You can’t tell by the looks of their faces but this picture was taken at 4:45 in the morning at the airport! We’ve been looking forward to our trip to Florida for a really long time! Our day started really early as we woke up at 3:20 am (after having turned the lights out at 1:30 am) to begin our trek. We gave Lily and Brutus a small bit of breakfast, packed up the car with our bags, and took off for the airport. This is the least amount of baggage we’ve ever taken on a trip! Kevin and Finn shared a suitcase, I had one, and Finn had a small roller bag with his lovies and blanket and books and such in it. Kevin had his briefcase and I had a purse and that was it! So we didn’t check any bags for this flight. I was pretty impressed, I honestly didn’t think we’d make that happen. Griffin was excited for this plane ride, it is his second one, and he was all smiles once we got on the plane. It was still dark out (we departed at 6 am) so we couldn’t see too much but he got the window seat anyhow. He didn’t nap at all on the flight, instead he played games and watched a couple shows on his tablet.  When we arrived in Ft. Myers it was cloudy and raining. Mom and Dad picked us up at the airport and we headed toward Siesta Key, stopping for breakfast (which seemed like the lunch hour to us!) at Cracker Barrel. After we arrived at their condo we hung out and then headed to the beach, as we thought we had a break in the weather. Not so much! It was windy and cool so we didn’t last too long! Finn did play for a short bit at the awesome playground they have at the beach area.  Finn loved checking out the pool at the Condo with Grandpa (and splashing through the puddles to get there!). Compared to the air temp the pool felt super warm! After a long morning the boys (cousins and daddy included) all enjoyed naps while watching a show. They were in deep sleep here!Over the next few days we enjoyed lots of delicious food, ice cream, time at the beach and at the pool. We arrived in Florida a few days before the Bethune’s departed so we could all hang together for a couple of days. It was a great time!
We stayed at a hotel in Venice, a short half hour drive to Siesta Key. We started each morning with a yummy breakfast at the hotel 🙂The water temperature was right around 70 degrees. It definitely felt cool when you first dipped your toes, but after a couple of minutes it didn’t feel so cold. We didn’t go “swimming” in the ocean but we definitely played a lot in the water and walked in up to our bellies! One day after arriving at the beach some yelled “Kevin!”.  As it turns out Kevin’s second cousin, Patrick, who lives in Ohio, was sitting directly behind us (literally 10 feet) at the beach! This is a huge and crowded beach so the fact that we were sitting right beside one another was crazy! Not to mentioned we had no idea they were in Florida and vice versa! Patrick was there with his family for winter break and his mom, Lauren, was there too.  So we all hung out for a bit, fun times!  One evening at dinner we celebrated moms 70th birthday! Wowzer, how can that be? Amy and I and the kiddos had met up at home a few weeks ago and the kids made a hand-printed platter for her. They each chose the color for their handprint and the stem of their flower has the number of leaves to represent their age when we painted it. On the back they each chose a “bug” to paint and they each wrote their names! It turned out super cute.  When Grandma Kirk lived in Sarasota one of her favorite restaurant’s that we would go to when we visited was a place called Millie’s. We had a morning girls breakfast there while the guys made a breakfast for the guys at the condo 🙂 They are known for their apricot stuffed french toast – so that’s what I had! Griffin had his first real taste of fish while we were in Florida. We went out for dinner at Phillipi Creek where Kevin ordered Red Snapper and Finn enjoyed several bites.  On Saturday morning the Bethune’s headed back to Ohio and we moved from hotel in Venice to the Condo in Siesta Key. Later that morning my cousin Missy, and her husband Dave, and their kids Lindsey and Maggie came to visit. They live in Vero Beach, FL, but had been in Apollo Beach about an hour north of Siesta Key. So we hung out for the afternoon mostly at the beach. Griffin loved playing with the girls and really enjoyed playing football at the beach. Kevin had stayed back at the condo as he was very pink from sunburn! They also came back on Sunday and we met up at the local Art Fair in downtown Siesta Key and had a nice lunch together there too. Then they headed out and we went home to get Kevin ready to fly back home for a few days of work. He sent us a pic of our condo from the sky! On Sunday there is a drum circle at the beach, so after Dad returned from taking Kevin to the airport we walked over to the beach and checked out all the action. Lots of people (and good people watching, lol!).