Keys Trip

We had a great time in the Keys!  I've been playing around with taking more landscape photography.  Check out some of the pictures I took....

Taken during our helicopter tour of the Dry Tortugas.

Taken while scuba diving at the reef

We went kayaking one day to small islands around Key West.

 Some of the wildlife we saw.....

I'm lying.

Well, I did take these pictures they are in fact pictures of someone else's pictures....

Here's what we actually did....

On Wednesday we drove and drove and drove.  Then we stopped at a park and Ben conferenced called  in for a work meeting.  Then we drove and drove and drove some more.  That night we wanted to go out but the kids thought the hotel room was so cool that we just hung out there.  We did go to IHOP for dinner.  Sadie kept asking, "Can we go back to our room now?"  They thought it was great!

On Thursday the kids were kind enough to sleep in until 9AM.  My parents showed up a little while thereafter and then we went to Bahia Honda State Park.  My parents and Joe and Julie earned their place in heaven by agreeing to watch our kids so we could go snorkeling.  Gracias!

Meanwhile.....

That evening we all (minus Mike's family) went to the Conch Cafe.  Julie's family has a fun rule that when they are traveling they don't eat at national chain restaurants.  So we tried to only eat local cuisine.  I liked that rule.  It made each meal new and interesting.  Ben ordered conch stuffed chicken.  Slimey...yet satisfying.

 That evening we went back to the hotel for ice cream and socializing.....



The kids were playing in the bedroom and I went in to check on them and found Sadie tucked in bed, Joseph was playing with her hair, and singing to her "The sun has gone to bed and so must I."  It was so darling!!!

On Friday the rest of the family went to the Dry Tortugas.  We opted out since it was going to be $500 for our family for the day and we didn't think Jax or McKay would do well.  Hopefully Ben and I will go one day because it looked like loads of fun, but this wasn't the right trip for us to do it.

Instead we did some fun things in Key West.

Waiting for the movie to start.  We were the only ones in the place :)

Jax hasn't stopped talking about the giant and the princess since we left this place.
I think it was his favorite part of the trip.

We found this amazing toy factory and we probably could have spent several hours in there.  It was very hands on and everything was intended to be tried and played with.  My kids were in heaven.  There was a reading nook, building area, magic shop, musical instrument area, painting area, outer space area, and much more.  They also gave the kids balloons and lollipops.  It was pretty great!

We found this sponge man in the shopping area....

Stopping for some canned peaches.

After Key West we went back to our room, and swam in the pool at the hotel.  This was probably Sadie's favorite part of the trip. She didn't really love the beach.  They most enjoyed the pool and the park - both things we can easily do here at home.

That evening we met the family (minus Joe's fam) at Zaza's Italian Pizzeria Restaurant.  Mike was generous enough to pay for everyone.  What a guy!

After dinner we went back to our rooms and ate the rest of the ice cream from the night before and visited.

Saturday morning we I took the kids swimming while Ben packed the room and checked out.  After that we went to Sombrero Beach which had a great little park.  The kids never touched the water.  They stayed at the park for the whole two hours we were there.

Jax was saying, "Help!  Stuck!" as I was taking this picture.

I helped him get up.  It all worked out!

We saw two of these guys while in the keys.  One of them was a good 18+ inches long.

This was the favorite park item.  It's like a rope, pyramid merry-go-round.

Sadie pushed and pushed and pushed Jax around on this thing.

Leftover pizza for lunch.  Why are my kids always raising their hands in pictures?  Don't you love Jax's face?

McKay with his magic wand.

Then we showered and dressed and drove and drove and drove home.  It was a delightful little trip and we were all sad to see it come to an end.

Three more funny things from the trip.

• Saturday morning at the hotel, Sadie had been playing with McKay.  She paused from her playing and looked up at me and said with the sweetest sincerity, "Oh Mommy.  Moe is so cute.  I just love him.  Is it time for you to grow another baby in your belly?"  Ben and I got a good chuckle out of that.
• Then throughout the day she kept poofing her belly out and cradling her wannabe belly bump and telling us she had a baby in her belly.  Hmmm.
• We stopped and got Chili's To Go for dinner that night and she really, really, really needed to use the bathroom.  As we finally pulled up to the restaurant and she jumped out of her seat she said, "Mommy, I really need to go potty RIGHT NOW!  The baby is coming!"