Monday, August 12, 2013

florida: where you never want to leave:)

so we're going on 3 weeks since we were in Florida!!! That's just about the saddest sentence I've written. Ever;(

this post is pretty photo heavy cause I was having a hard time splitting it into anotherrrrrr post and for real...I just have to get it out there and done!!!;)

SOOOOO with no further ado. FLORIDA:)



we stayed at the Bilmar Resort in Treasure Island, Florida. It had the perfect ambiance. Bright. Festive. Room with walk out to the beach. All Florida:) And if I'm gonna BE in Florida, I want to FEEL like I'm in Florida and this hotel accomplished that!


immediately after arriving we obnoxiously jumped out of our vehicles casually took some tourist(y) photos of our surroundings;)



not sure that you'll remember - but my dad got me the above luggage from a garage sale a few days after I had Homer last year. I love it and was happy to get my first use out of it for our trip:)

after dropping our bags at the door, we met up with other family members that had flown to FL (cheaters;) and headed straight down to the beach!!!








just now noticing the paddle board photo bomber in the back ground;)







after checking out the beach and taking tons of 'arrival' photos, we just took a walk around the grounds to check-out the entire hotel.



slight breeze;)







it sometimes rained but never too much or for too long! The weather really was fantastic while we were there:)



trying the 'indoor' pool and the kids and I trying coconut water for the first time. I'm guessing we had the wrong brand or something because it was terrible! - Rowdy's face, above, pretty much says it all;)

we never spent too much time at the indoor pool because...well...we were on a beach:)




homer really did do a fantastic job vacationing! He's a natural;) Although, I've now had 2-1/2 weeks to forget about the times while on vacation that he made my life semi-miserable;)

homer definitely had his vacationing ups and downs. 

down - he hated sleeping in the van on the drive down and screamed...a lot.

up - he slept amazing at the hotel! All by himself, between the beds. It didn't even bother him if we were still awake when he went to sleep. PHEW cause I was certainly worried about the sleep situation being a problem!!

up - he did pretty amazing on the ride home...no idea why this was different than the way down...but at this point...I wasn't questioning anything as long as he slept:)

down - he was a pistol during the entire wedding ceremony and also had a blow out diaper during that time. Seriouslyyyyy child??!!

down - he was a pistol during the entire reception...even most of dinner. Seriouslyyyyy devil child??!!

up - he loved loveddddd lovedddddddddd the beach! I took him out there and he played amazingly by himself and with others for hours:)

up - he slept-in everyyyyy damn morning. I mean...till like 9 or 930AM slept-in. That...well, I can't even really talk about that without tearing up;')

down - one entire afternoon while site-seeing, he decided he hated me. The heat. His milk. Me. Himself. Being held. Being put down. So yeah. That was 4 hours from hell. NO winky face. Justttttt hell:)







we collected shells. Just a few...hundred;) I actually am now wishing I would have collected more because I found a few adorable ideas - like here - that I'd like to do with some of them and I'm afraid I actually don't have enough!!!




our uncle, Swade, rented a paddle board for a few hours and that...was just a blast!! I seriously don't think we would have done that otherwise and am SO glad he did because we all took a shot at it - some  more natural at these things than others;) - and just had THE most fun:)










we got all schnazzed up - AKA. threw on our most favorite maxi skirts;) - and headed out to meet the family and soon-to-be-married-lova's for pizza dinner!:)

plaid shorts for the fellas;)




we stayed as classy as possible but there will always be a bit of WI in us that we are not able to disguise;) And, apparently, it's pretty hot in FL at times. Like sweaty hot. I'm not entirely used to that kinda heat. And I'm super not used to that kinda heat, while wearing all black, while chasing a 14 month old. Bye bye make-up. Hello scary wet face;)

peyton always entertaining:)
*peyton in red. left to right from him: Tim - Katie's boyfriend:), Jacob - brother of the bride and our cousin, Katie - sister of the bride and our cousin, Joey - brother of the bride and our cousin:)

Ellie - bride in red and our cousin:), Barrett - groom in green, Jon - married to our cousin Briton - in white:)






after pizza we headed to a nearby park where we had some Popsicles - remember that serious heat...yeah...Popsicles were the opposite of a good idea;) But it was great to take a walk around, do some swinging and some of the family even caught sight of some dolphins really close to the shore! - I was lucky enough to see some while at our hotel beach. That was....awesome:)






view of our hotel from the beach:)








the kids and Pigg found this huge shell on the beach. Unfortunately, it was still inhabited andddd it did end up dying even while in a bucket of water outside our hotel room door - der:/ BUT after cleaning it out, the kids have a pretty amazing souvenir!










don't mind me and my 30 identical beach photos:) It was just gorgeous and I never wanted to leave!!













the wedding was on Sunday and not until about 6PM so we had a lot of time to ourselves that day. A bunch of family met up and headed out to do some site seeing and shopping on Treasure Island:) 

unfortunately, this was the day Homer picked to hate life. SO it wasn't the most fun for me...or really any at all. But I was able to salvage most of the afternoon and find a couple gems to bring home:)


minus Mal:( us sisters with our aunt Vicki, the coolest:):)

moms and fat babies and serious FL heat;)






while walking/souvenir shopping, I found this amazingggggg kinda life-sized-wall-mountable-hippo-head. You best believe that shit came home with us!!!! I can't wait to find a place for it on a wall here at home and I will keep you posted on that awesomeness:)










we may have had pizza several times on this trip. No regrets about that. At all;)









the beach was the most relaxing. Ever. We had a few drinks out there under the stars:)


















like I mentioned above, Homer slept-in EVERY morning. I think I can say that this was my favorite part about my vacation. Not entirely because it was time away from Homer. But more so because I got up early every morning and had a cup of coffee or 3 on the beach...in quiet. It was kinda the best.:)

and yes. My toddler was sleeping and not hassling me...and that too...was the best;)

kidless. quiet. coffee. with creamer. in warmth. *sighhhhhhh:)*



sunday brought the wedding!!!:) The wedding we'd driven all the way from WI to attend. 24 hours-ish in a vehicle. And I watched about 30% of it - the other 70% I was struggling to change my kids shitty ass in the hallway outside the ceremony - from outside the doors. Good times!!!;)

from what I saw...it was beautiful:)

this really only makes me that much more anxious to see the beautiful photos I'm sure the professionals got:)



ma and pa:)

the ceremony was short and sweet - just the way we like um' - and after that we headed to the reception site:) We took a few photos next to this beautiful old tree on the way there:)





the gorgeoussss reception was held at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, FL. It was stunning and just perfect! The art gallery was even open, so we were able to take a walk through that between the ceremony and reception.



we had drinks and chit chat and super tasty horderves out on the terrace before dinner was served:) Oh, and wine made by and from the bride's parent's - our aunt and uncle's - very own wine vineyard. No big deal;)





dinner may have been the best ever. I'm still craving it. Dreams. I need more;)





i have to say...it was so fun to be a part of their day and to be included in it at all! It was a pretty intimate, simple, classy and tasteful wedding - which I find to be the best:) We're so flattered that they invited us to be there and I couldn't be happier for them!!!

and how cool...we were in a Sparkler Send Off. YAYYYYY!!!!!:)



the next morning, Monday, we woke up early again...had our coffee and took one last walk on the beach before heading home!:(







it was just the most wonderful trip and I'm so happy we were able to go!! I'm still sad that Jacob missed out on this vacation but I know there will be more in our future. It's amazing how at home we feel when traveling. It's probably my most favorite thing in the world - besides my family:) Which is what made this get away all that much more awesome...because the majority of them were there with me:)

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