Welcome to Florida: Part 1 {Trip Report}

Last month we got packed up the kids and headed down to North Florida for a long weekend to visit one of our favorite families.  We hadn't been to their house in over four years, so our visit was long overdue.  

The day we arrived was perfect...the kids played in their backyard while getting reacquainted, the mom's prepared dinner with a glass of wine and the dad's caught up by the fire.

Bounce House pictured was not for us, it was a hopping kids party at the house behind our friends

We packed up the next morning and hit up the much anticipated Alligator Farm in St. Augustine.  We visited the alligators during our first trip back in 2006.  

Florida 2006

Billy has been dying to get be here ever since...besides two kids, not much has changed, right?

The alligator farm is a great place to visit for kids and parents...they sell beer folks, so your sanity will be kept.  The kids loved just walking around and taking it all in. 

We took a little break at the playground and were trying to get Lauren and Christopher to do the monkey bars.  To motivate the kids and prove I still had it...I also participated:)  The best part was that not one kid was using it, but once a few adults tried it out there was a line up of little ones!

I love this picture of Alex, he was such a sweetie and always ready to smile for my camera!

William became fast friends with their boys, the day we got home he was telling me how much he already missed them.  And getting to see Christopher and Alex again at his party last week meant so much to him.

To top the whole experience off...this happened!

Christopher's face says it all and boy was he brave.  

Alex and William's faces are priceless.

We enjoyed a fun lunch afterward with perfect weather and delicious cocktails!  The perfect start to our long weekend.

XOXO

Aubrey

Marco Island: Part 3

The beach was great for shelling.  I've never seen a beach with so many shells actually worth taking home.  

 There were spots you had to dig a little and other spots that where the complete pile looked like they could all be for sale.  We took a bag home and I've been looking for ideas to make something fun with them.

This was the view from our hotel room and thankfully it was a free upgrade because we didn't enjoy it enough.  It was hard to enjoy the balcony with an on the move Wills and our leaving for dinner out every night.  But, we hurried on our last night to make it downstairs to catch the sunset on the beach. 

We could have seen the same thing from our balcony, but its much better with sand between your toes.

Right, Lauren?

And I wanted to grab a few pictures of us sans bathing suits...

She wouldn't smile nice for any of the pictures with us, but as soon as she sees "Ariel," she turned it on.  

Our flight wasn't until 3pm on our last day and we heard about a few places worth stopping at through the Everglades.  We packed up and left the hotel early to get it all in. 

Stop #1:  The Smallest Post Office in the US

It was literally at 2 minute stop.  The kids were asleep in the car and we jumped out to snap pictures to document our presence in Ochopee, Florida.

Stop #2: The Smallwood Store in Chokoloskee

The dirt road leading up to this historic store had us second guessing our decision, and luckily when we pulled up there were other patrons.  

 It served as a trading post, store, and post office for pioneers and the island was only accessible by boat until 1955.  The same year it got a bridge and subsequently electricity.  The store ran on a generator before that.  The muesum looks a lot like the store would have, showcasing many of the items that would have been for sale.

The only thing we purchased was a toy alligator, with a bonus gift of a dozen mosquito bites.

Stop #3: Triad Seafood in Everglades City

This area is where they catch the stone crab and then sell to the famous Joe's Stone Crab in Miami.  At half the price and no hour long waits, we didn't think twice.  A google search led us to this blog post.  She was right on!

This place was just the restaurant for us, complete with sugar packets for playing... 

And oddly, the best highchair of all of our dining experiences.  He was happy as could be the entire time!

The best stone crab!  So fresh!

If you are heading to Marco Island, let me know.  I've got a few other places I would recommend eating at and a few I would tell you to avoid.  

As we pulled away and headed to the airport I got teary eyed, I truly didn't want our vacation to end.  We loved Marco, Florida in November, but mostly just The Crawford Clan.

XOXO

Aubrey

Marco Island: Part 2

Today is just going to be a post of pictures from our trip and then I'll finish up the trip report this weekend with some of our other spots.  Like I said yesterday, most of the trip was walks on the beach and fun in the pool so that is the majority of the pics.  I know the grandparents appreciate all the pics, I hope everyone else does.

(Dude, your wife called, she wants her bathing suit back..)

Yes, hotel rooms can be boring, but not when you make a pillow fort!

Happy Friday!  Go play this weekend, you know this guy will:)

XOXO

Aubrey

Marco Island: Part 1

Good afternoon friends and family!

We just got back on Monday from a little vacation to Marco Island, Florida.  I would have blogged sooner, but was under the weather for a few days.  We had an amazing time at a truly 5 star resort.  The Marco Island Marriott is top notch.  The view from our room was spectacular and the zero entry pool was perfect for our family.

It was a perfect time of year to visit.  It wasn't crowded, but you didn't feel alone either.  The weather was perfect, just right with no humidity so we could spend most of the day at the pool or beach.

Wills loved the pool...always smiling and splashing.

He is really on the move now, completely crawling, so we had to watch him extra closely.

There was even a water slide that was only for kids.  Here is Lauren heading up with dad.  Get ready...

 Get set....

Go!

And that was the end of that.  "Its too scary" 

The trip was mostly filled with the time at the pool, walks on the beach, and dinners out.  Our goal was just to enjoy the time together just playing!  

 This trip just happened to take place over Billy's 31st birthday.  He wanted a seafood dinner and we delivered.  We drove 20 minutes to the Isles of Capri and dined at the Capri Fish House.  A staple spot from a Naples mom blogger that I follow.  

The atmosphere did not disappoint with beachfront dining and a one man band playing. What could have been better was the behavior of our kids. Billy and I are so sensitive to everyone around us, always trying to pick the kid friendly restaurant and bring activities to entertain.  But William is a complete wildcard at this age, and just as your food arrives he always seemed to get fussy.  Probably the most frustrating part of the entire trip.

  Happy Birthday Dad!  From all of us and her.  It never fails, every time I hand my camera over to someone, I get something like this!  Lucky for me, I can crop it.  

We ended our night at an adorable little cupcake shop in Old Marco.  Simply Cupcakes of Marco Island.  The owners were amazingly friendly and had some great restaurant tips for us.  The meals we had from their recommendations were the best of the trip!  

More to come tomorrow!

XOXO

Aubrey