Sarasota! (Part I)

This is the fourth year we have joined my family on vacation. It has been an incredible blessing for us, because there are definitely years we wouldn't have been able to take a vacation if it weren't for the generosity of my parents. This year we made a 16 hour drive to Sarasota, FL. My parents took Evie down, and at 11:00 on Friday night we loaded up Catherine and Emiliana and headed down to join them. We were worried about driving all night long, but I got to tell you: It was the bomb. Definitely the way to travel with children! We arrived at our beach house a little before 3:00 Saturday (May 3rd) afternoon.

We're pretty sure that Evie thought we were moving in. "This is my yellow home!" On our last day there Catherine decided she wanted to go ahead and leave, so she walked out the door and yelled, "I dohing home!" Evie replies, slightly confused, "But... this is home." It was a great place to stay. The big girls had their own room and Emiliana slept in our room, and my parents and sister each had their own room. Very suitable for a family of 8!

It was rainy and gross when we got there, but the rest of the week the weather was fantastic! High 80s, very sunny and clear, great beach/pool weather.

This was Emiliana's first trip to the beach! She absolutely LOVED it! She spent a lot of time just grabbing handfuls of sand and squeezing it between her fat fingers. We also filled up a little inflatable tub with water from the gulf so she could splash around. She was one happy baby!

It was also great sand for sand castles and great waves for toddlers to splash in. Evie's swim lessons really paid off because she really enjoyed jumping waves. She's always been terrified of the water, but this year she really had a great time! The swim lessons were also great because at one point she jumped into our pool without a floaty on (we always had one on her in the pool, but we were all getting out and she decided to jump in again!) and she was able to hold her breath and kick her little arms and legs until Jordan got there to pull her out. She was a little more cautious after that!

I always love when I manage to get a picture of all three of them, even if Emiliana is fussing, Evie looks dazed, and Catherine is in mid blink. I love these girls!

We spent one evening at Nokomis beach to enjoy building sand castles, a drum circle (just like it sounds... people all in a circle with drums, people dancing... then they all cheer when the sun goes down) and a beautiful sunset over the water.

It's such a beautiful place! We truly enjoyed the time on the beach. The girls are getting bigger and we love building sand castles with them and taking them into the water. Catherine and I went out and she saw a fish that she decided was going shopping and then to see Pop Pop. Two-year-olds are hilarious. Evie and Jordan spent time looking for crabs and sand fleas (they aren't as gross as they sound) and Emmy spent time with my mom eating sand. Yum.

The rest of our trip will be documented in Sarasota! (Part II)