will pack some BC accessories like an octo holder and retractable attachments for a console, camera, etc.

This was my first time diving with a dive float flag and that was a little trickier than I expected.  It was just one more thing to keep an eye on.  Between checking my console and getting untangled from the flag, I did not have much energy for video capture, but I will be posting a video down the road.

We also took in the attractions.  This trip we did Disney’s Hollywood Studios for the “Summer of Frozen.”  We arrived just in time for the parade, visited with Phineas and Ferb, went on the Toy Story Midway Mania ride, saw the Voyage of the Little Mermaid show, saw the Disney Junior Live on Stage show, and went on the Star Tours – 3D simulator ride.  We also had lunch and dinner at the park in addition to snacks.  Given the 100 degree heat index, springing for an $18 spray bottle was well worth it.

Despite bringing down swim goggles and running gear, I did not train once during this trip.  I should have planned better and will certainly do so next time.

Finally I have a short video to share from the Quality Inn pool at Crystal River, Florida.  For all of the expense and treasure trove of activities, just hopping in the pool is a thrill for my children.  We were in this pool twice, a pool in Minneola once, and they also swam around at K.P. Hole State Park in Dunnellon, Florida.