Florida Family Vacation 2017

Ever since Jim's parents bought a retirement place down in Florida several years ago, we've maintained a pretty good track record of getting down there almost every year. With young kids, it's so nice to have a tropical place to go visit where your accommodations are taken care of and you're family is at. We had so much fun when we took Sully to Florida for the first time back in December of 2015, so I was really excited to get back there with him. As luck would have it, both Sully and I ended up getting really sick while we were there, which put a bit of a damper on doing all the things we had hoped to do. But with a baby in tow, our expectations were low to begin with, and we were just happy to be somewhere warm and with family.

It's hard to believe it's already been a month since we got back home! There was a lot of downtime while we were there, but I'm sharing my favourite photos from the trip which capture the fun we did have. Some of the highlights include: sunny days at the pool, playing shuffleboard, hitting up my favourite stores: Target and Trader Joe's, riding in the golf cart, watching the dolphins swim in the ocean and eating the most delicious ice cream at the Orange Grove. My camera roll has a lot of photos of Emmy sleeping and I joked earlier on Instagram that she slept through the entire trip! Such a good sleeper, that little girl of mine.

And that's a wrap! I'm already dreaming about the day we can go back and do it all over again! :)

Currently // April

Hello, from Florida!

If you don't follow me on Instagram (but why not? you really should!), then you probably don't know that we're currently vacationing in Florida right now! Even though I was really organized leading up to us leaving last week, I was also super busy getting ready for the trip, plus mommying and the posts I had hoped to have posted before we left never happened. I don't generally blog much when we go on holidays, but since it's been awhile since my last post, I thought I'd share a little currently post - Florida edition!

Enjoying: just being. My in-laws place in Florida is so relaxing, it's hot out, and I'm just enjoying waking up every morning with my family and not having an agenda. We've been down to Florida many times, and we plan to return many more, so we never feel this urge to have to do and see everything while we are here. This family vacation is exactly what I have been needing!

Reading: Forever, Interrupted, by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I started this on the plane and read almost 150 pages. I haven't picked it back up since we got here, even though it hooked me from page one and had me crying by page two. I'm just having a serious problem with picking up a book these days. Even Jim commented the other day on how he hasn't seen me read in weeks. That's because I haven't been, I told him. I can't even call it a reading slump, I'm just not in the mood.

Listening To: nothing. So, I downloaded a whole whack of podcasts for the plane rides, only to get my phone out during the flight and realizing that you need that dumb headphones connector for the iPhone 7! Ugh, never have I been so annoyed at Apple in my life! I looked at TJ Maxx here for a connector, but they didn't have any. If I make it back to Target before we leave, I will look there, but it seriously annoys me to buy something that I already have at home! These are the Podcasts I was hoping to listen to: The Minimalists, Happier with Gretchen Rubin, and That's So Maven.

Eating: all of the food from Trader Joe's! There's a Trader Joe's in Sarasota that's not too far from my in-laws place, but it's also not convenient to go to either. But we always make sure to go on our first or second day here so that we can buy some groceries from there to enjoy during our stay. I also stock up on some of my favourite nonperishables from there. I'm also indulging in all of the Chobani I can stomach, champagne from Trader Joe's because I have a serious love affair with champagne and it's so cheap from there, and fun cereal you can't get in Canada. Healthier eating can resume next week! ;)

Doing: cross-stitch. So, I haven't been reading or blogging because I've recently become obsessed with cross-stitching. I've been intrigued by some really neat cross-stitch designs I've been seeing on Instagram lately, and even though I haven't cross-stitched since I was a young girl, I just had this strong desire to start it up. I find it SO relaxing, and it's an activity that's much easier to do while watching TV or chatting with my family than reading or writing is. I'm pretty pleased with how my first piece is turning out and I'll be sure to share the finished product with you!

Looking Forward To: Our last few days in Florida. Sully started fighting a cold after the first few days here, and it's just getting worse. He is not himself and he just looks and sounds horrible. Then I felt like I was coming down with something, but thankfully, have been able to fight it off, although at one point I was convinced I had an ear infection, which has since gotten better with some polysporin ear drops my mother-in-law just happened to have on hand. Thank goodness for that! You can't purchase them in the States apparently, but she always brings them down from Canada with her. Here's hoping Sully starts feeling like his old self so we can get back to enjoying the pool, get to the beach, and just have some fun during our last few days here!

I won't be posting again until we are back from vacation next week, but I'll be posting over on my Instagram account if you want to follow along! And once we're home, I'll share all the highlights from the trip, as well as how traveling with both a toddler and an infant went!


Tell me something you're looking forward to!

How do you like to pass the time on plane rides? 

Florida Family Vacation 2015

With the timing of our Florida trip, as soon as we got back to Canada, Christmas season was in full force, I took a bit of a blogging break to enjoy the holidays, and I never got a chance to write a post on our vacation! I like to have these posts to look back on and it's a fun way for family to see our vacation via photos, rather than a Facebook dump (which I don't ever do anymore).

This was mine and Jim's third time visiting his folks in Florida, but our first time taking Sully. The last time we went, I was six months pregnant with him. Obviously, traveling with a toddler changes the rules of a relaxing vacation, but since Jim's parents live in a fun and quaint retirement club, I can honestly say a great time was had by all. Sully went to bed and slept like a champ at night, despite sharing a room with us, so this allowed Jim and I to sneak off to play pool, swim, or just relax with his parents in the evening. Retirement living is a bit contagious, so as soon as we arrive, we are pretty good with just going with the flow and not rushing around. And with the exchange rate being so poor for us Canadians, we didn't travel too far from home once we got there. Honestly, there's so much to do in their community that other than some shopping and grocery trips, we're pretty content to just stay put!

We were in Florida for two weeks and had fantastic weather the whole time. Of course, what Floridians find chilly, is not chilly at all by our standards, which means we often had the pool all to ourselves! His parents are close to the ocean, so we spent many evenings on the beach, where Sully loved to run into and out of the waves. That kid has no fear, I tell ya! Throwing rocks into the water will also entertain a toddler for an amazing amount of time!

But rather than bore you with our daily activities (which really are all just a blur now and often involved doing the same things), I'm just going to share all of my favourite photos from our trip! Enjoy!