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Friday, September 11, 2015

Our Keys Vacation:

Happy Friday Friends! 
I hope everyone had great week and is ready for the weekend and football! 

I have had a super busy week medically; between several Doctors appointments, 12 tubes of blood being drawn (and then some), a Bone Density/Dexa Scan (unfortunately there is a slight concern that I may have early stages of Osteoporosis caused by some things with my Crohn's and now surgery), and an MRI (for the internal staple that is still protruding from one of my incisions), along with still just trying to feel better and starting some new medication. 

So with that, I am just now getting around to posting about our last little Summer Vacation to the Florida Keys! 

Growing up in Florida you would think I have vacationed or visited the Keys, well truth be told, I have never been.  We almost had to cancel our trip due to the Hurricane Erika, but we decided it was worth the risk so we packed the car and made the 7 hour drive down! 

Best. Decision. Ever.

We headed down bright and early Sunday morning and in the middle of our trip got word that the storm had actually broken up as it was going over Puerto Rico!! Boy would I have been so mad had we decided against going down! ;) 

We got to Key West around Noon on Sunday 


We checked in at the Hyatt Resort located right downtown on the water. We spent the rest of the day walking around Duval Street, seeing everything there was to see, stopping into little bars along the way, and waving to Nana and Papa on the webcam! 









We ended our first day in the pool watching the sunset!


Monday morning we ate breakfast at a super cute place a block from the hotel, Charli got to feed the turtles at our hotel, and we got packed up and headed to the Naval Base. We had reservations for a 3 bedroom town home for the entire week but with canceling and re-booking/changing around our plans we couldn't get the house our first night (which was honestly fine because it was fun staying right downtown). I have to say that the lodging down there is seriously the best deal in the Navy. A 3 bedroom town home (ours was right on the water) for incredibly cheap. We stocked up on some groceries and were ready for our next couple of days of vacation! 

The rest of Monday was spent beach side



















We had dinner at the house then headed to Mallory Square for cocktails, music, and a sunset.






 Tuesday was a full day out on the boat! Another amazing thing that the Naval Base offers is super inexpensive daily boat rentals. There are several types of boats to choose from such as a pontoon which is what we all really wanted! It was seriously the most gorgeous day in paradise! The bluest of blue water from here to eternity, with pops of green islands along the way! 


This was Charli and Crew's first time on a boat and they both did amazing. Crew slept in his car seat the whole ride out to where we anchored and almost the whole ride back to the dock. Little man was not a fan of the life jacket though. Charli helped daddy drive, swam until her little heart was content, and she passed out in my lap on the ride back! It was definitely a day for the books for sure! 
Boating in the Keys is the way to go!






After a full day on the water, we headed home for dinner, baths, and an early bed time for the kids. 

Wednesday was our last full day in Key West. We rented beach cruisers for the day and cruised around downtown. We did a little shopping, grabbed some lunch, and cruised around some more.








We spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool right down the street from our house on base and ended our last night of vacation with dinner, ice cream, and some fun in the sprinkler! 





Thank you Key West for an amazing vacation. 
You will be seeing a lot more of my little family! 


***

And well, because when you have been best friends for over 20 something years you always take goofy pictures... Always! 







Monday, September 7, 2015

Party Like It's 1565:

Happy Labor Day!
 I hope everyone has been enjoying their holiday weekend! 

Tomorrow, September 8th marks the 450th birthday for the oldest city in America, St. Augustine, FL! 

Growing up just 30 minutes away from the nation's oldest city meant more field trips than I can count (in Elementary, Middle, and even High School), to day trips with friends and family (for fun, for weddings, for concerts... you name it), and unforgettable weekend getaways! Being able to share such rich history now with our children and seeing something I saw my entire life through their eyes is truly amazing! 






St. Augustine's celebration kicked off Friday afternoon with live music, food, drinks, reenactments, and so much more. We headed down Friday afternoon after picking Charli up from school and hit the timing of it just right. It wasn't super crowded yet and hadn't turned into the big drinking fest (#responsibleparentlife).





We walked around St. George Street (the main street in St. Augustine) shopped, ate ice cream, and showed Charli everything there was to see! The main attraction for our visit was to show Charli the real pirate ships that were in the harbor for the celebration. The El Galeon is a 170- foot, 495-ton authentic replica of a Spanish Galleon ship that traveled the coasts of Florida 500 years ago. 


We walked down to the Marina to see it and the look on Charli's face was priceless... 
"Wow!! Look at the big piwate ship you duys" she exclaimed! We walked over and got an up close and personal view of the beauty. You can tour the ship right now which is also pretty cool, but we opted out as Steven said he had one more thing he wanted to show Charli (he seriously always has something up his sleeve!). We walked over to the other pirate ship in the harbor; The Black Raven, which hosts the only live and interactive pirate cruise in St. Augustine. This is one thing I have actually never done in all the years I have been to St. Augustine. I was so excited for Charli (and Crew) yet super nervous because my mom and I get incredibly motion sick and sea sick. It's so bad for me that just standing on the dock usually does me in. 

Despite my uncertainty, we went for it. Though I didn't feel great while onboard, seeing the light in our babies eyes and the fun they were both having made up for it! They played pirate games, sung sea shanties, and got tattoos (a mermaid, of course!).

We even witnessed Captain Hook boarding the ship to steal the treasure chest. So out to sea we went to chase down Hook and get our treasure back. While searching for him all of the kids got to practice fighting with the pirates so they would be ready to take him on!


Once Hook was located the battle began... With extremely load guns and canons firing off at each other (seriously amazing, yet I almost pooped my pants) ;) They fought Hook and were able to save the treasure!


It was seriously such a neat experience and I am so happy we could make these memories with our children! Charli has been playing "pirate ship" ever since!  
To top it all off, each child got their very own treasure chest with special keepsakes and treasures in it!



It was definitely a fun filled day!



Happy 450th St. Augustine!