Yes, Virginia, there is more to Florida than theme parks. And I'm not a native Floridian or getting paid to promote Florida, but when you take time to plan a Florida family vacation and travel far, and spend your hard-earned money, and always keeping in mind that you may never visit again, don't you want to give your kids a broader education than just Mickey Mouse?  This is our second trip to Florida with kids in tow and each time I've tried hard to answer that question, YES! The first time, in addition to the House of Mouse, we added an evening at a place called Pirate's Dinner Adventure, drove around Orlando and explored the Disney-designed utopia known as Celebration, and drove only 40 minutes to the Atlantic Ocean and Canaveral National Seashore, where we played on the beach and got to see a rocket take off.  It's especially important this time around, since we have a foreign exchange student living with us, so this time, we're spending one day at Universal in Orlando and the rest of the trip, at Amelia Island to the east, and swimming with manatees to the west.  In only four days.  Here is the first photo from our excursions-- Happy 10-10-10!

                                      

                        Emmie and Andy check out the Atlantic Ocean
                        after sunrise on Amelia Island, Florida, 10-10-10.