On February 12th, we left cold and icy Louisville and headed down to warm and sunny Southern Florida. We spent the first three days in Jupiter visiting Uncle Drew at his new place. PeePaw and Grandma Beth met us down there too!
Searching for lizards quickly became a favorite of Luke's.
On Saturday we went to one of Jupiter's beautiful beaches. While it was pretty windy that day, we didn't mind with sunny skies and mid-80s temperatures.
The following morning the big guys got up early to go fishing, Caleb and Grandma Beth rented a jet ski, so Luke and I decided to check out Loggerhead Beach.
Luke made some friends...
Meanwhile, Caleb and Grandma Beth were having a blast (and getting soaked!) on a jet ski.
On Monday we made our very favorite drive- US 1 South to the Keys. While Creed and I have made this drive many times, we were so excited to share one of our favorite things with the boys. We had lunch on Key Largo and then our next stop was Robbie's Marina on Islamorada to feed the tarpon.
That afternoon we checked into our hotel and the boys spent their time swimming. Marathon Key is our favorite to stay on and this trip we tried a new hotel- Skipjacks. It was perfect and it quickly became the boys favorite hotel. They especially loved the deep saltwater pool!
The next morning we chartered a fishing boat and took the boys on their first salt water fishing trip. PeePaw and Drew drove down and they went with us as well.
Caleb and I both took 1/2 of a Dramamine so he was feeling a little sleepy.
Luke's first grouper
Even though we were in 40 feet of water, the water was so clear that we could see the bottom.
The next day we decided to check out Sombrero Beach and we loved it! It wasn't crowded and it was protected so we could swim way out without worrying about waves or a current. We had a fantastic day and all got a little too much sun!
The view from our hotel. We were amazed with all the people that live on their sailboats!
Thursday morning we packed up and headed south again...
and we went all the way to Key West!
Luke finally caught a lizard!
After lunch we checked in to our hotel and swam for a few hours at the pool. Then we got cleaned up and we went to Mallory Square to take the boys to their first sunset celebration. The boys were amazed with the street performers, we did a little shopping, and then had dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant on Duvall Street.
Friday morning we were all sad as we shook the sand off our flip flops and stuffed "summer" clothes back in our suitcases. We spent a couple hours at the pool and then headed north to catch our flight out of Miami. (We actually called and tried to push our flight back two days but the Sunday evening flight was sold out.)
We stopped in Key Largo at Gilbert's Marina for lunch, which happened to be hosting the Miami Poker Run. The boys were loving all of the incredible boats!
It was THE PERFECT vacation.
While home was experiencing ice, snow and below normal temperatures, we were blessed with sunny skies and above normal temperatures. It was awesome to get to see where Drew lives and spend time with PeePaw and Grandma Beth, but it was also exciting to show the boys why we love the Keys so much. You know it's a good vacation if after a full week, no one is ready to go home yet. :)
