First Family Beach Vacation

Joe and I bit the bullet and took our first family vacation - by plane, to a beach, no other adults or friends, with all 3 kids.  We were hoping to escape the cold Iowa winter and the stress of work, but to be honest, both probably followed us a little bit.  I've been summarizing the trip as "it had its ups and downs and highs and lows!"  Here's a quick summary and photo re-cap!

Here are the kids in the airport....they were so excited to fly! Saylor did great! She had one 5-minute episode of crying on the way down and one 5-minute episode on the way back - but that's it! I consider that a success!

We got into Florida late at night so we got into town, rented our car and got a bite to eat and then went to bed in anticipation of waking up to the sun and sand! Here we are waking up the first morning and getting into our swimsuits and at our first lunch!

At night, we would go out to eat and walk around and listen to live music! Most everything was in walking distance of our hotel so that was nice. I had some serious help in cracking open my crablegs this night! We ate at SOB's and the boys didn't love it but Saylor loved the live music and made me go dance with her, so it was enjoyable for me!

We did have some great times watching the boys play on the beach. Saylor did not like the sand at first but she eventually got used to it and of course, on the last day, she was very content playing in the sand, looking for shells, etc. 

On the second night there, we had dinner with our friends, Wes and Amy.  But, this is by total coincidence that they were in Fort Myers! So, it was kind of a fun little outing for all of us!

As much fun as we had on the beach though, we also ran into a lot of this:

 Which led to a boys outing of drinks, food and fun....and a girls nap back at the hotel!

On the last day, we spent a lot of time on the beach, shelling, playing in the sand, and playing in the pool. All the kids said they preferred the pool, but I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that it was cold and windy on the beach almost every day. On the last day we were there, it was the nicest day to be on the beach - where they could throw a football and play baseball, etc.

We really enjoyed the mini-golfing and got to feed live aligators which they thought was really fun! And, we ended the night at Doc's Restaurant which was really delicious and had a really neat atmosphere! 

On our last day in Fort Myers, we spent a lot of time with our boogie boards on the beach and some time in the pool! We checked out at noon though so the morning went by really fast, and of course, the last day was the nicest day for weather!

We were sad to leave, but mainly because the next four days in the forecast looked beautiful! Here are a few things for me to remember for future trips:
* My boys need readily accessed food. I didn't plan for this.
* There's not a lot of other options in Fort Myers when rain comes.....
* I spent a lot of time napping with Saylor
* Saylor had a runny nose that was like a faucet the entire time
* Everyone loved the pool
* I loved how my kids will try anything to eat- they tried mussels, clam strips, fish, fish tacos, crab legs, dungeness crab, everything. I just want them to be willing to try new things.
* Joe really helped make the best out of the rain situation
* We saw one dolphin up close and personal and we saw lots of dolphins on the horizon
* Saylor did not like the sand
* There was lots and lots of rain and wind....the wind would blow Saylor over on the beach and would blow in the kids' eyes on the beach
* We loved all the restaurants nearby
* 3 kids is just a lot of work....and we purposely chose a short trip for our first time around, but on the other hand, you do the same amount of work for a shorter trip as you do a longer trip.
* It was fun hearing the kids say "Let's go to the beach!" every day....
* Joey ate an adult-sized meal at every single meal- and rarely left a crumb.
* Maddox is overall easy to please and just goes with whatever you are doing....he just kind of floats along. However, he is unable to walk by a stroller without running into it 19 times.
* Saylor was harder to please but also made the trip a lot of fun. Her reaction, her eyes, all the things she said were so cute....but on the other hand, she provided just enough extra work to make things difficult!
* Sleeping as a family of five in a hotel room is not an easy task....I never slept through the night. Joe slept like a husband (you know, when they say they don't sleep but you are up and you are staring at them and they are snoring and so obviously they are sleeping but then they say they slept awful. It's a husband thing.)

So, our first family vacation definitely could have been better....and could have been worse. Our flights were good, our kids were good, there were some great experiences and it was nice to just get away. We just wish the weather would have been better!