florida 2015

in past years, i've recapped our florida trips by what we did each day. i think i'm going to try something a little different this time. you're welcome ;) i do like to remember the details of our trips though, and i especially love looking back at my posts, so i can't promise this will be any shorter. although this was technically ashford's second trip, this year really felt like his first trip since he was only 9 weeks old last year and didn't really get to enjoy much. 

the flights:

we left wednesday the 28th at 6:50am! both flights went pretty well. i was a little worried how ashford would do on the plane since he never stops moving these days, which held true on the plane, but we survived. the way there started off a bit stressful. we were not even up in the air yet and ashford started squawking about something and all of a sudden, from the row in front of us comes a gruff "shut...UP" oh yes, for real. apparently the middle-aged biker chick in front of us was not a fan of kids. ashford quieted down a few seconds later and i wanted to crawl under a rock (and maybe punch her in the face). but...she did apologize about 30 minutes into the flight, so i give her credit there, but really? telling a 1 year old to shut up? pretty pathetic. other than that, he and azalea both napped for part of the flights both ways and we kept ashford (mostly) happy with a steady stream of snacks in his mouth. haha.

the weather:

my parents' place is on the gulf coast about 20 miles from sarasota. we've been really lucky to have nice weather almost every year we've gone. we had one cold year a few years ago, where it barely hit the 60's. this year was mostly sunny and temps in the upper 60's and low 70's. it felt glorious and we were able to do everything i hoped we would be able to.

the pool:

my parents have a pool in their development and it was the one thing azalea was most looking forward to. the day we got there, it was only 64 degrees out, but she insisted she was going swimming. luckily the pool was heated to 86 degrees. she swam almost every day we were there. every morning she would tell us "after my nap, i can go swimming!" 

ashford loved the pool too! he hasn't really been swimming too much, so i wasn't sure what he would think. he loved splashing around and being held in the water.

azalea loved wearing water wings and floating around by herself.  it felt so good to enjoy the pool in the middle of winter. 

nokomis groves:

have i mentioned before that we are ice cream lovers? our favorite place to go in florida is an orange grove called 'nokomis groves' that sells chocolate, vanilla, orange, lime, and pineapple soft serve. yummm. we went twice while we were there. my favorite part was watching ashford react to the coldness in his mouth, but he loved it, of course. 

nokomis groves, we'll be dreaming of you until next time.

casperson beach:

we went to two different beaches on our trip. the first was casperson, which is in venice. it's the most beautiful rustic beach with sand and rocks and a wooden boardwalk. the water was pretty chilly, so we only put our feet in, but ashford somehow managed to get really wet. the past couple years azalea has been afraid of it, but she loved frolicking in the waves this year. 

 this was ashford's first time playing at the beach and he loved it. he figured out the sand shovels and buckets right away and loved the water too.

watching my kids enjoy the ocean as much as i do was the best!

this is getting long, so stay tuned for part 2 including siesta key beach, date night, and more :)