florida (in a nutshell).

It seems like a year ago when we were in Florida, but it was actually only a month and I'm just really behind on blogging.  This wasn't our first family vacay, but it was the first time Henry flew on a plane (for free! hooray!).  I spent the entire month prior to the trip packing and making 17 lists for things to bring, where to bring them and what bag they go in.  Traveling with a toddler is no joke.  Thankfully we didn't have to bring every single piece of toddler furniture & equipment on the plane b/c my dad and brother drove down and took a load for us :)  Another perk on the way down was my mom flying with us, so three adults versus 1 toddler had pretty good odds.  

Our flight was eaarlllyyyyy..  Like 7:15 am Lafayette time, which was really 6:15 in our world.  We made it to the airport in good time and without leaving anything (or anyone) behind.   Henry was not interested in getting on the plane, but once we were in a seat, he did great.  New books & toys kept him entertained until he passed out right before landing.  That figures.

After a two hour drive we finally arrived at our destination in Islamorada.  The weather was beautiful and the upside of flying early was that we still had a full day to enjoy it.  The pool was first on the agenda followed by dinner and then crashing since none of us had slept since 3 am.  

We tried to fish any day the wind wasn't too bad and the ocean wasn't too rough.  When we were young, my grandpa always took us fishing when we visited in the keys.  My brother and I learned everything we could from him and always had such a great time.  My memories of spending our Christmas in the keys with my grandma and grandpa are the best.  It was super exciting to be able to share a little of that with Henry, even though he had no clue what was going on yet.  Hopefully he will love it as much as I did in the future.  

Overall, we did lots of fishing, lots of pool time, a lot of sun time and even more eating/drinking.  We made a seafood feast for Christmas eve and then had a relaxing Christmas day.  Nothing beats a great week of weather and good company :) 

Here are some (like 87) of my favorite pics from the week!  

christmas (x3).

We decided to take advantage of Henry flying free this Christmas and head to Florida for the week (many pics to come!) so we opened gifts a little early.  I am obsessed with my Christmas decorations and tree.  I completely forgot about some ornaments & decor I purchased last year from CB2 on sale so I had a mini Christmas opening by myself when I found them in storage!  I also did a few new projects (painting ornaments, stringing pom pom garland & making the wall art) which kept me busy all December long.  I was happy to have family over to see it before I had to take it down.

The first of three celebrations was with my parents and brother.  They came up for the afternoon and we just ate and hung around the house while Henry opened his gifts.  He loved his new tool set and the blue bear sleeping bag.  Lots of books and clothes kept him busy too... He always says "so cute" or "that cute" when he gets new clothes.  Henry also made Aaron some artwork for his new house (he might be the next picasso :)  

The next day we opened gifts once we all woke up.  Henry did a much better job at tearing open the wrapping paper, but was ticked when we wouldn't let him open the boxes and build them all immediately.  If we did that, we would still be opening stuff today... It is tough to get a toddler to understand that though!  The pop-up Thomas tent and his name/shape puzzles were a huge hit.  He was also into the Duplo Legos with numbers on them.

The last Christmas celebration was with Darin's family after we returned from Florida.  It was another fun day of gifts, good food and Henry the Entertainer.  He learned some killer dance moves from his Aunt Kari to the Thomas theme song from his new book.  I received an awesome NAP blanket from Brookstone for our bed from my in-laws... It is seriously the most amazing blanket ever.

We had such a great holiday and the new year is off to a great start!  Happy New Year to everyone!