The Keys

March 26, 2015

The Keys

We decided to book a trip during my spring break this year to the Florida Keys and traveled down to Key Colony Beach in Marathon for a week. It was the best decision we could have made considering that the weather in Ohio this winter has been so bitterly cold and never-ending. The kids had a blast getting outside in the sun and going to the pool and beach everyday, we celebrated Nolan's 4th birthday during our week, and Eric and I got a little bit of rest and relaxation that was much needed!!! We stayed at a family friend's home of the Holicks so it was perfect because we had access to a laundry room, a kitchen so we didn't have to eat out for every meal, and we could still get outside while the kids napped each afternoon. We can't wait to go back!!

We had a VERY early flight on the way out of town. Nolan was extra helpful and pushed Quinn around the airport.

Finally in the rental car! After landing on time in Fort Lauderdale, we waited two hours to get a rental car only to find once we got onto the highway that the car was broken. No acceleration, no speedometer, check engine light on, etc. We headed back to the airport and were received with the worst possible service from Hertz when trying to exchange the car for another one. Someone finally helped us out and we reloaded the new car and headed out. The drive to Marathon should have only taken 2.5 hours but due to some extreme traffic (an accident, and a Saint Patrick's day event) our drive ended up being almost 4 hours long. Luckily the kids did pretty well and looked like this most of the time.

However, we had a lot of this going on too. I think Eric was ready to turn around and go back to Ohio during much of the trip down but we finally made it and the perfect ocean and temperatures made it all worth it!

The view from the pool out to the beach.

We took the kids to the pool the first night for some dinner and swimming. Quinn spend most of her time lounging on the side and sipping her lemonade.

All bundled up after a swim.

The view during one of my morning runs.

Nolan liked standing on the rocks for pictures.

Quinn was so tired most of the trip from all of the sun and water but she was a trooper and kept up with the rest of us.

The kids LOVED the beach. It was fun to be able to relax a little bit on the side while they dug holes.

Beach baby.

Nolan's birthday fell in the middle of our trip. Since we had already celebrated at home the night before we left, we kept things simple. I had packed a bunch of balloons and crepe paper to decorate and he opened a train accessory for his new train table.

Birthday breakfast. He chose pancakes :)

We went to the playground for a little bit on the mooring of his birthday.

Birthday treat at the pool.

She had to have one too :)

This was not good. Nolan did A LOT of swimming on his birthday without his water wings which took a lot out of him. He told us that he wanted to go back to the pool after his nap for more swimming and dinner. We went back, he swam, he ate, then he had a major break down. He was so tired from the day and threw a huge screaming fit after dinner when we tried to get back in the pool and the poor server that was lighting his candles and singing happy birthday to him was also screamed out. His grumpy face in this picture explains it all. Too much fun for one day!