Camping with the Manatees!

I finally did it! I took the kids camping by myself and we survived!!! It was just Adeline,Ryan and I and we had a great time. Our homeschool group had a field trip to Blue Springs State Park and with it being a 2 hour drive I decided that for us it would be easier to camp the night before and then meet up with the group the next afternoon. Did I say "easy" - easy it was not, but still lots of fun and Ryan and Adeline kept telling me how much they "loved camping" and "when can we go again" and "thank you mommy for taking us camping"! So glad we went!


Blue Spring State Park is the largest spring on the St. Johns River. It is a designated Manatee Refuge and the winter home to the West Indian Manatees.
So after setting up camp ...


We headed out to explore for a bit

I had made us some black bean soup before we left so we heated that up over the fire and it was delicious. Ryan did a awesome job getting a nice fire going for us.


The evening went well and in the morning Adeline and I woke up and realized that Ryan was not in the tent. I looked out and noticed Ryan had already gotten the coolers out of the car and had a morning fire going plus he was cooking the sausages already!! Way to go Ryan , I was rather impressed and proud of my little man!


enjoying the morning fire
Once we packed up , we headed over to the springs and walked around while we waited for our friends to arrive.

The springs are so clear. In the summer you can swim,scuba and snorkle - perhaps we will go back
It is hard to tell , but there is a manatee there . We saw 7 or 8 of them !

1856 this area was settled by Louis Thursby and his family. The Thursby house, built in 1872, remains standing

I don't think this manatee was there in 1872 though : )
Enjoying lunch with our friends :
Listening as Addison tell us all about the manatees

Such a great time !