YES the water is that blue! and the temperature was amazing! Leighton LOVED to float the waves and Gracen loved playing in the sand with her little watering pail :)
We literally spent all day on the beach. We packed snacks and little lunches and just stayed on island time for the whole week. Sounds amazing? It was!
This was by far our most relaxing vacation we've had since having the girls. It was our first with no diapers, swim diapers, naps, bottles, baby foods, etc. Our baby free vacation 6 weeks before our new baby comes hehe. Maybe a bit of a tease ;)
The girls were so good all week Toby and I decided to be brave and take them to our favorite "fine dining" restaurant :) The only time we go is when we are kid free BUT Toby talked me into taking them and they were angels! When the waiter brought the wine list Lei told him, "No wine for my mama, there's a baby in there!" Omg she is ridiculous. After dinner we walked to get ice cream and then to watch the sunset on the pier. It was my favorite night of the trip. Love having such big girls :)
The weather was sunny and high 80s with a perfect breeze by the ocean. Toby would load up all our beach "stuff" on the cart each day (we had A LOT of stuff haha) and we would just stay as long as we wanted. The girls loved building sand castles with all of their toys and then smashing them. Gracen sat by the water one day for hours and played with her watering pail. She played so long she had a blister on her thumb when we left from the handle. Now THAT is beach dedication! They are total little beach bums!
We got pizza on the way home from the beach one day and then got ready and headed back to take some pictures of the girls. I really can NOT believe how fast our girls are growing up.
Gracen just adores Leighton and Leighton is such a caring and loving big sister. I love the bond my girls share. Sisters and best friends. I pray daily it stays this way forever. Having a sister is such a special gift!
We did get one family picture and while it's not the best of everyone it captures the moment. If there is anything I've learned from taking so many vacations with little ones is that there is no perfect way to vacation. There's no certain number of activities you have to do or restaurants you have to eat at. Island time is about relaxing and going with the flow (something I've really been working on lately). The moments shared together as a family are the most important parts of a family vacation. And I sure do love my sweet family.
After pictures I changed the girls into more comfy clothes and we went for more ice cream and putt putt. Leighton and her sweet teeth were loving all of the ice cream on this trip ;) Most of putt putt was spent squealing with delight over the "baby" lizards everywhere. The girls love anything tiny haha.
Our last day we decided to take the girls to do something fun. We drove to Sarasota and went to Jungle Gardens. We had been before but not since Leighton was a baby and the girls were excited to see some animals. Gracen was ALL about the animals. She pet a skunk, held a parrot and fed flamingos. Lei was much more cautious (she really IS my twin) and just watched from the sidelines. She was cheering on Gracen in her adventures and told her repeatedly how "really brave" she was.
After our tour of the gardens we were hot! Walking around in high 80's heat is MUCH different from laying around in it at the beach. Since we were already in Sarasota we decided to head to Lido Beach for the rest of the afternoon. There is a public pool right on the beach and we spent the afternoon swimming and listening to the waves. Leighton was in heaven. I don't think she got out of the water once the whole time we were there.
On the way home we stopped for one last dinner on the beach. Leighton ordered steak (her fave food) and we soaked up the sun & sand one last time. The girls picked out little dolphins in the restaurant shop and we headed back to the condo. It was a great ending to an even better week.
We were sad to say goodbye but excited to get home and get ready for baby brother. 6 weeks and counting!
Summer vacation 2014 was a success :)
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