Operation First Beach Vacation...Day 1

At the airport ready to go!!!



Well, our boys had their first hotel stay, plane ride, and beach visit all in one trip! We left Friday evening and drove to Nashville to stay since our plane was leaving at 7am the next morning. Clayton had never stayed in a hotel before and we didn't get there until around 8:30 Friday evening. Trying to get a 2 year old to settle down and go to sleep as soon as he walks into a hotel for the first time was a bigger job than we had thought! Of course the first thing he did was jump on the bed, what is it about hotel rooms that make kids want to jump on the bed!? We turned off the lights and tried to get him to settle down, but by this point he was literally slap happy. We were doing everything in our power not to die laughing. Hollis is still so young, he went right to sleep no problem. Let's just say we left for the airport Saturday morning, with about two hours of sleep! It was an adventure for sure!





The plane ride was a total success!!! They both did so good. We talked to Clayton about riding on an airplane for weeks before we left. He loves airplanes anyway, so we knew he would be totally excited. It was only an hour and fifty minute flight. We were prepared with a DVD player, and plenty of snacks. Hollis just looked around and smiled at the fellow passengers :) He is such a sweetie! I must say, it was way easier than I thought flying with a 2 year old, and 5 month old. I would definitely do it again. So much better than driving!!!





We got into St. Pete pretty early in the day, but we were completely exhausted by this point, and our room wasn't ready for early check in. We decided to walk around and find something to eat. There were tons of really neat little cafes in walking distance of our hotel. We ate lunch at this organic place that had wraps and salads. We went back to the hotel and settled into our room, took showers and drove to the beach later that evening to find a place to eat near the water. It was a long first day, but were excited to be there!

Vacation...Day 2!

Riding the Carousel with Gi Gi
Hollis is all tuckered out

Daddy telling Clayton about the Elephants...I love this picture!


The whole family :)

Clayton and the Huge "Monkeys" as he called them

Playing in the water at Elmo's World...love that face

Splashing around

Mommy, Hollis, Gi Gi, and Clayton riding the train

Hollis playing with his toes and chilling in the stroller

Mommy and Clayton

Having fun riding the elephant

This car is fun!!!

I LOVE this picture...so beautiful!

Trying to get a family picture, Clayton couldn't keep his eyes off of that lion behind us and Hollis was looking at something on the ground...oh well, still love it!

Well, we had a big day planned for our second day in Florida. Busch Gardens was only about 45 minutes away, so we decided to take the boys there for the day. Clayton loves animals and water, and Busch Gardens had both! They had just built an Elmo's World there a year ago, so we were excited to take him there. We got there early in the morning and headed for Elmo's World right away. Clayton rode some rides and then headed straight for the water part. He didn't want to go anywhere else once he discovered the water park in Elmo's World. He didn't even want to see the character show. All the Sesame Street characters came out and did a show, it was so cute. He watched briefly and then headed straight back to the water. Another highlight was a train ride through the park where we say rhinos, giraffes, and many other animals freely roaming. It was really cool and a perfect mix for my little animal and train lover. Hollis just enjoyed people watching and relaxing in the stroller and in the carrier with Mommy. After looking at more animals we decided to call it a day. We just got some food and took it back the hotel that evening...we were all beat and Daddy had to work the next morning!

Vacation...Day 3

Having a little picnic in the hotel room
Relaxing in the hotel room

Catching some rays by the pool


Hollis lounging by the pool with Mommy

Clayton in all his swim gear

Mommy and Clayton swimming

Ready for the pool!

After such a busy and exhausting day at Busch Gardens, we decided to hang out at the pool on Monday. The hotel had a beautiful pool, and Clayton was so excited about swimming! The water was a little cool for Hollis' taste, but he didn't mind his toes being in there. We had beautiful weather, 80 degrees, no humidity, but the water was a little cool. Clayton, however, didn't mind the water temperature in the least. He is definitely a little fishy!!! After swimming, we took a stroll to eat at another one of the little cafes down the street. It was a relaxing, and beautiful day in sunny Florida :)

Vacation...Day 4

Splashing at tahe Aquarium!
A ride on a shark!

Soaked!


Told you this child is not scared of water!

A little fun in the sand

An attempt at getting a picture with my babies, but as you can see they are not happy!

Yikes! Good thing there is glass there!

Wow, a stingray!

Telling me all about what he is seeing, I love this picture...it totally captures his personality!

Turtles

Man, that's a big fishy!

Taking it all in

Loving the aquarium

Stingrays!!!

We took the boys to the Aquarium in Tampa on Tuesday. I had researched it before we went and it was in the top 10 aquariums in the world, so we just had to check it out for ourselves. It really was an awesome aquarium. There were stingray tanks that where you could touch the stingrays, huge shark tanks with windows from floor to ceiling! They also had a huge sand area and spray park outside! Clayton loved that and spent most of his time out there playing. He is such a water baby and always has been. He would just run straight through these geysers of water, not missing a single one. People are always amazed at how much he loves water and doesn't mind being totally submersed in it face and all especially with him being so young! Hollis also enjoyed the view! He loves watching the fish in the tanks. It was a little crazy the day we went with field trips, but luckily the field trips weren't allowed to go outside to the water part, so we had that almost all to ourselves!!! It was a great day :)

Vacation...Day 5

I was so excited about this day. We headed for the beach. We stayed right on the water, but we were on the pier side, so it was about a 10 minute drive in the opposite direction to go to the beach. We gathered up all of our things, stopped in the store to buy some sand toys and we were off to the beach! I couldn't wait for Clayton to see the ocean up close for the first time, I wasn't sure if he would be scared of it or not...I should have know better. My child is a complete dare devil and 110% boy, he wasn't scared in the least...he ran right in. I had to keep him from going in too far! It was a little nerve racking for me! He also loved the sand and played and played in it. The beach in St. Pete is absolutely beautiful. I love the ocean and was so happy to share that experience with my boys. I must say that seeing everything brand new through their eyes is the best feeling in the whole world. They make everything so much more fun :) Hollis loves having his toes in the water and was very interested in the sand. I had to try to keep him from putting it in his mouth. He just looked around and took it all in. He also got a little nap in while we were there :) No naps for mommy, I am beginning to wonder what I did with all my time before having two little ones!