Florida Vacation

We were fortunate enough to get to visit my grandpa who lives in the Florida Keys again this summer. My husband could not come with us on this trip because of work but my wonderful mother came along to help keep the kids safe and me sane. :)

Here are some random pictures from our trip. If anyone is planning a trip to the Florida Keys with kids, let me know. I have experienced it twice now and I can give you some pointers to survive, I mean, have a good time.

Vacation Collage

This week we are finishing up our summer-long study of the ocean. The highlight of course has been visiting the beach not once, but five times, while we were vacationing in the Florida Keys. Even though my grandpa lives there and I have visited the Keys several times in my life, the first thing I always do when I arrive is pick up vacation pamphlets to look for coupons and deals on local attractions. This time I decided to bring them back home with us so that the boys could make a collage to remember the places and experiences of their vacation. Diego loved this project and couldn't wait to show Papi his collage. Papi could not make it this year because of work. :( Mateo just enjoyed making huge puddles of glue.

Count Down to Florida

Diego is very excited about our trip to Florida and has never ending questions about it. One of the most frequent is about when we are leaving. We created this count down to Florida medusa (jellyfish). Each morning he pulls off one of the tentacles and knows that when the medusa has no more tentacles it is time to go to Florida!

Vacation!

Yesterday I revealed our summer "school" plans to study the ocean. That decision was largely influenced by our upcoming trip to the Florida Keys. We are extremely fortunate that my grandfather lives in the Florida Keys and we were able to go for a visit last summer. It is a little unexpected and last minute but we have decided to make the trip again this year. Apart from getting to spend time with and getting to know my wonderful grandpa, the boys will have such a fantastic time.

Last year Mateo was 14 months and Diego was three. To be completely honest the trip was very difficult. Mateo was still not walking and refused to sleep during the 15 journey in two cars and three planes. I had just stopped breastfeeding Mateo so his schedule and mood were already messed up and the added stress of traveling made for a fussy little guy. If my wonderful mother had not gone on the trip with us, it would have been a hundred times harder. I should give credit to Diego who was absolutely wonderfully behaved both on the plane and the trip as a whole.

Even with the difficulties, it was a great trip and we have special memories. To refresh Diego's memory of the trip, I pulled out the photo album. I was really surprised about how much he remembered. I am excited to experience the islands with them again now that they are a year older. Diego is excited too. He already packed his backpack. :)

Here are a few of my favorite photos from our trip last year: