our florida visit

the kids and i are back from our week-long florida vacation (or as i like to call it "parenting...with palm trees"). in picture form, our vacation looked super relaxing and perfect. but anyone who has traveled with children knows that it can be far from relaxing. thatcher did not come along because he is saving his pto for future trips. so, i was solo parenting for the week (with wonderful help from my mom and brother), but it was still a ton of work and at times overwhelming managing all their emotions and needs. but we all survived. 

ashford is my little homebody and it has become clear when we travel that he does not enjoy being out of his regular environment and routine. he complained endlessly, acted out more than normal, and asked to go home quite a few times during the week. i tried to be patient with him, but it was tough. azalea was a happy camper but had a bad allergic reaction to pollen (we think). she woke up with swollen eyes every morning and a rashy face. we went through a lot of benadryl, but it seems to be improving since we came back. while i officially took the week off of work, i was tuned in to some tense stuff happening with my company and was getting bombarded by things that were happening with the co-working board as well. 

that said, we had a wonderful time overall! it was so nice to escape winter and spend dedicated time with my mom and brother. the weather was spectacular, even admittedly a little too warm and humid. (it didn't drop below 70 at night until our last day). it was our first trip there in 4 years. and our first visit there without my dad, which was hard. i know he would have enjoyed having us there so much. we did so many fun things, i'll try to recap as much as i can. 

we had to get up at 3:30 am to catch our 6:30 am flight. the airport was pretty packed and we waited a long time in the security line. the flight was 6 hours and i was a little worried about how the kids would do because they've never flown for that long before, but they did amazingly well. it felt long, but they were happy playing on their tablets and eating snacks and i got to watch some movies and shows. whew!

what we ate: 

i was so excited to hit up some of my favorite restaurants while we were there. we made a few meals at home, ate ice cream nearly every day, and went out to eat a bunch.

the night we arrived we went to "400 beach" in st. petersberg, which we've been to before. can't beat $3 glasses of wine for happy hour. i had seafood chili and a burger. 

we ate every meal (that we were home for) on grandma's lanai. it was so nice! she even made us her famous french toast one morning. 

we got subs from publix (grocery store) twice. they are the best subs in the world! we had a picnic lunch at casperson beach one day. 

my mom made frozen margaritas one night to have with our chicken nachos. yum! 

our favorite place to get ice cream is called "nokomis groves". it's an orange grove with a store that sells fresh juices, soft serve ice cream, and other good stuff. the kids' ice cream melted everwhere, but they enjoyed it. 

we also went to culvers for dinner/custard because we don't have them in seattle and we miss it so! 

we went to a new place called "the island bar and grille" near fort desoto and i got this delicious strawberry daiquiri with my fish tacos. 

all the beaches: 

our first morning we headed to siesta key beach near sarasota. it's my favorite beach. the sand is so white and soft. it gets crowded early, so we wanted to make sure we got a parking spot. we spent a couple hours there and the kids were in heaven running in and out of the waves and playing in the sand. it was warm, sunny and perfect.

we missed some spots of their faces with sunscreen and they ended up getting burnt, so i felt bad about that, but we were extra careful the rest of the week. 

my mom has been telling me about drum circles down in florida for years and we finally got to experience one (two actually) for ourselves. the first one we attended was at nokomis beach and was the bigger of the two. there were hundreds of people gathered to bring down the sun :) drummers, belly dancers, and tons of people of all ages. we brought wine and snacks and snagged a spot. it was pretty epic people watching :) it was such a beautiful night. 

the second drum circle we went to was at venice beach and it was a smaller group, partly because it was a super foggy night. but we still had fun! 

another day we spent a couple hours at casperson beach in venice. it's another favorite of mine. the kids enjoyed playing in the waves and looking for sharks teeth. 

we took a drive up to st. petersburg to fort desoto state park. i was there 10-15 years ago and remembered it was such a pretty spot. the kids loved exploring the old forts and playing on the beach. 

the pool: 

the kids were obsessed with grandma's (neighborhood) pool, so we made time for it every day. 

the jetty: 

the jetty is a nice, scenic spot in venice. the kids loved seeing the pelicans diving under water to catch fish. 

the fishing pier: 

another scenic spot in venice. 

sarasota bayfront: 

one morning we went to sarasota and hung out at bayfront park and played on the playground there. 

we also visited with some florida friends, my mom took azalea and i to see "42nd street" at the venice theater, we saw the goats and a donkey at the farm by nokomis groves, played lots of board games, and watched some movies. the flight back to seattle was long but easy and uneventful. i'm thankful for that! i miss florida already and can't wait to go back again.