Go RVing - Robbie's

Our first morning waking up in Florida, we got around and ready and headed in search of the fish cleaning station.  There was a rumor around the RV park that a manatee and her calf had been hanging around feeding and drinking the fresh water.

We later realized the one they found was the wrong fish station, but the boys did spot this spiny lobster!

While I kept an eye on the pelicans.

We moved along to the RV site where the crew was already setting up.

We got our microphones on and Miles didn't waste any time in starting story telling to entertain everyone.

We got a shot of us walking from the RV to the truck, then headed up the road to Robbie's for a wildlife boat tour.

We met our captain and headed out onto the water.


Captain Sam told us all about everything we were seeing as we rode around the mangroves.

We'd done some research on Florida wildlife before our trip, and the boys already knew that there would be osprey there, thanks to the Wild Kratts.  So when we came up on an osprey eating its fish breakfast, our boat got really loud and excited! :)

The crew followed along in their own boat shooting from there and recording our audio.

A cameraman jumped onto our boat for a while to get some close ups.

We were told to keep an eye out for manatee but never spotted one. This is when we learned they like to drink fresh water, like from yard hoses, so it made sense why they hang around fish cleaning stations and docks.

We did see some HUGE iguana! 

And the boys got to hold an upside-down jellyfish!  These only sting if turned over and is about like an insect bite.  They were cautious with it and no one found that out.

Cooper returned it safely to the water.

We had a great time on this wildlife boat tour!
(If you're ever in Islamoralda, Sam with Key-Z Charters can give you a great tour!)

After our tour we headed to eat lunch.  Eating outside is a favorite of mine and we got to do just that often.  And usually right on the water.  So great! 

We tried to convince the boys to eat seafood as often as possible, and they did.  But this day, Cooper decided a hot dog sounded good.  He was surprised at it's size when it came and still talks about the 'biggest hot dog I've ever seen'!

After lunch we had a little time to wander around Robbie's and have some fun.

We ran into one of the cameramen who asked the boys if they were excited about feeding tarpon next...

Ummm, yes! It's all they'd talked about all morning! And when it was finally our turn, the experience didn't disappoint.

(Although Miles should have been warned about those pelicans perched behind him.  He found out the hard way when one pecked at the fish he was holding and got his arm instead.  Except for a small welt, Miles was just fine and now knows not to hold a fish where a pelican can see it!)

Feeding the tarpon was quite the deal, you hold a fish out over the water and wait for them to come.

And they eat it right out of your hand!

The boys mostly just threw their feeder fish into the water and the jacks typically get to them first.

These are fish bigger than the boys!  It was fun just to watch the whole thing.

Also exhausting...  :)

After Miles and I had a nap back at the cottage, we headed out to do some fishing around the RV park. We saw so many interesting fish in this little canal! The water is perfectly clear, so it's Miles' kind of fishing, he just plays with them. HA.  We saw mangrove snapper, parrot fish, needle fish, barracuda, mullet, a lot we didn't know and even a lemon shark!!  Cooper caught one snapper this day, and didn't want to quit fishing.  Ever.

We had a show to shoot though...  so we headed to the RV resort 'beach' area.

And then went for a dip in the pool.

It overlooked the ocean (gulf?) and was a breathtaking setting.

This was the night Derek grilled hot dogs and we 'ate dinner' outside the RV.

We tried to act normal, whatever that is, and be ourselves.  This included the boys erupting in laughter when the ketchup bottle made a 'tooting' sound... which caused the entire crew standing around to bust up laughing.

We enjoyed the sunset again that night with a few final shots.

...how can you help but enjoy it?

Then Derek went to an actual dinner with the crew and I took the boys to the cottage and put them to bed.  We needed to leave early the next morning for our next adventure, and since the boys ate the hot dogs, mac & cheese and broccoli from our 'fake' dinner, they were full.  Derek brought back a smorgasbord of everyones leftovers for me, which was the best way to taste everything! :)