Monday, February 29, 2016

FLORIDA
we traveled to florida a couple weeks ago with craigs parents. it was a new adventure for us and we enjoyed exploring a different part of the country.
the boys were excited for the long flight. ipads, lots of movies and candy stashes will do that to you.
our hotel was super family friendly and had a great bowling alley. the boys had so much fun.
my bowling buddy.
our first full day in orlando we went to HARRY POTTER WORLD. it was everything we hoped it would be... and more.
waiting in line for the gringotts ride. SO FUN.
the entire park was detailed to perfection. we felt like we were on our way to hogwarts!


you can buy these 'magic' wands that help you cast spells at certain places around diagon alley and hogsmeade. it was very cool.

a great (but pretty cold) day at universal studios.
i was loving the landscape. and the tiiiiiiiiny crescent moon.
and tagg was loving his sirius black wand.
the following morning we swam at the hotel pool and raced around in the lazy river.
then we started heading south. we stopped by this beach on the gulf side of florida that my friend told me had sand like powdered sugar. she was right! it was amazing. soooooo soft.
it was a beautiful, sunny day.
super soft (and cool. i heard some lady saying that there's quartz in the sand that keeps it cool) sand.
tagg buried my feet. he was begging to bury my entire body but i wasnt ready to commit to that.
that night we got to our hotel and the boys jumped right into the pool. there was alocal dive bar at the hotel and some guy was belting out jimmy buffett songs. pretty legit.

the next day we went to a beach called sanibel. it was a gorgeous day and the boys loved finding shells and dead sea creatures. 
then we headed to the everglades. craig and the boys rode on an airboat to see the alligators. (we were short $5 cash for us all to go so i stayed behind. annoying!) 
alligator!!!
then we went to like an alligator farm/amusement park type thing and saw more alligators up close.
and fed this weird bird guy.
craig and i (mostly me) had had enough of alligators so we started heading down to the florida keys. tagg & sully stayed at the alligator farm with rod and cheri a little longer. worth it for them.... the boys were able to hold baby alligators. highlight!
craig and i found this super cute and delicious lunch place on our way down to islamorada.
the key that we stayed at is called islamorada. it means purple isle because at sunset the sky turns purple. it was so pretty.
we had a lot of fun playing in the water.
and talking to tessy on facetime that night. :)

islamorada was sooooo pretty. 
just relaxing in a hammock.
the next day we drove a few minutes over to where these huuuuuuuge fish called tarpons congregate to be fed by tourists. and the pelicans congregate to eat the scraps.
the bucket of weird looking fish you buy to feed the tarpon.

you cant really tell how large these fish were. trust me. they were huge.
after feeding the fish we went back to our hotel to play in the water.
another pretty (almost) sunset.
this was the view from rod and cheri's sweet suite. :)
looking for fish.
i (obviously) couldnt get enough of this view.


valentines day with craig! we really liked the florida keys. 
on our last day in florida we drove up to miami to walk around. the boys' hair was SUPER curly from all the moisture in the air. hahahaha
miami beach was very pretty. the water was SO warm.
we played in the sand/water until we had to leave to catch our flight. a very fun week!