Evan and Marlee
We went to feed the ducks, but Preston managed to find some seagulls to feed! Who would have thought we would have found seagulls in Tennessee?!?
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Playground Fun!
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The mountains were gorgeous. I didn't get a great picture, but they were SO pretty and even had some snow on them while we were there!
After a couple of days in Tennessee, we boarded a plane to head to Florida! The boys did very well on the plane and actually slept the whole time! Unfortunately, we had so many issues with getting off the plane once it landed, getting luggage, etc. that we did not get settled in our hotel room until almost 3:00 a.m! Once again, I was glad that the boys were patient and flexible! We all settled in easily and got some sleep before heading out the next morning to Key West. (Preston even did well sleeping in a bed with me, which we had to do, since there were no cribs available at the hotel.)
I took several pictures of Preston, because this is the first easy trip we have had with him! He has had trouble with motion sickness in the past, which makes for tough travel. (We medicate him now, so he feels great when we travel!) Also, he tends not to sleep well in strange places, but he did SO well in the hotel!
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On Monday afternoon, we arrived in Key West. We returned the rental car and Evan got to go on a quick trip with Grandpa to see the turtles at The Wildlife Center. Afterwards, we all took much needed naps! Later in the afternoon, we went to Casa Marina, where the boys liked looking in the tide pools and finding hermit crabs, snails, and other creatures. We also had fun swimming in the pool. (While we had a blast at Casa Marina, I want to add that Evan got lost, which was VERY scary. Thankfully, we found him, but not being able to find him for about 3 minutes was not fun at all!)
On Tuesday, we spent most of the morning at Higgs beach, where the boys played in the sand, chased birds, etc. (We tried finding sea glass at one beach too, but it was high tide and we only found a few pieces. We will try again though!) We also swam in the pool and had a great lunch from Bad Boy Burrito. After the boys napped, we headed up to Big Pine Key. We went to Blue Hole, where we saw lots of turtles, fish, and TWO alligators! We also went to No Name Key, where we saw over 20 key deer and some iguanas! We also ate dinner at No Name Pub, before heading back to Key West and watching the Lady Cards play their next tournament game. (Sadly, our Lady Cards lost the game.)
Evan LOVES the beach!
Preston loved playing in the sand!
Blue Hole
The key deer were so cool!
Evan and Grandpa
Wednesday morning started with a trip down to the harbor to see the boats and see the tarpon. We had fun feeding the small fish and also the pigeons, as well as seeing lots of boats, which Preston loved. We had a blast and even saw a couple of small tarpon! The very best part of the trip though, was that on the way out of the harbor, we saw a manatee! We have seen a manatee before, but this encounter was awesome! The manatee was right by the dock and if it was legal, we could have pet it! SO COOL!
We started off by feeding the fish, but we soon switched to feeding the pigeons! We even got them to eat out of our hands!
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Evan had fun striking a pose at the harbor.
"BOATS!"
Evan likes to take pictures too, so he took one of Carl and me while we were at the harbor.
We have seen a few manatees, but this one was definitely the best sighting yet! This guy was right next to the dock and raised his head out a few times so we could see his cute face!
After leaving the harbor, we visited a rum distillery. It was pretty interesting, especially since we learned that the still came from Louisville! The rum was pretty tasty too!
Later, we swam in the pool and the little boys took naps. While the boys napped, Carl and I went on a bike ride and went searching for sea glass. We found a bunch and enjoyed our time together.
Evan likes taking silly pictures underwater.
Pool Fun
Mommy and Evan
Daddy and Evan had fun doing tricks in the pool.
Searching for Sea Glass
After naps, Evan went with Grandpa to go fishing. While Evan did not reel in a fish, he did get a bite! In fact, the fish was SO big that it broke Evan's pole! He also saw crabs, lobster, nudibranchs, a barracuda, lobsters, and a striped moray eel! (Grandpa and Evan had lots of fun, but they were unable to take any pictures, because they were too busy having a great time!) While Evan was with Grandpa, we took Preston to walk on the pier, play on the playground, and play at the beach.
Preston liked searching for rocks and shells and throwing them into the ocean.
Once we were all at the house, we got the boys dinner and got them settled in bed. Carl and I then went to one of our favorite restaurants, The Café! It was a great date!
On Thursday, we all got up early and went to Casa Marina to swim in the pool. After a couple of hours later, we went back home and did more swimming at home and have lunch. While the boys slept, Bill watched the boys and Carl and I went to a beach on an isolated key. It was beautiful! There was almost no one there and we saw tons of fish, crabs, and birds, as well as lots of weird stuff, like the "Lost Soles" monument and some creatively built huts. As a bonus, we even found some sea glass!
Evan made a cool necklace with shark teeth at Casa Marina. He loves it!
"Lost Soles"
The huts were cool! They were made from all sorts of things that had washed up on the beach.
The beaches were beautiful!
We found a HUGE crab while walking through the water. We wished Evan could have seen it. He would have loved it!
Note: At this point in the blog, I added a bunch of text about what we did each day, but did not worry about adding pictures. Adding pictures takes a lot of time and I was having lots of bad headaches, so I planned on adding the pictures when we returned and I felt better. Of course, there was a malfunction of some sort and the text was missing when I went back to add pictures. I am sort of sad about that, but I did my best to go back and remember what we did each day and add pictures. If I do not remember everything, at least I remember that we had fun!
On Friday, Grandpa took Evan kayaking. While they went off on their adventure, Carl, Preston and I went shopping. It was a pretty laid back morning and after shopping we went back to the house for lunch and let Preston nap. Carl and I then waited for Evan and Grandpa to return. We waited a LONG time and then we started to get worried. They said they would be back in a couple of hours, but they had already been gone for over four hours and we could not reach them. We were pretty scared and even called the kayak store to check on them. They informed us that they were still out, which got us really worried. Thankfully, after 15 more minutes, we call the kayak store and were informed that they had returned! What a relief! Thankfully, they just got a bit lost, but they were perfectly fine!
