Florida Vacation Day #6

We spent the morning at Clearwater Beach.  It was hot but fun!

The kids were cutely thrilled to play on an actual playground.

 

We went out on the pier and watched a couple people fishing.  No catching, though.  The kids thought it was fun to be that far out into the ocean.  They also liked tormenting the seagulls along the way.  And Cooper was obsessed with knowing what each and every signs along the pier said.  He was particularly interested in the lion fish warning signs after having learned a little about these 'invaders' at the Tampa zoo.

Back on land, Grandma treated the kids to a turn on a bungee trampoline.  They thought it was pretty fun to jump that high, but neither of them wanted to try a backflip.  We thought for sure Izzy the daredevil would :)

What day would be complete without ice cream?  They had superman flavor, so with stained faces and full bellies (and a teasing photo to grandpa), we headed back to our condo for lunch and quick naps.

The kids begged to go in the pool one last time, so we swam and swam and swam to the little hearts' content.  Cooper kept trying to splash me with his jumps, and he loved having swimming and holding-your-breath contests.  After a scare without her life jacket the other day, Izzy was a little more skiddish today, but she still had a blast.  Carson was happiest if he could just do his own thing, which mostly included walking along the ledge.  

We had to go say farewell to the ocean... it was the windiest day of the whole trip, so we were so thankful we had already spent so much time on the beach.  The kids tried their hands at boogie boarding again, collected some more shells, built some more castles, and just played in the waves.  Carson had fun just throwing rocks and shells in and out of buckets.  Izzy loved searching for little fish and unique seashells with grandma.  And Cooper, well Cooper was content in the most complete sense of the word.  If we would move to the beach, he wouldn't ever wish for another thing!

More sunset pics and a final goodbye to the sun... tomorrow will be an early day!!  On tap??  Magic Kingdom!!

Florida Vacation Day #5

Last night, again.  Gosh they're cute!

The kids went to bed earlier than any other night and they slept in longer than they had any other morning!  The salty sea air seems to be taking it out of them :)

Today was a very laid back day.  I snuck out for a run on the beach, and it was awesome.  It is a bit harder to run on the sand, but it felt good to be out in the warmth!  It was peaceful and quiet.  

The kids snuggled up with cartoons for a while each morning:)

Jeremy headed to Orlando to pick up his mom.  They were slated to be back around 1:00, so the kids and I spent time hanging out in the condo, working on a little of Cooper's school work and laying low.  

Carson was excited for the beach!

https://youtu.be/oJkcLQu8kzo

We made it out to the beach for a couple hours of fun, though.  The kids were very good listeners for it being just me on three!

Izzy went back to her shell collecting...

Carson just wanted to keep filling buckets...

And Cooper could live on the beach. He told me he loves when his fingers get all wrinkly :)

The kids were so excited for grandma to arrive!  We baked her a cake for a "surprise party" since we didn't really celebrate her birthday last week, plus the kids really wanted to welcome her in a fun way.  Izzy was a bit bummed we didn't get balloons.  They watched out the window for Jeremy and Lori to pull into the parking lot and then hid (this place has a bunch of fun going places) and jumped out when they came in.  After a ginormous piece of chocolate cake, they took a quick nap and then we headed back down to the beach for the evening.

Carson was really into the shells this time.  

He also loved splashing in buckets, dumping, and filling them.

And he loved his castle :)

He also loved to swim, swim, swim.  He was most comfortable today of all the days here.  

Cooper loved having water fights.  He was also trying to catch minnows, and he even stepped on something--he thought it was a fish--and two seconds later, Lori saw a small stingray swim away.  Yikes!

He definitely had wrinkly fingers by this point!!

Both kids liked boogie boarding again.

The mermaids came and wrote Izzy's name in the sand with shells!

Breathtaking sunsets would never get old!

They were wound up at the dinner table!

https://youtu.be/A0b4O4lrzFU

Thanks to Grandma Lori for getting the kids down for bed so we could go meet up with a friend and grab a drink.  It's kind of crazy we had to fly hundreds of miles away to be 2 mins apart for a few days!  Thanks, Kristine, for the good ice cream shop idea!  Jeremy and I did go grab a drink afterward, so it was a fun little mini-date :)

Cooper's favorite part today was the water fight.  Izzy's favorite was simple: the beach.

Tomorrow will be our last beach day.  I can't wait to spend another day in the sun!

Florida Vacation Day #4

Last night before I headed to bed, I snapped this sweet shot...

