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!