Sunday, December 30, 2012

florida 2012- part 2

We spent the second day of our vacation chartering a boat to go out in hopes of catching some big fish. Our departure time was at the crack of dawn (literally).  I haven't gone ocean fishing in about 12 years and didn't know how I would feel being 7 months preggo.  Luckily, the waters were calm and no one felt sick or queasy. 

 First, the captain and first mate had to catch our bait.  They threw out nets to capture the tiny fish and brought them into the boat.  Once we had a sufficient supply, we headed out looking for a good spot to start.  At first, we were doing well, my dad caught a small shark and brother caught a huge king mackerel.  Then it was Darin's turn... beginner's luck helped him bring in a massive sailfish.  What are the odds that he would catch the biggest fish of the day on his first try?!  Lucky.  

After Darin's big catch, the day went quickly downhill and we caught two more fish before calling it a day... 8 hours on a boat and 5 fish... 
At least it was a beautiful day! 























  

Saturday, December 29, 2012

florida 2012- part 1

On Christmas day, we spent the morning with family in Lafayette, then headed back home to pack for our flight to Florida that night (our last hurrah before Henry arrives).  Of course, our flight was the only one with a significant delay, so we didn't land in Ft. Lauderdale until after 1 am... then had to drive another 2 hours to Islamorada.  Needless to say, we were pretty exhausted, but happy to be in the warm weather for a few days.  Luckily, my family didn't have big plans for us the first day, so we spent it relaxing and checking out the docks before heading to dinner.  I've decided being pregnant in the winter is the greatest thing b/c I didn't enjoy the heat nearly as much as usual... my swollen hands & ankles agreed.  




















Saturday, December 15, 2012

a night in the city

What could possibly be better than spending an unusually warm december night walking around chicago and visiting the christkindlmarket?  Even when we were living downtown, we never had a chance to visit this quaint german holiday market.  The food smelled incredible and the booths contained more decorations and ornaments than anyone could ever hope for.  We wandered around for a bit, stopping for a stick packed full of chocolate covered strawberries (genius) and then headed north for dinner @ chicago q.  Other than almost losing our lives in a typical cab ride, the night was perfection!  Only 9 more days until Christmas!