Weekend Getaway: Day 2

Since it has been almost a week since I first shared Day 1 of our weekend getaway, I better share Days 2 and 3 before you forget we even went on vacation.  I have been MIA lately and for good reason, but that will have to wait for another post.  So on to Day 2 of our mini vacation.

The kids enjoyed hanging out on the sofas in the lobby of the hotel, playing on iPhones and drinking flavored water.

Before it got too hot out, we thought we would take a stroll around Coconut Grove and see what we could.

Now, I know this is just a Johnny Rockets, which can be found anywhere, but I just loved the wedge shape and the sun peeking in to the frame here.

Here's a shot of our hotel from the street.

We decided to take a walk over by the Shoppes at Mayfair...

...because I had to capture the famous Bookstore in the Grove.

And how cute are these bike racks in the shape of, what else, bikes?!

The Improv, comedy club.

Dinner Key Marina

So, after dragging the kids around town in the heat enjoying the sights, we decided it was time to hit the Miami MetroZoo, now known as Zoo Miami.  Actually, there are so many fun places to bring your kids when you're visiting Miami, it was really hard to choose just one place.  But, since I hadn't been to MetroZoo/Zoo Miami since Hurricane Andrew destroyed it, we thought we'd go. And I'm so glad we did!

With maps and waters in hand, we hit the pavement.

Actually, the wheels of our rental bike hit the pavement.  Can I get a Hallelujah?!  Now that  is how you see Zoo Miami...in the sweltering South Florida summer heat and rain.  The family bikes are big enough to hold everyone and have a canopy on top, which is how we stayed in the shade and were protected from the rainfall.  Insert big smile on this mama's face and less grouchy kidlets.

We checked out an aviary, saw some amazing exotic birds, and even acted like them, too.  Here's Caleb hatching.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was feeding the giraffes.

Caleb and Madeline LOVED it!

Apparently giraffes speak English because Madeline kept talking to them like they understood her. lol

We also had a chance to visit the Amazon.

(How cute is my hubby toting around my purse/camera bag for me?  What a gentleman!)

Caleb has been fascinated with snakes lately (king cobras, in particular). So we had to visit our slithery friends.

On our way there, Caleb pretended to be a jaguar...

...and rode on a dart frog.

Here are the kids spying on the jaguars.

And then we finally made it to the home of our reptilian friends. Madeline was more interested in dancing.

But Caleb couldn't get enough of them.  And it was a good thing these friends live indoors at the zoo, where it's air conditioned, for the sake of all their visitors because we stayed a while.  I think Caleb probably looked over every creature at least three hundred times.  He was absolutely precious, and his sister was patient, for the most part.

So after our little excursion to the zoo, we headed back to the hotel.

We managed to out pace another storm as we headed back.  Boy, was it fascinating to watch this storm roll in from 18 floors up.  So so cool.

Later that evening, we headed out for dinner to a little Italian place called Calamari.  Thankfully the rain let up, mostly, as we walked over.  Just before we reached the restaurant, I spied the old Coconut Grove Playhouse, which closed its doors in 2006 for financial reasons.

Dinner was absolutely delicious.  And it's a good thing we had to walk back to the hotel.  Well, I was practically rolled out of there, as we all were.  Anyway, once we got back to the hotel, I wanted to snap a night time shot of Biscayne Bay. This happens to be one of my top favorite shots from our vacation.  I could really get used to a view like this. lol.

Well, that wraps up Day 2.  I promise Day 3 won't take so long to share.  And I promise to share what's been keeping me busy.