Florida!

We just got back from our very first vacation with the baby, and we went to Florida! We had an awesome time, and were pleasantly surprised at the ease of traveling with the baby. He did great on the airplane, thanks to his vitamin D drops that he loves so much.
We all arrived in Orlando in the late afternoon on friday, us, my parents, Kenzie, Jacob, Matt, and my Williams grandparents, and immediately drove to our first location, Boca Grande. Boca Grande is a small island directly off the gulf-side coast of Florida, connected by a bridge and causeway. Our hotel, called the Gasparilla Inn and Club was amazing! It had the perfect southern charm, reminding me of a old-time plantation style mansion. We got to stay there 3 nights, and thoroughly explore all the amenities it offered, like the beach club, buffet (our favorite), and golf for the guys. The course they had was so beautiful, right on the water.

We enjoyed Easter sunday there at the Venice ward. I learned there actually are wards out there with fewer young people than ours! The primary had 6 children total, and we saw only 2 young women. No young men. It made our European wards look much better. Regardless, we enjoyed the many beautiful, and interesting musical numbers. I also was excited for Nicholas' Easter outfit... Who says only girls get special Easter clothes?!

Afterwards we went to Orlando, the typical vacation spot to get our fill of theme parks. Our first day there we went to Discovery Cove, an all inclusive snorkeling and swimming park. None of us really ventured to interact with the wildlife (except for Jacob who got a last-minute swim with a dolphin!) but we loved the lazy river-style warm pool that wrapped around the park and even took a trip through an aviary full of peacocks and other colorful birds. The other fun thing about that day was our brush with fame.... We were there the same day as the Roloff family from TLC's "Little People, Big World" TV show. I'm sure glad I'm not afraid of midgets... It was so fun though, and we're pretty sure we made it on there somewhere in the recording, so keep an eye out for the upcoming episode where they visit Florida!

Our second day there we divided; Jared and Kenzie went to Universal Studios, and the rest of us went to Epcot. We had an awesome time there. The park is so beautiful and well constructed, we could have stayed two more days. We especially loved Spaceship Earth, and seeing Nicholas watching all the action.


Our last day we spent at the incredible outlet mall. I could have spent a few more hours (and dollars) there for sure. Before we knew it, our trip was over and it was time to get back home. It was sad to say goodbye to Mom, Dad, Matt, Kenzie, and Jake, but we were so happy to have seen them at all! Normally we go 6 months between visits, so it really was a treat.