Marco Island Vacation

The Holick family kicked the summer off with a nice, long vacation to Marco Island, Florida.  Eric's Uncle owns a condo on the island that he graciously lent to us for our trip.  The condo was fantastic to have with a 14-month-old for the laundry, kitchen, and private pool that was close enough for the baby monitor so we could sit by the pool during nap time as well!!  We spent the trip going on morning walks, going to the beach or staying by the pool during the afternoons, and going to restaurants in the evenings.  Other than a couple of hiccups (Nolan had a fever for a couple of days, the pool wasn't ready the first two days of our trip, and we had a slight delay at the airport on our way home) it was a great trip and we had a lot of fun as a family.

Here is an overload of pictures and a quick run down of the trip...

I failed to take any air plane pictures even though it was Nolan's first time (bad mom).  On the trip down we were bumped to 1st class and it was a breeze.  We had lots of wiggle room and Nolan was a great traveler even though he skipped his nap, so much for napping on a plane.  Everything was seamless getting the rental car and he finally took a small nap on the 45 minute drive onto the island.  He was slap happy by the time we went to dinner!

"I barely napped today but I'm so excited to be on vacation!!"

Day #1 on the beach:

"I'm not so sure about this sand stuff..."

"...but it is fun to dig in!"

Family dinner at Quinn's on the beach.  Nolan was obsessed with all of the birds flying around the island.  He had a good time this night running around and chasing all of the birds.

Don't worry, the "Bubble Guppies" traveled with us.  What would bedtime be without them?!

Day #2 at the beach:

Relaxin' in his raft.  He was too funny watching everyone and floating around.

More digging in the sand.

This is as far as he would walk off of his towel.  He really did not enjoy the sand on his feet.

Another failed attempt to get him to sit and smile for a picture.

First day at the pool:

Having a picnic lunch.  Nolan is into dip these days.  He likes to dip his food into salsa, guacamole, or hummus.  Notice the tub of salsa in front of him.  He needed to do it himself and I'm pretty sure most of his quesadilla ended up at the bottom of this.

Checking out the water.

Fast forward two days:  

Nolan ended up with fevers for a couple of days and we actually ended up taking him to an urgent care because we suspected an ear infection.  No infection, just fevers and a crabby, sick baby.

Nolan perked up and wasn't running a fever so we decided we would take him to the beach for a bit and grab dinner.  I think we jumped the gun a bit.  He was NOT happy to be at the beach...poor baby.

Healthy and back to the pool:

Yay, no fever!!

Nothing better than being able to have a Popsicle at the pool!

Swimming.  We would say, "Nolan, go swimming," and he would stick his arms out in front of him and his legs behind like he was really swimming.  Every now and then we would actually get a couple of kicks too!

When did he turn into a big boy!?

The pool had this owl statue on the side to scare away birds and Nolan was crazy about this owl.  He would point at it and try to say "owl" and then Eric would have to swim him over to the other side to sit by it.  At the end of each pool day Nolan would say, "bye bye" to the owl before heading up.

Boys in their red hats.

One of Nolan's favorite pool activities was throwing rocks.  Great.

Out to dinner at the famous Snook restaurant.  Nolan loved the live music!

Family photo opp.  Nolan of course is not cooperating.

Back to the beach:

Love my beach toys!

Beach family.

Enjoying his ice cream after dinner!

Final day:

Posing next the condo's sign on his final morning walk.

We walked up to the beach on that last morning and Nolan finally got over his fear of walking in the sand :)  He loved running along the water and looking at the shells.

Beach baby.

Headed home:

Our flight back to Columbus was not as smooth as our trip down.  We got to the airport way to early and then were delayed an extra hour.  To top it off, Nolan did not take an afternoon nap so he was extra feisty.  Being the expert dad that he is, Eric walked Nolan up and down the airport in the stroller until Nolan fell asleep.  We were able to sneak in about 30 minutes of sleep for him but he was definitely a handful on the flight.  Thank goodness for snacks, Bubble Guppies, and iPads!!

We made it home in one piece and looking forward to a fun summer!!