Evan and Carl took naps after we got Evan some lunch and Preston woke up soon afterward. The two of us went to the beach for awhile and then went swimming. We had a lot of fun!
Once Carl and Evan woke up, we swam for awhile. Later, we headed to Shark Bites for pizza and ice cream, which the boys loved. We then headed to the pier to see the sunset.
Preston loves playing with cups, cans and water bottles in the pool. This cracks us up, because he also like to play with cups in the tub at home!
Evan and Mommy
Evan and Daddy
Evan likes to take his picture here, so we stopped on the way to dinner to take a picture and be silly.
Both boys enjoyed their ice cream. Yum!
Sunset at White Street Pier
Once the boys were settled in bed, Grandpa stayed with the boys and Carl and I went to the Upper Deck at Louie's Backyard and had a delicious dinner!
There was an Easter egg hunt on Saturday at the Key West Botanical Garden. We had no idea to expect such a big crowd! We all got in line to wait for the start of the hunt, but Preston got bored so Carl entertained him by walking around the garden while Evan and I waited in the line. After about 45 minutes of waiting, they cut the rope and everyone started running to find the eggs. Evan had a blast and found about 10 eggs, but I was worried about being trampled and being able to find Carl and Preston. Thankfully, we ran into them after Evan was done looking for eggs. We got some slushy drinks and looked around a bit before heading home and then going to Casa Marina to swim and do more crafts.
We saw an iguana while we waited to hunt for Easter eggs!
Yea! I found one!
Evan liked the pond at the botanical garden, where he saw lots of turtles and birds.
Preston found a couple of eggs and Evan was nice shared some of his eggs with Preston too. Preston quickly learned to open the eggs and get the candy and treats!
On Saturday evening, Grandpa took the boys to the playground, while Carl and I headed out for a sunset cruise. As always, we had a great time and saw a beautiful sunset. (The sunset cruise is definitely a tradition for me and Carl each time we visit Key West.)
This is not the best picture, but I promised Carl I would not take a ton of pictures, so we only took one of us and one of the sunset. Clearly, my strategy of taking lots of pictures works best! ;)
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Sunday was a pretty relaxing day for us. The kids were tired and not up for much, so we did not try to do a lot of things. In the morning we went to Fort Zachary and Evan snorkeled while Preston had fun throwing rocks in the ocean. We tried to look at the fort, but the kids were so tired, that we just went back to the house and had lunch and took naps.
After naps, Carl took Evan to look for wildlife. They found a lot, but the best part was seeing a nurse shark!
If you look closely, you can see the shark! It above Evan's head and to the left!
When Carl and Evan returned, we ate dinner and headed back to Fort Zachary to see the sunset.
Evan made a cool rock tower!
Evan had fun taking pictures of me and Carl. This one turned out great!
Of course, Preston wanted to play with the rocks!
He also liked seeing the boats while we looked at the sunset.
This was my favorite sunset of the trip! Gorgeous!
Evan had fun playing on this old tree and getting his picture taken. What a cutie pie!
On Monday, we started our day at the nature preserve, where we looked for sea glass. (We now know the beach's nickname is Sea Glass Beach!) We found quite a few good pieces and then we went to The Eco Discovery Center. Sadly, it was closed. We went to the Key West Aquarium instead, which actually worked out great. The boys got to pet a tortoise and Evan got to feed the sharks!
Evan enjoys looking for sea glass.
It may look like Preston is searching for sea glass too, but he is really just trying to find rocks to throw in the ocean!
When Preston was not throwing rocks, he played in the water by this old rusty engine that looks more like rock than anything else. (He was probably trying to figure out why he could not lift it!)
We took pictures of the chickens on the way back, since both boys really enjoy seeing them when we walk.
The boys loved getting to pet the tortoise. (Preston was too busy petting the tortoise that he could not look at the camera!)
Feeding sharks is fun!
After the aquarium it was time for lunch and naps. Once everyone was awake, we went to The Garden Club and Grandpa took pictures of the boys. Once we were done, we went to the playground, where Evan met up with his buddy, Dutch, who he met earlier in the week. We then went back to the house for dinner, which was one of our favorites, Bad Boy Burrito!
Grandpa took some great pictures! Here are a few of my favorites!
Playground Fun!
We ended our night by going to look at the sunset on White Street Pier and then swimming in the pool.
Evan LOVED having Mille and Ernie in Key West. He often helped Grandpa walk the dogs and on the last night, he got to push them in the stroller!
Evan loves to play with this chime!
It started to rain as we walked, but we still got a pretty good sunset!
Fun Pool Pictures
Once the boys were in bed, Grandpa, Carl and I watched the final game of the NCAA Tournament. The UCONN Huskies beat the UK Wildcats, which was a great ending to the tournament. (Of course, we would have loved it more if our U of L Cardinals won again!)
We had to leave Key West on Tuesday. We were able to make the trip a bit more fun by stopping at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, where we had lunch and did a bit of exploring.
The boys looked for creatures and played with rocks.
While Daddy got lunch, Evan found a new place to look for creatures! He found a crab, a sponge and some fish! Pretty good for a quick stop on the way home!
Lunch was yummy and we enjoyed eating outside. Of course, Preston only ate a few bites before running off to play in a nearby play house!
Once we got back to Tennessee, we had dinner with Aunt Karol and visited for a bit. I wasn't feeling well, so we decided to go ahead and go home that night. Evan was super excited that he got to hold the kittens that Aunt Karol found! (The kid has a way with animals! None of the mother cats had ever let anyone hold the kittens before!)
