florida vacation part 1

we are back from our week long trip to florida to visit my parents. for any new readers, my parents have a condo on the gulf coast and spend the winters there now (lucky ducks!). i guess we are lucky ducks, too, having a free place to escape the mn winter. i have lots of pictures and stories to share (and remember), so i've broken up my recap into 3 parts - i wrote a recap of each day through out the week, so i wouldn't forget. bear with me :)

we left tuesday the 7th in the afternoon. we were a little nervous to fly with azalea for the first time, but she did well!

scoping out the scene before take off
we had to give her something new to play with about every 10 seconds (ha!). she also drank 2 bottles, ate lots of puffs, watched some sesame street on the ipad, and slept for about a half hour. i don't think she enjoyed being cooped up for 3 hours, but she never freaked out. whew! we got in at 8:00 pm. my parents met us at the airport and then we had an hour drive to their place. azalea was ready to party when we got home! she crawled around and played with toys for almost 2 hours.

sleep? who needs sleep?
at 11:00 pm (seriously!) we all attempted to go to bed, but she wasn't having it. the plan was to put her in a pack n play in the walk-in closet (with the door open), but she cried and cried. so we brought her into our bed (for maybe the third time in her life). it was a rough night. she did not want to go to sleep and climbed on us for about an hour. she also had party time at 4:00 am. it was so hard not to laugh at her cuteness, but i didn't want her to think it was a game. i felt like i got about 3 hours of sleep. oof!

the next morning, my mom, azalea, and i hung out at the condo while my dad and thatcher drove to sarasota to pick up the bike trailer we rented for azalea. then my dad, thatcher, and my parents' friend, fred went for a bike ride. when they got back, we took azalea to the pool in my parents' development. she loved it! she was a little unsure at first, but soon she was splashing and laughing and having a great time!

that night we had dinner at our friends' dan and julie's along with their 2 little girls, shannon (3) and maggie (1). we had lots of fun making pizza and hanging out with them.

azalea woke up crying 2 times this night...2:30 and 4:30. so unlike her! she went back to sleep pretty easily both times.

on thursday the 9th, we went to a park and fishing pier that over looks the ocean. it was a little cool and cloudy, but soon the sun came out. azalea got some swing time in :)

she is such a little nut!
 in the afternoon my mom, thatcher, and i went to our favorite ice cream place "nokomis groves." we left azalea home with grandpa to nap. later we took azalea on her inaugural trip in the bike trailer we rented. she didn't seem to like it that much at first, but we later figured out she was probably just hungry. we biked to casperson beach and set azalea down to play in the sand. she wasn't sure what to think! we also dipped her toes in the (chilly) ocean. she was sort of scared of the waves lapping on the shore, but it was fun to introduce her to one of the most beautiful sights in the world (in my opinion).

i guess this was her picture face for the day

we had a quiet night at the condo. made dinner and watched a movie with my parents. this night azalea was up from 3:30-5:00 am (!!!!). party party! we are so not used to this.

stay tuned for part 2...