Spring Break 2015

Before a big trip, I always stock up on snacks. I get different or better ones than we usually have at home. Each kid gets their own "snack bag" for the plane ride. We have flown Spirit the last couple of years, so I throw in some snacks for Mikey and I too!

We were scheduled to leave for Florida on a Thursday. The weather had been questionable all week and a Winter Storm was predicted to hit on Wednesday night. We kept praying that the meteorologists were over exaggerating, and unfortunately this was not the case. The night before we were scheduled to fly to Florida we got about 3 inches of ice and sleet and about 6 inches of snow.

This is what we woke up to Thursday morning and our flight was still ON TIME.

And so we headed to the airport. All schools and businesses were closed so thankfully there weren't many people on the roads. Mikey drove 30mph the whole way and we got there in a little over an hour. We checked in and our flight was still On Time. We couldn't believe it!

As soon as we got to the gate, our flight disappeared from the screen. We panicked a little bit, but it turned out that the gate had changed. So we made our way over to the new gate.

Our flight ended up being delayed just under an hour. We made it on the plane, still in disbelief. There was only one runway open.

We got some cool aerial pictures from the plane of all of the snow!

Traveling is never easy with 3 little ones. Mommy and Daddie were ready for a beer!

We went from the snow to the sand in a matter of hours!!

These two didn't waste anytime!

Bentley did some shelling with Grampy! Bentley's definition of shelling was to pick up the biggest, ugliest rocks and throw them into the ocean.

But he did have one big find! Luckily Presley took it out of his hand before he could throw it or break it.

Our first sunset.

On Friday, we went to the zoo!!

We always love the Monkey Cruise!

We actually saw a lot more monkeys this year!

A picture of the giraffes for Marmee!

Even Daddie was getting tired of walking...

We made it home just in time for lunch!

And naps!!

Movie time with Grampy!

On day 2, I discovered these beautiful shells. I immediately got on Pinterest to get ideas of what I could make with them and got a lot of cool ideas. So every day we were on a mission to find as many of these shells as we could. It was a family effort and we came home with 1000s!! All different colors and patterns. I am so excited!!

On Saturday we were excited to spend the whole day on the beach! A bagpiper came down to practice. It reminded us of our wedding day!!

Kiley got comfortable in her chair.

Presley having a snack!

Bentley having a drink.

Presley on the boogie board.

Mommy and Daddie!

Our shell count for the morning!

The girls waiting for the sunset!

This was Aunt Kathy's Sunset. Unfortunately, Aunt Kathy went to heaven on this beautiful day. She battled cancer for 3 years and lived a good life. We are thankful for all of the memories we have with her and we are going to miss her so much.

On Sunday, Mikey and I left the kids with Grammy and Grampy and we drove over to the Atlantic side to visit Uncle Bob. We were hoping to keep him company for a couple of hours and get him out of the house. We sat around and talked for a while and then went for a drive. It wasn't a fun day, but we were glad that we could be with Bob and give him a big hug.

On Monday morning, we got invited to go out on a boat. We took a couple of selfies before we left!

Unfortunately the boat was having some problems with the gages, so we didn't get out of the inter coastal. But we did get to see some dolphins close up so that was really fun!

This was one of my favorite sunsets!!

One morning I got a cute picture of the kiddos.

These two love everything about the beach. Playing in the sand, looking for shells, the waves, the water and the sun. They both tan like their Daddie.

And Kiley enjoys playing in the sand, as long as she isn't sitting in it or walking in it. And she has my complexion....

Daddie doing some kayaking!

Bentley got a cold (probably from the plane) and his coughing was so bad, so Daddie slept out on the couch a couple of nights and Presley joined him. I don't think I got any pictures of the sleeping arrangements, but Kiley and Presley both slept in sleeping bags. They started out in Grammy and Grampy's room. Kiley slept in their room every night. Presley went from their room, to the couch with Daddie and then in our room. Bentley went from the pack n play in our room to the bed in our room. We were so proud of Kiley for sleeping like a big girl in her sleeping bag. Bentley will be joining them next year.

Another beautiful sunset.

Another beautiful day on the beach!! We had the best weather! Every day was highs in the 80s and lows in the 60s. We only had one rain storm one afternoon the whole 10 days. We did the same thing every day. We had breakfast, came down to the beach, went up for lunch, Mommy and Daddie read while the kids napped, we went back down to the beach, then to the pool and then up for the sunset and dinner. It never gets old.

Presley met a little girl that was a little older and she and her brother swam out in the ocean. Presley caught on very quickly and thought she was so big swimming out in the ocean. Made Mommy nervous and proud!

Daddie being silly with the camera!

Me and my little man.

Pool time!

More sunset pictures!

Mikey got great pictures of a dolphin and the sunset!

One night we went down to the beach after sunset.

As I mentioned earlier, Kiley does not like to walk in the sand, but she came out of her shell. She was running all over the place and letting the water touch her toes. Maybe she doesn't like the sun....

I absolutely love this picture.

Presley picked some flowers and put them in her hair.

No sunset is ever the same...

On Saturday night, we rented the rec room and had a big dinner with some of the other families.

The kids had ice cream in colored cones!

We always do a family beach picture. We took a good one on the first day, but the condos were in the background instead of the ocean. I decided we would take a couple so that we had options. While I was asking a friend to take our picture, the kids thought we were taking a picture of them and they all lined up and posed for us. It was so cute!

This is about as good as it gets. Option 1:

And Option 2:

Grammy bought the kids Naples tshirts and she wants to take a picture in them each year. This is our 4th year in Naples, but our first tshirt picture!

Most of the people in the condo are retired. Bentley really started warming up to older people because they all gave him so much attention. One day, he swam up to this couple and just started talking to them. Once we came home, he would see an older couple and look at them, waiting for them to fuss over him. It was too cute.

Sunday was our last full day on the beach so we made the most of it! Daddie and Presley on the paddle board.

One of our friends dove down and found some live sand dollars. We had never seen them alive before!

Aunt Katie came in town for Kathy's Funeral Mass. She gave Presley some entertainment. Presley loved having her own ear buds.

Swimming with friends.

Daddie and Bentley waiting to watch our last Florida sunset.

And it did not disappoint.

We had such an amazing Spring Break. Thank you so much Grammy and Grampy for letting us come stay with you. Thank you Grammy for all of the delicious meals. We had such a good trip and we can't wait to come back next year!!