Paradise @ Marco Island, FL

A few weeks ago we had the chance of taking a little trip to Marco Island, Florida. We have my mother to thank for this wonderful vacation that was very much needed after Ryan's busy season at work. My Mom turned 50 this year and for her 50th she wanted to take a little family trip, especially to show Owen
the beach! We had such a fun time and enjoyed it thouroughly. Really, we didn't want to leave at all. I'm going to encourage her to ask for family vacations every year I think;) Here are the many pictures we took and I'll just add captions and stories to them as we go along.

These first few are actually on he birthday at my parents house. I found this cool singing, rotating, fire works candle, it was pretty sweet. At the end of the song it wouldn't stop playing though so my Dad had to finally break it to get it to turn off.




To be honest I don't even know if she looks 35 and especially not 50!

Okay, now on to our trip!

Look close and what do you see?! That's right an alligator.

And look right by Ryan's head, another one. I'll be honeset I was a bit scared taking this picture even though he couldn't reach us.

We went on a drive near the Everglades and they were everywhere, just on the side of the road. This was not a place that I would ever let Owen run around. It was so scary getting out of the car to take pictures even though you were near the bushes. you just felt like they could hide in the grass they were so camouflaged.

Owen eating his banana with no cares in the world, not realizing he could be lunch!

Pointing at the Alligators.

A fake smile

What a beautiful sunset! Ryan was very excited because in Washington they have great Sunsets and on most of the East Coast we have great Sunrises due to where the ocean is and where the suns placement. Anyway, on Marco Island since it was on the Gulf they have wonderful Sunsets! I can never explain all that technical stuff but you get what I'm saying. We found a place on the East Coast that had good sunsets and Ryan was pretty pleased.



Owen was ready to try out the beach!

Pop Pop helped Owen get all decked out in his swim gear.

Ryan would build and build little sand castles and Owen would smoosh them all. While he was smooshing them he would say, "Crunch!" He loved this!

The first look at the water and Owen went running straight in. He has no fear and no sense of cold apparently. It actually was really nice most of the time but one day it was cold and Owen didn't seem to care. He went straight in! Here he is with Daddy!

He loved when Ryan would throw him up in the air out of the water especially if a wave was coming. He would squeal, "Weeeeee!"

No judgements on this picture, I just tell myself that I won't look this way forever:)


Owen scooted around like this allover the beach. We aren't really sure why but it looked quite funny. At one point he ever found a little ridge down and would scoot down it like a slide and say, "Wow!" over and over again while laughing. Apparently, this is was great fun. He even made Ryan try it at one point. He said, "Wee, Daddy, wee!" and wouldn't stop saying it until Ryan slid down the little sand ridge as well. I think he just wanted to show Ryan how fun it really was!


Doesn't Ryan look like he has no clothes on?!

While buried, Owen kept saying, "Uh Oh!" and I just thought that he was saying it just cause. Then he finally pointed and we saw that our beach ball was far, far away in the water. Owen was the only one that had noticed and he was very concerned! So Daddy, went and got it for us!


Mimi buring Owen again! He loved this!


So, we did play in the water and sand a lot but I think the majority of Owen's time at the beach was spent chasing the seagulls! Owen would run after one until it flew away and then chase another. He honestly thought he could get one I think. All the while he was yelling, "Tweet, tweet!" because that is what birdies say:) At one point he even climbed up some small sand banks to get to the birds. He wasn't watching where he was going so he kept sliping on them and sliding back down. It took him about 2 minutes to get up it and by the time he did, he had a crowd watching him that thought he was so cute, and they all cheered when he made it. He didn't even notice at all, he just kept going after those birds!

Ryan made Owen a little sand hole which he liked a lot, especially when there was a little water in it. I think this picture is so funny just because of their faces. I don't know what is so fascinating to them?! And I actually think Owen is yawning but it was perfect timing!


Outside the Marriott hotel with the fountains. And a good pregnancy shot! This was at 26 weeks!

Now this was a fun activity. Have you ever been in a Surry?! Well, now we can say we have! We were going to go bike riding but then we weren't sure due to my unbalanced self if that would be the best so we chose something a little more stable. This was seriously one of the funnest things I've ever done and I've never laughed so hard. It was also really, really hard and not just because I am pregnant. Everyone said it was hard. The people who rented it to us, warned us that we might be back early and they were right;) We sure did get a lot of car honks and people who waved at Owen. Owen loved it and kept waving at the cars. He liked to ding the little bell on the front. We thought his little hat just fit in perfectly!





And yes this actually did happen once or twice. However, I didn't ever do it. But, there were a few times that someone jumped off and pushed us from the back because running and pushing the Surry was actually easier for the person than pedaling it! Crazy!

That night we got to see another amazing sunset! My sweet husband drew this in the sand;)


We had such a fun trip and even though it was only a few days it was wonderful especially since it landed right at the end of Ryan's long shifts at work. It was great to see him for a whole day! And no one got any sunburn, which was a plus! We played lots of games and just got to relax. The beach is the best place for a toddler, they get so exhausted and take the best naps. It was great!

I do have to record our trip home just because it would be a sad experience to forget. Owen did catch a small cold at the end of our trip. My mom dropped us off at the airport since my parents were going to stay a few more days. Anyway, Owen had been drinking some juice and due to being sick right as we stopped to unload the car at the airport he threw up all over Ryan. Luckily, it really was just all the juice he had drinken so it wasn't too bad. We thought of that was not very good but oh well. Then we went it to check into our flight. Well, my mom had packed Ryan's jacket into our big suitcase to help us out. When we got to the desk they did everything but I couldn't find my liscense. While we were looking in our carry-ons for it they took our big bags, where Ryan's jacket was. Anyway, they finally said I would just have to go through extra screening at the check point since we couldn't find it. I thought it was left at the airport we had flown from since that has happened to us before and I hadn't needed my liscense the whole trip so I hadn't noticed. Anyway, we got to the checkpoint and we realized the liscense Ryan had been showing was his old voided WA liscense. We then realized they were both probably in his jacket pocket from the trip down to FL and we hadn't noticed since we hadn't needed them. So, being the nice people they were and noticing that I was pregnant and we had a little buddy with us, they let us through pretty easily.

So, we get on the plane and everything was going pretty good until the very end of our first flight Owen has a huge blow out. Luckily we were landing and we did bring him so PJ's so we just changed him in the next airport. Then, on the next flight we were doing good again and at the very end of the flight we were taxing in and Owen threw up all over, 3 times. And this was real throw up and throw up that people could hear and were all looking at us. We couldn't really clean it up because well we didn't have anything to clean it up with. The airport people were so nice but we felt horrible and I felt so bad for Owen as he obviously wasn't feeling very well. And, I felt bad for Ryan as it just happens that during all three of those occurances he was holding Owen so he had, throw up, blow out, and throw up on him! We also didn't have any other extra clothes for Owen since we'd already used them so I had to go clean him off and just put his jacket on him.

We then found a taxi who we felt real sorry for as he probably thought we all reeked since we couldn't wash up. But, luckily that ride went smoothly and Owen was asleep in seconds. It was not the funnest time but I was so grateful Ryan was there with me as I'm sure I would have been in tears if not and we actually were laughing that same night about it, because of how ironic the whole situation was. And, we do realize it could have been much, much worse.

Oh, and we did find out liscences in Ryan's jacket when we got out suitcase! Yay! So, a very interesting story to end our wonderful trip!