We had another great Spring Break! This year we went a few days early to spend a couple days at Disney World before our week in St. Petersburg with the whole family. So we had a full day 10 days of fun and it went by way too fast. Thanks to Mom and Dad for being amazing hosts! We love your home! So many wonderful memories being made there already. I love seeing the cousins all together. We can't wait for next year!
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| Our year to rent the van - it was huge! |
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| We wasted no time - this was where the kids were about 5 minutes after arriving at G&G's house. |
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| Matt and I lounged in the deck chairs with a beer in hand, looking over at the beautiful water with the sun starting to set, and effortlessly watching our floaty-wearing kids having a ball together in the pool and said to each other " I think this year is going to be way easier than last year." It really was. |
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| Their pelican friend came over to welcome us back to FL. |
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| The next day (Grandpa's birthday!) after a breakfast with the birthday boy we headed right to Orlando and Magic Kingdom |
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| This is Claire looking up at the Cinderella statue outside of Cinderella's castle |
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| Lunch in the castle with Cinderella. Claire totally got cold feet and wouldn't take a picture with her. |
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| Both Claire and Luke hid every time a princess would come over to the table. What a bust! This is why I can't get my expectations up about things like this - it is sure to disappoint. |
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| While our kids were awkwardly hiding under the table, the princesses didn't really know what to do, so we ended up taking pictures with them to cut down on even more awkwardness. |
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| It really was neat being in Cinderella's castle - it was really pretty. |
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| Clock striking midnight dessert |
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| Windy stairs up to the dining room |
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| Watching the parade - whatta Dad holding both kids! |
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| Dumbo ride! |
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| Car ride |
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| She wanted to change into her Ariel dress that Grandma & Grandpa Mackus had given her the night before. |
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| Train |
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| Character breakfast at our hotel the next morning was a similar experience to the princess lunch. Although Matt did get this one, which I consider a WIN despite Claire's constipated look. |
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| Checking out the pool after breakfast we were spotted by a lifeguard and invited on a pirate scavenger hunt. |
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| Luke found the treasure! |
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| Turns out we were the "Family of the day" by doing this scavenger hunt. We got a bunch of little goodies and some prime reserved seating by the pool. |
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| Let's get down to the pool! |
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| Waterslide area is where we spent a lot of time |
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| Hot tub kid. It was threatening rain for a while and then in the afternoon some storms rolled in super quickly and we had to evacuate the pool. It was a little chaotic! We didn't have time to go back to our chairs, so I ended up taking the kids right back to the room from the waterslides without any towels, shoes or anything. Love to walk through a lobby wearing nothing but a wet bikini trying to herd crazy kids! It got a bit scary when the wind picked up some chairs and the lifeguards were shouting at everybody to GET OFF THE POOL DECK NOW!!! and everyone had to filter through this gates to get out. I went into Momma Bear mode and pushed my way through the crowds to get my kids out of harm's way. |
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| The storm was a good reason to spend a few hours relaxing in the room before dinner. |
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| Yum....crab dinner at the Yacht Club next door |
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| Claire didn't nap during our quiet time in the room and fell asleep at the table! All that swimming! |
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| Walked around the boardwalk area after dinner |
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| Cupcakes for dessert |
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| I love this picture so much |
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| The Beach Club is the best. This is where we went when we came for a week in 2013, and we were back again. |
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| Went to Downtown Disney the next morning before we headed out of town. |
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| We stopped to do a citrus tour on our way back to St. Petes. |
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| They raise chickens there too. |
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| We got a tour and learned all about the oranges and peaches grown at this farm. The kids got to pick oranges and learned all about fire ants. |
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| Orange ice cream was their local specialty and it was relish. |
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| Another stop off before St. Pete's at Dinosaur World. |
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| Panning for jewels |
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| Geode! |
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| Selfie on our way to the airport to pick up the Carpenters |
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| They wanted to get in the pool as soon as they arrived too! |
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| The next morning was Easter morning, and Grandma's Birthday! The Easter bunny hid their baskets and all the kids had to find them. |
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| Church then brunch at Mom & Dad's new country club, The Vinoy |
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| Mom gave the girls new matching Easter dresses |
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| The whole gang! |
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| The original 4 |
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| Unicorn sighting - all 4 kids smiling!! |
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| Easter Egg Hunt |
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| Playing with Grandpa |
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| Swimming in the bayou |
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| PJ and "Big Joe" the turtle (that was the name he came with!) |
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| Birthday presents for Grandma |
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| Dolphin watching - we saw dolphins several times in the bayou that week and stingrays too |
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| We hit the beach on Monday despite the cooler weather |
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| Peel and eat shrimp! |
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| Dinner at the famous Shrimp house - Luke got crab! |
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| Being silly with her cousin |
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| Kayak time |
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| The sunset was beautiful |
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| Welcome back guys! |
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| Story time |
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| Playing Barbies - another matching dress set from Grandma:) |
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| The famous Sunken Gardens |
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| Checking out the map |
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| It rained in the afternoon, so we had a fun afternoon of sitting underneath the covered patio playing my fave - Scattergories!! |
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| When the rain broke later we got more kayak fun in. |
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| Something was HI-larious, or maybe it was my margaritas catching up with me. |
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| Could this baby be any cuter? |
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| The front of their beautiful house |
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| Giant dining room fort |
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| Playing nicely with Sesame St. playhouse |
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| Watching "Minions" - Claire zonked out |
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| Beach day after a family photo shoot on Wed |
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| Thursday we spend the day at Tampa's Busch Gardens and had a blast! |
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| The gardens were gorgeous, the zoo animals neat, and the rides so fun! |
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| Looking at the tiger up close and personal |
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| Riding the sky trek |
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| The kids loved this ride so much we got right back in line and did it again. |
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| Baby gorilla was so cute! |
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| Riding alone, what a big kid! |
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| Friday we were lucky enough to have Mr and Mrs Miller take us out on their boat. Another great day! |
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| The little ones fell asleep on the boat ride out to the sand bar |
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| Dolphin sightings! |
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| Finding sand dollars and other cool stuff on the sand bar, can only be accessed by boat |
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| Getting cleaned off in G&G's big tub! |
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| Clean kids playing before dinner |
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| Last dinner out in downtown St. Petersburg by the water |
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| Walking around after dinner, love the warm nights |
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| Saturday it rained all day |
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| We went to the nearby Children's Museum, which the kids loved |
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| One more lunch before K&C headed to the airport |
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| We took a 9pm flight home, so didn't get back to Chicago until pretty late and then waited for our luggage for a long time. The kids were ready for bed, that's for sure! |
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| We had Sunday to unpack and get used to being home. It was a pretty nice day and we were in beach withdrawal, so we hit the beach! |
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| Not quite the same, but still pretty fun. |
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