Spring Break 2013- Florida, part 3

This is the last post about our spring break.  On our last day in Orlando, we went to the Orlando Science Center.  This is one of those great all-day activities for kids that leave them completely exhausted.  Jackson had a blast and the rest of us had fun watching him explore and play.  Unfortunately, Beth's husband had to work and missed out on all the fun :(  We probably could have made this into a 2-day activity if we allowed Jackson to play at each station as long as he wanted.  If you need a non-Disney activity for kids in Orlando, I highly recommend the OSC. 

Something about playing in water is so fascinating.

Boats and waterfalls

Gators and turtles lounging under the warming lamps

For $1 you could make this dinosaur skeleton move for a couple of minutes.  It was worth every penny :)

Dinosaur dig

Picnic lunch in a park with lots of fun art.  I was particularly fond of these guys.

Such a cool and simple idea.  PVC pipes with magnets on them and a huge sheet metal wall.  We could have stayed here all day rolling balls through pipes.  This would be fun to do on a garage wall.

Car races.  I stood at the bottom of the track and delivered cars back to the racers.

It was quite a long track!  It also had bleachers for fans and a scoreboard with times and rankings.  Too fun!

This space shuttle had lots of buttons and a countdown to lift off.  Jackson loved it!

He even had his Star Wars shirt on- how appropriate :)

You could make a tornado with the touch of a button.  I can't tell you how many tornadoes we made that day.

This look of wonder never got old.

This orchard area was awesome.  You picked oranges and put them in crates.  Then you could deliver them to 2 different areas.  Eventually the "oranges" appeared back in the trees and you could start all over again (and again and again...)

Operating the tractor that got the oranges up the ladder system

Delivering the oranges

On our way back to Texas, we spent a night camping near Fort Pickens in the Gulf Islands National Seashore area.  It was almost warm enough to snorkel, but it was a little windy and too late in the day to get geared up.  Maybe next time.  We did have fun exploring the old fort ruins.

That wraps up our Florida trip.  We look forward to visiting again, but it might be better in May when it's a little warmer but not too hot.  Thanks Beth, David and Jackson for a great week!