About the last 100 miles of the drive down, Mercer started to feel bad. We had to make a lot of stops. He was feeling sick the next day too. THEN Isabella started to feel bad - which lasted a couple of days. THEN I did as well. 
It seems that all of us were hit with the same thing. It definitely slowed us down. But, we still worked in some cool things. We visited the beach a couple of times, the hotel pool a couple of times and took several excursions.
This is the last summer she'll be able to fit in that thing~~) We were hoping for a little more to do at the park with the kids. Thankfully, we joined up with a group of camp kids playing at a banyan tree (way way cooler than the nearby playground). We saw raccoons in the trees and GIANT lizards scattered about (invasive / feral green iguanas that were a couple of feet long). We took a loop around the park and stopped for a snack along the Intercoastal Waterway to watch the boats.
Our next excursion also involved the Intercoastal Waterway, but this time we traveled by boat along it's waters. There's something called "Millionaire's Row" along the banks.
The water taxi driver told us a little bit about the houses (including one that sold for 27.7 million, but the owner didn't like the way it looked and was doing a major renovation on the exterior. Yikes!) There were beautiful yachts all lined up as well. We took the water taxi to Hollywood Beach, south of Ft. Lauderdale to grab dinner and walk around. Hollywood has a great boardwalk, perfect for biking. Mercer says he wants to go back sometime and rent some of the cool low-rider bikes that we saw.
On the way there and along the way back, there were lots of natural areas as well as industrial areas. Port Everglades - one of the busiest ports in the US - was actually very interesting. We enjoyed watching cargo ship loading and unloading, the mechanics of draw bridges, and the like. Mercer said this was his favorite part of the trip.
The next day, we went even father away.... we headed farther south to the Everglades! We took an airboat ride across a very small portion of this 1.5 million acre park. It is not a stagnant swamp (like we went to just before Isabella was born). It is considered a moving body of water -- it only moves 100' / day. It feels sort of swamp-y, though. We saw fish and turtles. It was not 'til the end of the boat ride that we saw one alligator. There are lots of places for them to hide. The shallow (sort of open) water where the airboats travel is not where they hang out. The kids were not happy about having to wear ear protection and were also not happy about the loud noise of the fan motor. I think the heat had gotten to them too. Unfortunately, the compressor in Todd's truck's air conditioner went out. We were in south Florida.... during the summer. It was ridiculously hot and stifling. Our poor kids - who weren't feeling well - were definitely getting lethargic in the car with all of the heat. It felt like we were in the desert -- only with an extra layer of humidity enveloping us... suffocating us. You can tell in their faces from this series of photos that they're not feeling well. 
We met up with dad and Charlie so they could take the kids back home with them. Ever since last year's trip to the beach where Todd and I had our little kayak / snorkel excursion.... we wanted to do more snorkeling.
After we met for lunch and left the nearby manatee education center, Todd and I headed down the scenic route back south -- mainly along A1A weaving in and out of old and new beach towns.
We stopped at a nice little spot on the swank Jupiter Island called Coral Cove. According to some write-ups about good snorkeling destinations, this was one of them. It was a pretty cool spot and we went out for a bit, but the waters were very rough and we decided not to get too banged up against the rocks that protruded from the water. We did get to see a school of fish + lots of holes and pockets in the rocks which were interesting. We got to see a wedding that was being staged along the same set of rocks. Then we stopped for dinner at a marina that we had visited the previous year with the kids which was in the town we stayed last year.The next day, we took a tour boat out to a spot in the ocean and got in some better snorkeling. Todd started not to feel well while in the water (thankfully his was NOT the ick that Mercer, Isabella, and I had). He did get in some underwater action, however, and got to see some of the beauty under the water.
My camera (in a waterproof case) wasn't taking pictures as I wanted, so there are lots of shots of beautiful teal-green water. Without knowing it, I also took this little video clip. Face masks are flattering, huh?!
Ahhh... technology.
We also got to go out / meet up with a former co-worker one night. With the tough week we had with the kids (and - admittedly - me too... I was tough at times) it was nice to have a little down-time at the end of our stay to decompress.
While the kids were with their Florida grandma and grandpa, we received lots of texts, photos and updates. They went to a bouncy house / inflatables place. They played with the dog. They visited with their aunts and uncle. They even got to "help out" with some chores (on a tractor)! It doesn't seem that they really missed us at all.
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The older kids (boy scouts) were carrying the largest flag in the county. The younger ones - Mercer's group - was carrying a smaller flag, but still of impressive size. At some point, he decided to stop carrying the flag and just start waving to the crowd. (This pic snapped & sent to us by a friend in the crowd.) He liked seeing people he knew along the way.
Between the walk to the parade staging area, then the actual parade route, we walked at least 3-4 miles in some pretty hot / humid weather. By the end of it, he was "done." He asked if we had to do it again next year.... was it required as a Cub Scout? (nope... but kind of cool that he finally got to be in the parade.) Isabella told me that when she's a 9 year old boy, she will walk in the parade too. (um..... ?)
One thing that moved me (but also bothered me) while walking with the boys: only a handful of people stood for the flag and saluted. They were all elderly men who seemed to wear some sort of veteran t-shirt or hat. It bothered me that more people did not take seriously the request by the Scout parents at the front of the group to stand to honor the flag. But - I teared up each time that one of these gentlemen stood at attention until the two big flags had passed. I am sincerely glad that Mercer walked -- even if he doesn't get the depth of his troop's actions.
We walked back up to the square for fireworks, then did a few little ones of our own once we returned home. Isabella ("Little Sparkler") loved them.
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It's definitely popular here, but I believe it was popular across the country for awhile - making it to the top of the Billboard chart.
So, in the effort of journaling / documenting mementos for Mercer, here's a copy of a newspaper clipping that someone from the City sent us.
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Our school was going through a rough time / I stepped into a lot of turmoil -- without knowing it, of course. We do not have a big high school population, so I'll be transitioning a little bit to the Middle School team (with some of the kids I was already teaching in 7th - 10th grade) and will swap off with another science teacher between Middle / High. The work load may be a little less on the science side, but I will be teaching a 7th grade history class (YIKES) and will be integrating architecture into more of the students' curriculum as well. This has been a challenge -- joining in at this job. I AM getting a LOT of varied experiences, however.
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