Florida Keys

This is where we spent all of last week:

We went to the Florida Keys last week with my (Janet's) parents...stayed in a condo on Cocoa Plum Beach in Marathon (about half way to Key West)...and did lots of fun things in the sun. 
And yes, we took the kids out of school to go on vacation.  Shame on us.  We wanted to take advantage of my maternity leave and get a vacation in while it was still easy to go!  They probably learned more traveling and exploring and being with family, than they would have that week in school anyway (at least that is my justification).

It is always tough to sort through hundreds of vacation photos and post them, but here are a few from us and my parents:

There was lots of fun to be had on the beach, and a lot of sun all week.  (Only one bad day!)



Grandpa and Jamie



Dawson, Grandpa and Jamie checking out the creatures during low tide.



There were lots of interesting things to see during low tide.  A lot of creatures.

Here are some crabs that they found, in and out of the water.

The majority of the week was spent in the pool.  They would have stayed in that pool all day if we hadn't forced them to keep getting out for more sunscreen applications.

Grandma and Jamie

Jamie said her favorite part of vacation, other than the pool...was "getting a suntan."  Who knew it started that early?!

Grandpa spent as much time watching Dylan as possible, so that we could take a break.  Thanks Grandpa!

She did a pretty good job just hanging out with us by the pool.



When Dylan wasn't with us at the pool, she was up in the condo with Grandpa or me or David.  There was a pretty good view of everyone at the pool and the beach from up there. 
Grandpa has his favorite things all in one place on the balcony too...a grandbaby, his computer, and chips.  What more could one need?



I'm not sure what was going on here...Grandpa did it.  He said it was windy.  She didn't seem to mind.

By the way, Dylan turned two months while we were gone.



Soaking in the sun on the balcony, after waking up in the morning.  I find this much nicer to wake up to than the mess outside that we woke up to this morning, at home.



Kids and David watching America's Funniest Home Videos before bed.  They think that show is hilarious! 
Side note:  When selecting a something for kids to watch, just show an early elementary kid something that has people getting hurt or using potty language and it will be a hit!  They love old school Looney Tunes (Road Runner, etc.) and Tom and Jerry.  Those cartoons are more violent than I remember as a kid!

Reading with Grandma before bed. I like this one because: look at the kid's faces...they are identical, just leaning opposite directions.

One of the mornings we visited a dolphin research center, where we saw lots of dolphins and sea lions up close.  Dawson even got to interact with them.

Dylan slept most of the time. 
(This baby carrier got a lot of miles during the week!)



Pretty cool, huh?  He said they weren't slimy at all, just cold and wet.

Jamie didn't want to touch the real dolphins.  She stuck with the concrete one.



There was also a splash park at the Dolphin place.  Of course, that was a hit too.



David, Dawson and Grandma went deep-sea fishing one afternoon.  Dawson caught a grouper (but had to throw it back, since it was out of season) and they caught a bunch of grunts...that we all ate later in the evening.

A restaurant, by the charter boat dock, fried up the fish that they caught for us.  Dawson was pretty proud.

We got some tennis in during the week also.  Plus, had the added enjoyment of watching Grandpa and Grandma attempt to play tennis.  Look how sporty they are trying to be.  Something isn't quite right with that picture!
It should be a TV show for sure...what a sight.

On the day that turned out to be the worst weather day of the week, we drove down to Key West.  The wind was super strong and it rained most of the day...so we didn't really get too see much of Key West and had to find things to do indoors.  We visited a butterfly house for a little while, during the worst of the storm.

It stopped raining finally, but was still super windy.  We stood at the southernmost point just long enough to take a picture, then we high-tailed it back to a less windy spot. 



There were some street performers in Key West's Mallory Square. 
Dawson was chosen out of the crowd to assist this guy.

It cleared up just in time to see the sun set from Mallory Square.

Key West Sunset


It was Dylan's first vacation and first plane ride. We were a bit nervous about her, since she isn't the most calm baby...but she was a star! She didn't cry on either flight and slept most of the way there and back.