Florida Trip

Our Florida vacation was exactly what we needed! We started off Friday afternoon around 2pm and arrived in Gainesville, FL around 8am EST. The overnight drive was well worth the boys sleeping in the car for at least 9 or 10 hours. The boys did great and only stirred a few times. They were so happy to see their cousin Ben and be able to play and run around! We spent the day at playgrounds and catching up with Carl and Kristen. We also had a wonder Valentine's Day dinner too prepared by C&K! Thanks for a wonderful time!

Here's the happy family with baby Ella on the way! Kristen has more great pictures of our visit on her blog: http://drakefamilyadventures.blogspot.com/2009/02/fun-times-with-connor-and-lucas.html

On Sunday, we headed off to Bonita Springs for our week with Grandma and Grandpa. As soon as we arrived we hit the beach and watched a beautiful sunset while the kids soaked up the sun!

During the week we took a few side trips. One was to a state historical site for some hiking among the bamboo and palm trees. Connor loved exploring the trail. I can't wait for warmer weather so we can take him on more hikes.

Another side trip was to this awesome park where the kids had a blast! We made several trips here to break up the day. Connor pretended this was a school bus even though we kept telling him it was a fire truck. We weren't able to convince him.

Most of the days were spent exploring the beach. The main activity was fetching water and dumping it on the sand or into other containers. Both boys enjoyed doing this except Lucas won't go fetch the water. He'd run up to the waves and then run back as they got near. He did this the whole trip except on the last morning we were there! He finally let the water hit his feet! I took some pictures on Grandma's camera so they'll be more pictures later since they're still enjoying the warm weather.

Toward the end of our trip Andrew, Laura and their dad came down and we had a day and a half overlap. The cousins always find things to do. There is never a dull moment. Here's sweet Laura who always has a hug or a smile!

Andrew even made us delicious cookies at the playground...we questioned the delicious nature of them but he keep insisting they were delicious. We concluded that his recipe needed less wood chips.

Aunt Sarah and Lucas spent a long time sliding down this slide together. They sure did this a ton! Lucas loved it as you can tell by the huge smile on his face. I think Sarah had fun too!

We had a successful vacation! Matt and I also got to take a canoe trip and went out to dinner one evening while Grandma and Grandpa watched the kids. Thanks for the time off G&G! We're already thinking about next year!