key west

We spent our last full day of vacation touring Key West. It was hot. Like, really hot. We sat and had lunch and drank a ton of water.

Then we stopped by Hog's Breath Saloon. You can't go to Key West and not stop by.

I took a recommendation from a friend and booked the trolley tour. This was the way to go. You beat some of the heat, you learn a few interesting things, and you can get on and off at the different sites.

One of the stops on the tour was the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. The girls love going to butterfly exhibits so this was a no brainer. And it gave us a break from the heat.

There were so many butterflies. I just love watching them up close. There are so many of the same kinds, but they're all so different.

They had a few other creatures in there as well. This turtle sat right in the middle of the path and didn't move. He knew he ran the show.

I have no idea what kind of bird this is, but he was colorful and cool to look at.

Addison sat so patiently waiting for a butterfly to land on her. It eventually did, but flew away before I could get a picture. But for some reason they really like Michael's hat.

Only a few more stops on our tour. You can't go to Key West and not visit the southernmost point. Every family has to have this picture.

Then the trolley dropped of us near two of my favorite spots. First we went to Kermit's Key West Key Lime Shoppe. I wish I had a picture of the deliciousness that is key lime pie on a stick then dipped in chocolate, but it didn't last long enough. Pure heaven.

But then it got better. Right across the street was the Key West Pretzel Company. The misery of all that goodness was totally worth it.

There you have it. Our Florida Keys vacation. We had the best time with our friends, had a lot of laughs, and made a lot of memories. I'm ready to book that little trailer again for next year.

out on the town

One night we conned the underage kids into watching our little ones and headed down to Key West for a night out on the town. I love hanging out with my peeps.

 There was a little drinking, some dancing, and a few other shenanigans.

Oh, and then there was this.

It's so fun to be an adult and act like a kid sometimes.

the sea

When you go out 12 miles into the ocean to dive, there isn't much around. You can see the shoreline off in the distance, but mostly it's just you and the lobsters. Michael and I didn't do a lot of catching ourselves, but we were good spotters. We did do a lot of the eating.

We headed back to base right as the sun was setting. There's just something sepcial about being alone in the ocean watching the sunset.

Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to live the life I live.

fl keys vacay, continued

We woke up the second day ready for fun. See...

The girls spent all day on shore with friends. They took them snorkeling, swimming and even fed them lunch. Morgan was so excited to show me her prized treasure she found while snorkeling. That would be a full bottle of Corona. I was told that she even went back looking for more.

Michael and I spent the day diving. Our first ocean dive. The reason we took scuba lessons in the first place. Sadly, I do not have any pictures, but the memories will stay with me forever. There was the moment we came out of the channel and started the 5 mile trek out to sea. That's when I realized I might get seasick. I tried to talk myself out of it, but it wasn't helping. Once we got to American Shoal Lighthouse and anchored I was in a little bit of trouble. Getting your scuba gear on is a process and not a short one. I couldn't get out of those waves soon enough. Once we were underwater I was fine, but then it all started again when we got back in the boat. I just sat there, ate an apple, and let everyone else do the repacking of the gear. I stole this picture from Mark. I promise you the seas were not this smooth that day.

We had a great time though. There are some pretty cool things under the ocean. Michael and I spent some time on our own looking around. I had no trouble clearing my ears this time and we surfaced and went back down with no problems. For a second there you forget that you're out in the middle of the ocean and could spot a shark at anytime. Lucky for us the reef is only 15-25 feet deep so it wasn't a hangout for them.

Dinner that night was easy. The campground was doing a fried chicken fundraiser and for $5 we got a huge plate of food. That's a win.

Then the girls and I took a little stroll around the campground to look for crabs. Instead we found the playground and a lot of bugs. The no-see-ums were horrible! You had to keep moving or you were getting bit.

Maybe it was the super moon that brought all the bugs out. We hoped it would bring the lobsters out. We went for a little night excursion to see what we could find with our flashlights.

We found nothing, but it was worth the trip. Look at the super moon. Just amazing.

The perfect way to end the day.

summer vacation 2014

Just like every year, we ventured off for our family vacation the week before school starts. Our fabulous friends (and neighbors) invited us to tag along on their already planned family vacation to the Florida Keys. How could we pass that up. One Friday after work, with the car loaded to the top, we headed out on the trek. We stopped for the night in Ft. Lauderdale and were up and on the road by 6:30 the next morning. The ride to Sugarloaf was long, but man is it pretty.

We heard from several friends that you have to stop at Robbie's in Key Largo and feed the tarpon. You would think these fish wouldn't be hungry, but they go nuts for a fish.

 Watch your fingers through. They could bite.

We couldn't leave without a bathroom break and a stop for pictures.

We made it to our destination around lunchtime and checked in to our home for the next 5 days.  It was nothing fancy, but it did have a full refrigerator, a shower, air conditioning and no bugs. That's my kind of camping.

We met up with the Flowers family and headed to lunch. Lucky for us we didn't spot a shark, but who knew there were bears in the Keys? Morgan wasn't too worried.

We ended our first day on the water. We all took turns doing a little tubing.

 This was the girls first time tubing and they had a blast!

Even that time that Michael, Addison and I went together. We all got flipped off, Michael and I each lost a pair of sunglasses, and Addison nailed Michael giving him a busted lip. I call that a successful tubing adventure.

Only day 1 and we had so much fun.