♥ Our Olive Tree: Florida Vacation June 2012

We had our first big vacation with the boys to Florida. Brandon's parents rented an amazing condo to take us and Lacey and Casey to for a week. It is located in Fort Walton and is family friendly. It is 10 minutes from Destin. We were so excited and a little bit nervous. It is roughly a 10 hour drive. We knew it would take longer for us with stops for breakfast, lunch, stretch time, etc. We decided to leave at 3 am hoping the boys would sleep for a couple hours of the ride. We had everything loaded up the night before except the diaper bag.

Lacey, Casey, Brandon, myself and the boys all rode in their Tahoe. We needed to put the boys in the 3rd row. They could not rear face them in this seat and sit the 2nd row up. So, the boys set forward facing for the week we were in Florida. We loaded them up and they stayed awake. I knew since it was a new experience facing forward they would probably stay awake for a little while. They stayed awake basically the entire ride. They both cried for around an hour. I think this was because it was still dark outside, and they have an issue with it being dark in the car. Once it was daylight, they calmed down. We were able to drive for a while and stopped to eat at Cracker Barrel. The food was awesome, as always.

When we loaded back up we hit major weather. There was a storm sitting on the Alabama and Florida area.

This made the trip take an extra couple of hours. The boys were great nearly the entire trip. At the very end, when we should have already arrived Hunter had a meltdown. We pulled over and got the boys out. We were able to calm him down and continue for the last 45 minutes of the trip. After a total of 12 hours we arrived in Fort Walton, Florida!

Our boys the first night before dinner...

We spent the first two days inside because the weather was not great. Here is a photo of the storm moving in ...

We took the boys to the beach for the first time! They sat in the sand for a little while and played with it. We took them down to the water and stood with them.

Mommy, Hunter, Drake and Daddy

Mommy and Drake

PawPaw and Hunter

Hunter did NOT like the water aspect of the beach. He would get very upset if you set him down near the water. Drake would stand in it or sit in it.

Meme and Drake standing in the water.

They did play in the sand for a little while! We tried to keep a hat on them, but they had other plans.

Hunter playing in the sand.

One day we went to the Gulfarium. It had Sea Lion shows, Dolphin shows, and tons of animals and fish to look at. Drake really enjoyed the Sea Lion show. They liked the large aquariums filled with colorful fish. They also enjoyed walking around and meeting people.

Watching the Sea Lion show!

Walking around meeting people!

Watching the Dolphin show with Meme!

We also found a place that had rides for toddlers. The boys especially loved the Carousel. They also rode a train. We found some little cars they could ride. They loved being in the arcade. This is where my camera took a fall and broke :(

Hunter

Drake

The condo had an amazing porch! We spent a lot of time our on the porch and the boys loved it. They especially loved the glass doors that led to the porch.

Some of my father in law's family lives in Florida, and we were able to visit with them. His cousins Sandra and Sam, their son Shane, his wife Jennifer, and their adorable daughter Lilly. I am absolutely terrible because I do not have one picture of them with my boys since my camera broke. It was so nice to spend time with family that you do not have the luxury of living close to. The boys warmed up to them relatively quickly. They were giving away kisses and playing with everyone.

The boys learned to say MeMe while we were in Florida! They really started saying "outside" more with the big glass doors. They also learned to catch a ball. It was very exciting. We are pretty certain that Drake is left handed and Hunter is right handed. Drake ALWAYS throws the ball left handed.

This was the perfect vacation to have a pregnant person and small children. We all relaxed, and did not get into a hurry to do anything. We each had our own room and bathroom. It was an incredibly comfortable condo that made us feel like we were at home. We loved having this special time with Brandon's family. I was able to hear Bowen's heartbeat with Lacey's doppler. I was able to watch my boys interact with their Meme and Pawpaw that they love tremendously. It was an amazing vacation. When we returned home we had a note on our door ....