Izzy had been saying she was "a little

nervous" to go to bed, and Cooper kept assuring her if she needed, he would come over and snuggle with her.  Well, little did I know, she would end up next to him for the night.  And as I type this post, guess where she is once again?!?

It's the simple things that melt my heart the most :)

On to the Day #4 update...

This morning, we got up and at 'em to head out on a little adventure day to the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa.  We discovered our MN Zoo membership granted us 50% off admission, so that sealed the deal for us!  The kids were thrilled, and they LOVED the zoo.  It was a really great place, so different than the MN Zoo--it was almost like the Como Zoo on steroids.  They had lots of exotic animals we don't have in MN, rides that were included in the price of admission, and all the animal enclosures were natural-looking.  We felt like we were walking through the jungle almost the whole time.  Crocs, gators, manatees, stingrays, macaws, giraffes, elephants, rhinos, a hippo, zebras, a panther, and a lot of snakes were among the highlights.

"Wait wait wait guys!  I think we have to go, let me see, this way!"  Izzy loved using the map to be our tour guide.

The kids got to feed the stingrays.  It sucked the food right out of their little hands.  Cooper got soaked when one stingray decided to 'wave' to him :)

The carousel was free to ride!  Of course the kids loved it!

Emperor and King penguins, in the house!

"Mom!!!  Some elephants haven't been killed yet!"  Izzy was so serious when we came upon the elephants, because just beforehand, a zookeeper had showed the kids a tusk and explained that elephants are being hunted for their ivory.  85 elephants are killed each day, mostly for their tusks (who knew??).  The kids were very concerned little citizens.

"Hode on tight!  Hode on tight!"  is Carson's new phrase whenever he wants to be held... We have heard it a lot over the last few days!

The zoo also had a splash pad!  That was perfect, because it was 87 degrees and sunny today!

Why do all little boys feel the need to do this!?!?!

By this point in the day, the kids were starting to get pretty tired and a little whiny, but we only had one section left to go... And we're glad we did!  The big kids got to feed the Lorakeets.  Cooper had a special place in his heart for that one on the left with the grey feathers.  (It is still a young one who didn't get its full color yet).  

Cooper kept trying to get one to come into his hand, but he only got one foot.  The birds were a bit aggressive and nipped if your fingers got too close!

The kids were excited to see a Komodo dragon right next to the glass.  They could see its claws and tongue really well.  And they also loved climbing on this dude.

All three of them pressed out a penny, and they were so proud to show them off!

I love Izzy's pose here with it held to her cheek :)

After a little rest time and supper, we headed out to the beach to play and catch another sunset.

The boys and I built a castle.

Videos catch the feel so much better than photos!!

https://youtu.be/vPU7QeR2a6s

Izzy the mermaid (again) blowing kisses

This weirdo loved getting wet and then rolling in the sand.

Cooper started a water fight... Poor boy hasn't realized yet his mom doesn't like to lose at anything.

https://youtu.be/SLSCCb2YZ2Y

Here, a 'hurricane' was destroying the castle :). Carson just tried to keep up the whole time.  He was not nervous about the sand or the water today.  I love that "ocean," "waves," "pool," "swimmin," and "sea shells" are now words in Carson's vocabulary.  He is loving vacation too!

I tried...

And tried...

And tried...

And then I got a pretty good one :)

I know we're in a tough stage for perfect posed pics, but I figure if I keep trying, I'll eventually get THE photo :)

The big kids were being crazy wackos splashing and jumping in the waves saying goodbye to the sun as it sunk into the water before we headed just up the beach for the night.

Bedtime snack consisted of ice cream and extra licorice for the big kids cooperating for pics on the beach :). Carson went to bed early... He's been a little cranky with another tooth coming in!

Cooper said today while we were getting ready for bed, "Mom, I just love vacation."  His favorite part of the day was,"well, a lot of things were my favorite things today."  He loved seeing the Komodo dragon up close, "I could really see his claws nice and close!"  He said he also loved seeing the crocs and gators.  "One thing I did NOT like was that stingray splashing me!"  

Izzy loved the same things, of course, and she also had, "a lot of favorite things, too!"  She made a wish for a pink unicorn last night, but sadly that wish didn't come true :). She really liked feeding the birds.

It was another memorable day, and we have a pretty quiet little condo tonight.  

Shout out to our friends back home who get to have one more day of work and school and then enjoy a four-day weekend!