Our trip down was a bit tough. We left late and poor Preston got sick on the plane. During the drive to Key West, both boys only slept part of the way and Preston whimpered a lot, which was really sad. Thankfully, we made it safely here. (We also saw three key deer, which was pretty cool!)
Preston had fun for the first few minutes of the plane ride to Fort Lauderdale. Sadly this did not last long.
Traveling to Key West made Evan super sleepy. (He was also super cute as he slept!)
It was raining when we woke up, so we got our grocery shopping out of the way. Once it stopped raining, we went to Higgs Beach. Preston got in the ocean for the first time and he LOVED it! (It was too cold for him in November, when he went to the beach for the first time.) He puts his face in the water, crawls through the waves, splashes and giggles. Of course, Evan had a great time too. We also had some pool time and later, we went a walk and got ice cream.
It was raining when we woke up on Wednesday too, so we had to stay at the house for awhile. Thankfully, Brooke helped Evan get out of his sad mood and the two of them played, while I got organized and Carl worked. When the rain stopped, we all played in the pool. While the boys napped, I showed Brooke Duval Street and then we all went swimming. We went to the White Street Pier in the evening and someone was kind enough to let Evan use their pole and go fishing!(Evan has been asking to go fishing for a long time, so he was thrilled!) We ended the night with fun on the playground and dinner at Salute.
On Thursday, we woke up to sunshine! I took the boys to play at the playground and then Brooke and Evan swam for awhile before lunch. We then went to the beach and pool at The Reach, where Evan built a sandcastle and Preston had fun playing in the waves. After naps and dinner, we went to Mallory Square, where we saw some pretty cool shows. Evan said he liked them all, but I think his favorite part was the dog that took tips and placed them in the bucket. I really liked the guy that juggled fire while riding a very tall unicycle!
On Friday morning, we all headed down to the marina, so that Evan could see the tarpon. We were able to see lots of fish, including some really big tarpons, parrot fish, and sergeant majors. The best part of our trip to the marina happened as we getting ready to leave the marina. We saw a manatee! The manatee swam slowly around the marina for a long time and we got to see it really well, especially when it surfaced for air. It was SO cool! It was the first time any of us had seen a manatee in the wild and we were so excited to be able to see it!
Later in the evening, Carl and I went to The Upper Deck for dinner and then down to Sunset Pier. It was a wonderful night!
On Saturday, we all went to the beach, so Evan and Daddy could snorkel. Unfortunately, Preston rubbed sunscreen in his eyes by accident and was MISERABLE, so I took him back home. Daddy and Evan were able to snorkel though and had a great time. (Daddy saw an eagle ray!) We then spent the afternoon relaxing in the pool.
Later in the evening, Carl and Brooke ran a race. (I thought I took a picture of them before the race, but I didn't. How sad.) It was super hot, but both Carl and Brooke finished and said they had fun. While they were racing, I took the boys to watch the paddle boarding race and to get ice cream. After eating ice cream, Evan had fun taking silly pictures!
On Sunday, Carl and I took the boys to a nature center that helps sick and injured birds. It was really cool! We saw lots of birds, including pelicans, seagulls, and an egret. Of course, we also saw lots of chickens! We also walked on the nature path, where we saw several iguanas and fed the turtles. (Evan also used the food to feed the chickens! It was so cute!)
While Preston napped, Brooke and I took Evan to Casa Marina, where Evan enjoyed playing in the tide pools searching for sea life. When we came back for lunch and saw a baby iguana in our front yard! It was adorable! We spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the pool.
In the evening, Carl had to work, so Brooke and I took the boys to La Concha to see the sunset. (They are closing the deck soon and making a spa, so we were glad we got to go!) We also had dinner at a Mexican restaurant and Daddy was able to meet us for that, which was nice. On our walk back home, we went to the pier and saw a gorgeous full moon reflecting on the ocean. (Unfortunately, none of our pictures of the moon were any good. Oh well!)
I thought this would be a good point in the post to write about Evan's obsession with catching lizards! He works to catch them each day, but has only been successful once so far. (I am amazed that he caught one! Those lizards are FAST!) When he isn't catching lizards, he also likes to collect snails. (There were a bunch out during the first few days here, since it rained a lot. He now mostly catches the sea snails in the tide pools.)
Preston is cracking us up here at the house. While we are making dinner or trying to get ready he loves to climb the stairs and get into the cabinets. Needless to say, this makes getting ready tricky! At least he is having fun!
