Beach/Baby Day

After seeing how much fun the boys had at Cocoa Beach earlier this month, we've been planning a return trip so that Darius could join us. We headed over to the coast mid day and enjoyed great weather while we collected seashells, dug a big hole, filled the big hole with water (again and again and again), played in the waves, chased birds, and overall had a really good time. The boys really love the beach, and I'm finding that going to the beach with two little boys is a whole lot more fun than all the other times I've been to just lay out and soak up sun.

On our way home we stopped by the Bacon's to pay a visit to the newest addition to their family. Baby Emma was born last week and this was our first time meeting her. The boys were really cute with her and gave her lots of kisses on her sweet little head. Ben loved holding her but told us "No thanks," when we asked him if he would like a little sister of his own. Zach on the other hand said okay to the idea of a little sister and softly sang a song to her when he held her. I was too preoccupied with watching Emma to actually take any photos, but I have a feeling she will soon be the focus of lots of pictures to come. Her parents made one beautiful little girl!

18 Days into 2012

I've been slacking....over half the month is already over!

The boys and I got bugs as the year started, and we're finally sounding human again first thing in the morning rather than that cough-up-a-lung sounding cough. I forget how really awesome it is to feel well until I get sick. Unfortunately I can be a really grouchy sick person, and I think Darius had about enough of me.

My parents came to visit and just left us yesterday. We really enjoyed having them stay with us, and the boys of course love the extra love and attention. We mostly just hung out and did what we normally do when they're not around. We visited the park, fed the ducks in our pond, had a pizza night with the Bacon's, and went to the Y. Mom gave the boys haircuts, Darius and Dad got a couple rounds of golf in, and Mom helped me with some sewing projects.

Haircut - Day 5

Turkey Lake Park - Day 6

Fishing Turkey Lake - Day 6

After the time we spent living with my parents in Cordova, we've come to really enjoy our visits from them. It's nice having them around, and we were sad to see them leave. And speaking of Cordova.... whoa that's a whole lot of snow we just dodged! I feel for what the residents are going through, but I'm so relieved we moved when we did.

Here's an old photo from the back porch of my parents house in December 2009. That's a lot of snow to me, so it's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that this amount is just a fraction of what they're up against.

During our visit with my parents we had to make a quick trip to Louisiana. My parents actually booked a cruise out of Cape Canaveral leaving the same day as we did, and returned the day after we got back. It was a special treat for the boys to see both sets of grandparents a day apart considering where everyone lives. It was a long drive there and back, and the trip itself was packed full. We enjoyed our time with Margaret and Alfred, and then we took the time to drive down to the Leesville area to visit with Darius' friend Randy. We finally got a chance to see the burger restaurant he opened a couple of years ago, and he treated us to lunch there. We spent the evening watching the Saint's game at his business partner's home, had some great barbecue, and shot skeet. I had my first experience shooting a shotgun, and it was fun!!

Louisiana - Day 14

After picking up my parents from their cruise, we headed over to Cocoa Beach. We spent a good part of the day there, and met up with my friend Lyndsay and her family in the afternoon for a few hours. It wasn't the best beach weather, but we all had a really good time.

Cocoa Beach - Day 15

Day 18 we dropped my parents off at the airport, and in the evening we had Lyndsay and her family over for dinner. They're here visiting Orlando for a week, and I'm so happy that we had the chance to meet up with them while they're here. I haven't seen her since her wedding and since then she's had a baby, who I was super excited to meet. She's got a great little family, and I really enjoyed our time with them. 

Mile 0

With many of our last minute trips, we like to try and save money by using Priceline to book our hotel room. Our success rate has always been pretty good, but this time we really hit the jackpot when we landed a room at the Marriott. We arrived in Key West hours before our check-in time, but we thought we'd check anyway to see if at least we could park the car and take their shuttle into town. To our surprise, they gave us a room and at the mention of us there celebrating our anniversary they upgraded us to a suite....a really nice suite. This place was basically the type of room they photograph to impress people on their website, and it was as big as our apartment! We spent the next several hours at the hotel enjoying the pool and our room before we headed into town. Zach loved playing in the pool, and Ben enjoyed his own poolside activities.

We caught an evening shuttle down to Duval street where we shopped for Christmas Tree ornaments, new Kino sandals for me, pirate swords for the boys, and a Key West buoy and mug for Darius. We ate at the same place we did on the eve of our wedding, Sloppy Joes, where the boys got their first taste of live music with dinner.

On our return to our room, we all had a chance to take a swim in the giant soaking tub before bed. We spent the morning enjoying our last few hours in the room, and then we headed over to Smather's Beach where Darius and I got married. It was neat for all of us to be there again 4 years later.

After a brief stop at the Southernmost Point we headed back to Kino Sandals to pick up another pair of sandals they were nice enough to make for me, and Darius surprised me with an anniversary gift. He got me a necklace charm that was made from treasure on board the Nuestra Senora de Atocha  which sunk in 1622 and was found by Mel Fisher in 1985. Since I didn't have the chance to be a sneaky secret shopper, I had Darius pick up this cool Tiffany glass mermaid lamp he found in Key Largo as his gift.

It was a great opportunity for all of us to get away together, and we had such a great time. I can't think of anything else we could have done to better celebrate our anniversary. I'm so fortunate to have an amazing husband and two little boys that make everyday a great day. We're blessed in so many ways for all that we have and enjoy together as a family!

Spontaneous Trip

I guess you could say that Darius and I aren't big organized planners when it comes to taking trips. When we were in AK our trips were usually last minute and just to get away for a few days. It's nice now to have the option to get in the car and go instead of having to fly.

We've been wanting to get back to the Florida Keys since we were last there to get married. Nearly 4 years later we finally got our chance. Darius surprised me the day before and announced we were going for a few days to get away and celebrate our anniversary a little bit early.

We did our best to get an early start Tuesday morning and headed south on the Florida Turnpike which, after a few out-of-the-way detours, we now know is the only way we'll go from now on. By late afternoon we arrived at Bahia Honda State Park on Big Pine Key. We found the park at the last minute, and to our surprise we lucked up and got a campsite right on the beach. We immediately fell in love with the park, and already can't wait to go back.

There was still time for the boys to play on the beach while we set up camp. After the sun set and it started to get dark, we set off to find dinner at the Park Ranger's suggestion for good pizza in the area. When Darius told me we were going to the No Name Pub I laughed because before we moved I had just started a Dorsey book, and the No Name was actually in the book. I wasn't sure until we got there that the place was actually factual. The place is a trip and definitely worth a visit if you're ever in the Keys.

We returned to our beach side campsite and slept that night with the sound of the waves hitting the beach. Awesome. The only downside to our camping trip was getting chewed up by bugs the following morning, but even that didn't stop us from enjoying the beach for a few hours before we packed it up and headed south to Key West. We would have loved to stay another night had we been able to get a site for a 2nd night. We're already planning our return trip back!