Key West Trip

A few weeks ago we took an inpromptu trip to Key West. Brad's company decided (last minute) to send him down to work on the Vandenberg--a retired military ship that was slated (and has now become) the Keys newest reef. We took along my neighbor's 15 year old daughter for moral support--I don't think I could have managed 4 days with the kids in a hotel and no husband without her!

Day 1 (Thurs)-Drive down after Dana's half day of school :-) It was an uneventful trip for the first half. Then Summer needed to nurse and get a diaper change, so we stopped. Low and behold, she decided to stop at a good place! Dana took Garrett to explore while I fed her and they found SOMETHING INTERESTING :-)

And here is the something.
A manatee up close and personal (she was eating algae off the sea wall!!)

Me and the kiddos during our "rest stop"Dana and Garrett
Great shot of Garrett that Dana took

Dana and I driving. That girl is obsessed with taking pictures :-)

Cute baby girl during rest stop #2. She'd had enough of being in the car by then.

Garrett vegging out watching Care Bears.
We didn't have to whip out the DVD player until hour 4.

The Vandenburg
It may look familiar, since it was in the movie Virus

Happy to see Daddy, no matter how dirty he was
Poor Brad worked REALLY REALLY hard while we were there . . .

Garrett chilling while we debated our housing debacle
(which I will not get in to here . . . )

Day 2: Swimming in the AM, nap (gasp), and then to Key West for loads of fun

Ready for the pool:

The elusive nap.

I think Summer ate her weight in cheerios and then some on this trip.

Sleepy Sissy during our exploration of Key West
She was SO good, she hardly made a peep and just dozed off when tired.

Garrett pouting (I forget why!)

Dana and Garrett in front of an aquarium at the Eco Discovery Center (FREE!)

Key West Aquarium

We stayed in Key West for 8 hours, walking around, then had Dinner with Brad. We then went to Sunset Celebration, which was neat but not nearly as fun as I remember when we went in the long-ago past.

Day 3: We walked to Smathers Beach. Turns out it was further than we realized, but at least we got a nice long walk in :-)

He never slows down!

Post beach babies

Post snack = SLEEP. Nap #2!! Unheard of!!

Exploring the hotel grounds--we found a turtle.
Garrett wanted to take him home :-)

We stayed longer than we expected, through Sunday so that Brad could have a little time to relax before we headed home. We had a great time, and I reinterate that I would have been LOST without Dana there! She is also reponsible for a large # of the pictures here, so, well, ya know :-) All in all, the kids did great, too!

Summer chowing down at lunch on Sunday

Brad and I on our way to the car before we headed home