Florida Trip

We headed down to Treasure Island, Florida the second week of May for a little vacation. We arrived on a Wednesday and came back home on Sunday. I had been anxious beforehand about how Olivia would do on the plane since she hadn't been on one since she was about 15 months old and also anxious about how she would handle the beach since our last two trips to North Carolina resulted in hysterical screaming at the mere sight and sound of the ocean. She did a great job on the plane and much to our (pleasant) surprise, she did not freak out at the beach. I think it helped that the beach was very wide and because it was the gulf and not the ocean, there weren't any big waves and therefore, it wasn't too noisy.

The first day, we could not convince her to stick her toes in the water. I was fine with that. I was just happy enough that she came out on the beach. She had fun looking for shells.

The first night we checked out the shops and restaurants along the boardwalk at the nearby John's Pass. We had dinner at an open-air restaurant with live reggae music, which Olivia thoroughly enjoyed dancing to. (She has since asked to eat dinner at a "music place" since we've been home.) We ended our first night by enjoying the sunset just in the nick of time.

The next day we headed into St. Petersburg to check out Sunken Gardens. It was beautiful (see pics below). Most days, we planned a little excursion in the morning, had lunch, and let Olivia take a nap in the car on the way back to the hotel. We spent our afternoons at the beach.

On Friday, we ventured into Tampa to check out the Lowry Park Zoo. According to Parents Magazine, it's the best zoo in the country for families. While we enjoyed it, it was extremely hot and humid and therefore, a little less enjoyable for the pregnant ones among us. ;)

Feeding the giraffe lettuce

Super cute baby elephant

Our final "field trip" was to the Boyd Hill Nature Preserve. We took a guided tram tour, which was awesome because not only did we not have to walk in the heat like we had the day before at the zoo, but we had a naturalist driving us around who could share lots of interesting information with us.

We got out of the tram to check out this gopher tortoise.
They are herbivores, but this one tried to eat Yusaku's toes.  :)

Pretty lake. You can see downtown St. Petersburg in the background.

An anhinga drying its wings

A nest with baby osprey

I should mention that by the second day at the beach, we were able to convince Olivia to actually get close to and then INTO the water! We were so surprised and excited! The water was warm and gentle and wonderful! Here are a few more beach pictures.

Olivia and Yusaku in the water

Olivia and I on Mother's Day...enjoying the beach before we had to head back home.

Always a little ham, she posed this way by herself.

Me in the water for the last time

After checking out of the hotel, we had some time to spare before we had to get to the airport so we made a final pit stop at the Florida Aquarium. It was a wonderful vacation! The next time we head to the beach, we'll be a family of four! :)