Camping & caving - Take 1

I've been living in Florida for the past 11 years & traveling here from Illinois since I was an infant, but in all those years, I never knew there were caves to be found here!

We were lucky enough to go with some experienced cavers that showed us the way.

Going into this trip, I didn't know what to expect in any way.  We were told to buy head lamps & that's about the gist of it.  I especially didn't know what to expect out of Reese since she tends to be a very cautious kid.

Reese shocked the heck out of us & boldly climbed in & out of the caves we visited.  She was even more fearless than me.  On the outside I may have appeared calm, but on the inside I was shaking in my boots!  The biggest fear was bumping into a large spider while I was in a confined space.

Cam was super brave & never hesitated crawling into every space we were faced with.

It's funny because having the kids there made us more likely to go in since we didn't want to hold them back on experiencing something new.

Here I was, climbing farther & farther into the depths of this dark, eerie space...

Little did I know that just above my head was a sleeping bat!  Thank goodness it wasn't discovered until I was standing safely outside & in the open air.

Had I looked up & seen this guy hanging above my head, I may have lost it!

Camping was an absolute blast & the kids had an amazing time.  My favorite part was being off the grid at only a 45 minute drive from our house.  There was no TV, no video games & it was so awesome to spend time together distraction free.

We're hoping to make this an annual trip since we had such a great time.  

I have to say though, I'll probably stay in the fresh air instead of climbing down into the dark depths of the caves.  That's something that I can check off my life list & that's good enough for me!