My BFF Tiffany and her family, invited our family to join them on their vacation, since Blake was off work for Spring Break. We stayed at a house her family owns (her great grandmother's home before she passed away) in a town called Dunedin, which is near Tampa and Clearwater Beach. We had the best time and enjoyed every moment we had together. Jackson, Ellis, and Lainey all did great! Thank you, Striepling family, we had a blast!!
Monday: Travel Day-Jackson watching Hero of the Rails and eating Yogurt Melts. We spent all day on the road, and stopped at a Cracker Barrel for lunch. Tiffany had stuffed shells and salad ready when we got to the la casa.
Tuesday: After smothering 3 children in SPF 50, we headed to Honeymoon Island, a nearby beach. The beach was gorgeous, and the weather was perfect. Jackson loved the sand, and did not like the ocean. We stayed at the beach most of the day, and after naps for everyone, Blake cooked dinner. He grilled hamburgers, fried potatoes, and baked beans. We then headed out to a local ice cream shop, and let the babies play in the park.
After a pretty relaxing morning, we all went to Tarpon Springs. It is a Greek community, with lots of Greek restaurants, and a museum. We ate lunch ate a restaurant, Hellas. It was delicious! I felt like I was in Europe again.
We went to Lowry Park Zoo. Jackson's great-grandmother gave him a membership to the zoo here in town for his birthday, and you can use it at lots of other zoos around the country. We got to go to this great zoo for FREE. The exhibits were great. Sad to say, but I am not an animal lover, and I thought it was fun. It was clean and family friendly! We had taco soup for dinner, and took the kiddos to a park with a playground on the beach after we ate.
Blake and I were going to take Jackson back to the beach, but we woke up to cloudy skies. We ended up finding a mall, let Jackson play on the indoor playground, and grabbed Chik Fil A for lunch. After naptime, we got Jackson ready for his first major league baseball game. His favorite part was riding the shuttle bus from the parking garage to the stadium. But, Jackson and Ellis both made an appearance in the St. Peterburg Times on Sunday morning. A photographer snapped their picture while they were coloring pictures at a station sat up in the stadium. Tiffany, Lainey, and I had girl time. We went to Starbucks, and drove to the beach and watched the sun set. Fun times. I miss her.
Saturday: We woke up at 4:45 to start home. Traffic was terrible, and we didn't make it home until after 7:00. We ate all our meals in the car, and only stopped for restroom breaks. Jackson handled all of that better than I did!
We simply had an amazing time! Blake is all nice and refreshed, and only has 28 more school days left!
4 comments:
Looks like you guys had lots of fun!!! I'm a little jealous b/c I desperately want to get away for a vacation. If I can just hold on until June! HA! Loved all your pics!
What a fun week! glad you guys had a wonderful, refreshing week. and very jealous that Blake has 28 work days left. I know you're ready for that!
Wow what a fun trip. I want a vacation like that!!! Eating out, beaches, fun fun fun!!!
I wonder why Jackson insists on eating the sand every year? haha
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