Florida

Wednesday
After work, I headed home and found auntie Drea and Luke napping together on the couch. They looked so cute :) I made Drea some lunch and we chatted as she ate before she headed to work. I thanked her for watching Luke for a few hours and said goodbye. Luke and I did some laundry and got things organized for our trip to Florida. We had done most of our packing on Sunday, so we didn't have a lot left to do. We got Luke ready for his trip by trying on his sunglasses and pulling up his socks nice and high like the old men in Florida do...

Luke went to bed early and we went to bed excited for our trip.

Thursday
Luke was up at 3am, and beat the alarm clock by 15 minutes. To his surprise, we got him up and brought him downstairs. We loaded up the car, packed a breakfast and did the last minute-before leaving for vacation stuff. We drove into Boston and parked at the park n ride. Luke was VERY excited on the shuttle as his car seat sat on our laps. He is not used to riding around and being able to see us. We went right through security and were at the gait with perfect timing. The plane was pretty empty so we had the row to ourselves. Luke was great on the plane and didn't make a peep. Here he is on his first plane ride We got into Detroit and Rick took him on the tram through the airport to kill some time. We got some food and found a cool statue. We got into Tampa right on time and Memere and Grandpa picked us up. As soon as we got to the condo, we got into our bathing suits and headed to the pool. Luke loved swimming around in the "big bathtub" and having company in there too! After swimming, Luke took his first shower and he loved it!! After swimming, we got cleaned up and dressed and headed out.

We went on a driving tour of the town and got to see the beaches. Then we headed to grab some food. We went home and went right to bed, long day!!

Friday
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICK!!
We got up, after a great night's sleep, and Rick made a nice breakfast. Not sure how he got stuck with breakfast duty :) but it was good. We lounged around a bit as it was raining and then headed off to the beach when it stopped. Luke was entranced by the waves and liked putting his toes in, but not too deep. It was sort of rainy so we drove up the coast and saw some of the mansions on the water. Luke missed most of that as he was asleep.

On the way home after our adventures, Memere got pulled over by the cops for speeding! She managed to talk her way out of the $179 ticket and got away with a written warning. Then Luke decided to eat the evidence so Grandpa wouldn't know :)

Saturday

Still raining when we got up... We ate breakfast out on the lanai and then Memere watched Luke while he napped and Rick and I headed to the pool and clubhouse. We got a little exercise in while watching TV and then got in the pool. The rain had stopped by now so we called Memere and told her to bring Luke down when he woke up. We swam with the little guy for a while and then headed back to eat lunch.

In the afternoon we headed to the beach with the grandparents, even though it was overcast. Grandpa, Rick and I braved the waves and headed into the water. Luke and Memere relaxed on the beach for a bit. When I got tired from swimming and the waves, I came up and Memere headed into the water, but didn't stay long as the waves were a bit too big for her taste.

After a good swim we headed for home and had a quick swim in the pool. Luke got to enjoy the pool too, no waves :) Then we all got cleaned up and ordered some dinner to eat on the lanai. Yumm, BBQ!! It was a beautiful night and the food was good.

We went for a walk after dinner to see some birds and the sunset.




Sunday

We got up bright and early and headed to church, which was way bigger than any of the churches at home. We were home by 1030 and we packed up our things to head up to Sarasota. It was a beautiful day and we did a quick tour of some of the "touristy" areas, then stopped for lunch at a Marina. We ate outside in the sun while Luke napped. After lunch we walked around a park and took some pictures.Then we headed back to Siesta Key beach for some fun in the sun. Luke enjoyed putting his little toes in the soft sand. After we all had enough sun, we headed for home and got in a quick swim in the pool. After showers etc, we headed to dinner at a place on the water with a sunset view. On the way there Luke showed off his skills by grasping his rings on his car seat. Future gymnast in the making?

There were tons of birds on the deck of the resteraunt and this one was pretty cute, and right behind my head.

Monday

We got up and had some play time in the morning.

And then headed to the beach. We walked along this nice walkway on the water and enjoyed the nice weather. After our walk we grabbed the beach gear from the car and set up camp.


We didn't stay too long at the beach because there were lots of ants and we didn't want Luke to get bit. So we headed home to the pool.After swimming we all got cleaned up and got ready for dinner.We went to a place right on the water with great views of the sunset, Rick's favorite thing.


It was a prefect way to end a nice vacation in Florida.

Tuesday

Happy Birthday to me! Up at 530 am to get to the airport! We flew all day, and Luke was great! We got home at about 530 and have been doing the after-vacation laundry etc. Back to work tomorrow! :(