The kids and I got back from 13 days in Florida last Tuesday. We had a wonderful time up in the Florida panhandle, visiting my parents who are living there (for the next year and a bit, at least). It was a last-minute, blog funded – thank you, readers! – trip, thanks to finding a great deal on tickets!
My kids loved the ocean, and the beaches had the softest white sand I ever saw! It was so fine, it made a swishy sound when you walked on it!
We built a gigantic sand tower (I think that’s what they called it?) surrounded by a moat. Our moat building on one side was a little more ambitious than on the other side!
My parents live on a bay that feeds into the actual ocean. The bay sand (above and below) isn’t quite as pristine, but it’s pretty incredible to live so close to it!
My parents have a cat and a dog – and we have no pets! All the kids enjoyed learning how to play with animals! The brown dog belongs to a friend – the little white dog is the one that inspired this little crocheted dog!
The kids are already asking when we will get to go to Florida again! It might be a LONG time, so I’m glad they have these memories! Mike stayed home and went to work, cleaned the house, and did some home improvement projects. He’s pretty awesome that way, but I hope that next time he can just come with us! Flying solo with the kids went really well – there will be a post about on this blog, eventually.
I love calm vacations like this, where you spend time with loved ones and make the most of everyday attractions. What is your favorite kind of vacation?
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
Sounds like a fun trip! It’s always so nice to get away and the smiles on the kids’ faces are priceless. We are heading to the beach this summer for a week and I’ve already been looking forward to it for months!
Such cute pictures! It looks like you had fun!!!
I love the photos! It looks like so much fun and I can’t wait to read your post about flying with kids. It looks like I will be taking a flight (with a layover and change of planes) with my girls in the near future. The flight itself doesn’t worry me but herding them through the airport and getting them to stay with me does – and I’ve only got two!
Glad you all had a nice time in Florida, we did too! And so nice to get cheap tickets and paid for from you blog, that’s awesome!
Looks like you had a great time! Yes, I love vacations where everyone has fun and whining and arguing among my kids is minimal. :)
Glad you had a wonderful time and missed the craziness of Boston Marathon week! Looks like you were really good about sun protection for the kids too! That’s so important!!
It was a big relief to be out of town for most of that week. And yes, I care a lot about sun protection. My FIL died of melanoma.
Love the individual photos you took of each child SO happy at the beach!! We plan to go often when I’m more confident of my kids’ swimming skills.
We didn’t go in the water much this time, because my kids have zero swimming skills. Planning to work on that this summer!
It looked like you guys had a blast. I bet it’s fun for all having your parents to be *relatively* close. I love flying with J, but then again he’s a single child who loves airplanes. We’ve also been flying with him frequently since he was 7 weeks old. Reliable routines help our family when traveling. The first thing we do after security is find a coffee stand and get him a muffin (really the only time he eats muffins) which reduces potential grumpiness due to hunger, and then he stares out the window at the happenings at the gate while he eats the muffin. When we get on the plane, he greets the flight attendants and pilot (if the cockpit is open). Sometimes the flight attendants have wings or an activity kit for him (we don’t ask). All-in-all, we’ve been blessed with a good traveler.
Routines make such a difference! That is fantastic that you have been able to fly with J so much!
Sounds perfect! As you know through our hundreds of beach pictures we just adore the ocean. And how fun they were able to bring the dogs and splash in the water with them, I bet they had the best time.
It was so much fun! I wish we lived closer to a proper beach!
Absolutely perfect!!!
It really was :)
I am SO jealous. I would love a beach vacation, but Lars is not at all a beach person. We will figure it out one day, I hope :)
Oh, I hope you do make it out for a beach vacation! This was perfect for us.
These pictures are adorable. And a vacation at the beach with family is the only thing that really and truly feels like a vacation to me. :)
It was a wonderful vacation!
It looks like an awesome vacation. My kids are advocating for another beach trip.
It was definitely awesome! Beach vacations are fantastic, because the kids wear themselves out!
Great pics. Lily looks so tall! I’m glad you all got away and had a great time. Florida is beautiful.
Florida is beautiful! And yes, Lily is still very tall :)