We can check Florida off our travel list! In early December we made the trip to Fort Myers, Florida. After shuttle buses, 4 flights, 3 hour time difference, rental car, first time flying with two kids and one delayed flight we made it to Florida and back! Considering everything the trip went smoothly! We could go into a lot of detail about our experience flying with kids for the first time but you can look for a future blog post about our tips and tricks for traveling/exploring with kids! Angie and Charlie (sister and fiance), Scott and Jessica (brother and sister-in-law) along with their 3 kids – Makayla, Taylor and Carter all made the trip from MN to enjoy the Florida sunshine too! It was amazing getting to spend some time with family. We had all been looking forward to family time for months.

We stayed right on the beach in Fort Myers at the Gullwing resort. It is the 2nd building from the right in the picture below. We had a nice 10th floor view of the bay side and the beach. The apartment was great and allowed us to do our own cooking and laundry! We have found it to be so worth it to rent a place that has a kitchen and laundry when you are going to be gone for a week or more! It saves money on eating out and you can also pack less for clothes! We had a great stay here and would definitely choose to stay again.  The pool, hot tub, beach toys and beach chairs/umbrellas were nice extras we took advantage of as well! The trip was a perfect combination of relaxation and adventure.

 

The beach was huge and not very busy! We spent lots of time on the beach building sand castles, collecting shells and Sand Dollars, playing in the water, and enjoying the sunshine! The kids are used to the ocean, as we spent a lot of time at the beach in WA, but it was lots of fun to see them experience a warm beach! The white sand could not have been more perfect! It was like walking on powder.

Aspen is always the first one in the water and the last one out! She would have stayed out on the beach all day if we let her..and all night too!

One of my favorite things to do when staying at the beach is to get up early to walk along the beach and watch the sunrise! You always find the coolest things along the beach in the early mornings. I convinced Makayla and Carter to come out with me. I’m so happy they decided to join me on my morning walks. These moments of quality time with my nieces and nephews are even more important now that we live across the country. Sam and I have 20 (and counting) nieces and nephews spread out all over the U.S. and other countries. So when we do get to spend time with them it is something I do not take for granted!

 

All the random coconuts were pretty cool!

But what was even cooler was finding a live Sand Dollar! I have never seen a Sand Dollar still alive so it was really interesting to see!

 

We found tons of Sand Dollars all over the beach. Every few feet there were more. They are so fragile and thin compared to the ones we find here on the PNW beaches. The water temperature is the reason for the difference in appearance. WA Sand Dollar on the left vs. FL Sand Dollar on the right.

When is the last time you did something for the first time? Now that I am thinking about it, this trip was full of a lot of firsts for us! One new experience: beach yoga!! It was lots of fun to do with friends and family. Katie (Charlie’s sister) did an awesome job teaching yoga. It was a perfect morning for it. We got to admire the beach and watch dolphins swimming by while doing relaxing yoga. Aspen loved doing the yoga too.

 

One of our personal goals is to “watch more sunsets than Netflix”.

 I can honestly say I think we have accomplished this. We enjoyed some incredible sunsets while in FL. I loved watching Odin and Aspen running barefoot and carefree on the beach. Getting in lots of playing with Aunts, Uncles and cousins too!

 

I love that every sunset is different and unique but always worth it.

He is the reason I discovered I love to travel and the reason why traveling is so fun! He also makes each sunset we watch together just a little more special.

Drone view of the beach! The view from above never gets old.

 

 

So thankful for all the laughs, and memories made on this trip!

 

 

On to the next adventure…