Vacation!! Post with LOTS of pictures!

Last week marked quite an event for this branch of the Alexander family... We finally went on our first "grown up" vacation. By this I mean that we went on a vacation with the kids, out of state, for a full week, without Nana & Papa around to back us up. While we really missed having them around, we did have a wonderful time in the Florida sunshine!! Here are some pictures from our week in the South!
This trip was really an exciting one for me because it allowed me to see some friends I hadn't seen in quite awhile. On our way to FL we stopped in Alabama and had Thanksgiving dinner with some dear friends from our Florida days. Susie and I have known each other since 2nd grade! It was so great to see her again and to watch our kiddos play together. Its amazing how time flies by!
After 20 hours of driving we finally made it to FL! Too bad that we still had four hours to go. :) But the kids were excited to see the Florida state sign.

Our first full day in FL we went to see some friends from Michigan that have since moved south. It was fun to reconnect and spend some time together. Nicole and Justin are a blast and their little guy is such a cutie! We had a great time. (Thanks Mr. & Mrs. B for letting us invade!)

The next morning we woke up to this temperature... What do you think we did???
That's right... SWIM. Well I didn't but the kids and Jason did. We had a pool at the house we rented and the kids were dying to use it. :) The water was heated so I said ok. But I still think they were crazy!
The next day (Sunday) we had Thanksgiving dinner again with my Aunt Bette and Uncle Nelson. The weather was fantastic on this day so the swimming was much more pleasant. I even got in this time. :)

Uncle Nelson (who happens to be Micah's Great,Great Uncle) & Micah

Monday we went to Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo. It was a fun day and the kids really enjoyed seeing all the animals and riding the rides. We went with one of my other long time friends, Wendy and her sister Amy and their girls.

Brandi & Wendy

Monday night we went back to the house and just relaxed and enjoyed some down time. The big kids went "night swimming" and LOVED it. :) Carli and Ella were just glad to be back in a place that looked a little familiar to them.

The next day was our beach day. While it was fun and beautiful, it was a TON of work taking two 10 month olds to the beach. I don't recommend it, although I did get some great pictures... Carli and Ella loved eating the sand and crawling around but this mommy wasn't so fond of all that fiber going into their systems... Micah and Addison loved playing in the waves, looking for shells and building sand castles. To them, this was one of our best days.

Carli
Ella

We went boating later that day with Uncle Nelson. The babies stayed home with Aunt Bette. We saw a great sunset and even saw two dolphins playing at the mouth of the river. Micah was so excited about the dolphins!



On Wednesday we went to Mote Aquarium. We saw sharks, dolphins, sting rays, etc.

After the aquarium, my dad and grandma came from Ruskin for dinner. It was great to spend time with them. The kids loved showing off for them and getting all the extra attention. :)

Our final day in Florida, we went to Myaka State Park to "hunt" for alligators. Micah's only wish during all of vacation was to see alligators in the wild. I knew this park was known for its gators but my previous times there hadn't really been all that fruitful. So I prayed. I told God he knew the desires of this little boy's heart and I asked that we see lots of alligators. We ended up seeing 21 alligators that day! What a blessing! Micah was thrilled!! And Addi liked it too. :)




Later that night we went to the beach for our last supper. They had a sand castle building contest and this is one of the entries... SO AMAZING!!

Over all it was a fantastic vacation! We really enjoyed our time away. While we weren't too excited about returning home to the cold temps, we were happy to be home. Christmas time in Florida is just weird... All the decorations and lights and such but no snow... We actually missed it and I welcomed the "blizzard" of today. :)