Spring Break Shenanigans

We are back from our spring break adventure in Florida!  The day we left, it looked like this....

We wish we would have left a little earlier, because our drive to Chicago was stressful, to say the least.  Made us appreciate where we were headed!

Shockingly, we made the 5:00 a.m. shuttle the next morning to the airport so we could get on our 7:00 flight to Miami.  It was the boys' first flight.  Seth was excited.  Noah was excited and nervous.

Noah had on a Green Bay sweatshirt, which we didn't think much about until he started to get A LOT of good-natured teasing in the airport.  One TSA agent told him he'd probably have to go through additional screening because he was wearing a Green Bay shirt in Chicago.

First plane ride selfie (this is going to be a theme.  You've been warned)

The boys did great on the flight.  The landing was really bumpy...one of the roughest I've experienced, but as soon as we touched down Seth said 'That was a soft landing!'.  OK, kid, if you say so.  As we were getting off the plane, one of the flight attendants asked the boys if they wanted to go into the cockpit.  The pilot was very nice, had the boys sit down and even encouraged them to touch buttons (EEK!).  About that landing...the pilot told Chris he hoped he didn't scare them.  Clearly he didn't.

We went to pick up our rental car and we could choose any one we wanted from a row of cars.  Well, we picked the most impractical one because it looked like so much fun!  They were fresh out of convertibles, so we went for the two door sports car.  Good thing the boys are still small and had plenty of room in the back seat.

We arrived in Miami much too early to check into our hotel, so we headed to South Beach for lunch.  Chris and I got married in Key Biscayne and stayed in South Beach with our families the weekend of our wedding.  Right across from our hotel was the 11th Street Diner. We had several meals at that diner before and after our wedding and honeymoon.  Everybody who was there for the wedding ended up at the diner the night we all arrived in Miami.  It was fun and that little diner holds many fond memories for us.  We knew we wanted to go back, so that's the first place we went with the boys.

Things sure have changed in the 10 years since we were last there.  The food was still great!

After lunch, we took the boys to see the ocean for the first time and for a stroll down Ocean Drive.  Seeing the ocean for the first time is impressive...unless you're a kid who has grown up seeing Lake Michigan.  Seth saw the beach and said 'Wow!  That's cool, it looks like the lake!'.

Noah left, Seth right

The sun was too bright for them to look at me.  They left their sunglasses in the car.

The first thing Noah did was write his name in the sand.  Marking his territory or something like that.

Our hotel was in Sunny Isles Beach.  There was a pier next to the hotel that, of course, we had to check out after we arrived.

Oh, Noah....

The first day was a long one.  Noah fell asleep reading his book.

Monday
We took a drive down in the keys.  Thanks to a great suggestion from Mike, we left early so we could go to Theater of the Sea in Islamorada when it opened.  It wasn't busy and we moved from show to show to view the animals.

Both boys were lucky enough to be picked to meet the dolphin, Sherman.

Seth

Noah

I'm still a little jealous that they got a smooch from a dolphin!

Once again the boys were picked from the crowd with several other kids to throw a ring to the sea lion to catch.  The sea lion caught every one!

Bottomless boat ride selfie.

A dolphin friend visited while we were on our boat ride.

Feeding parrot fish.

The boys wanted to take a silly picture and when I said they could, Seth said 'I have an idea!'.  This is them discussing the idea....

They were excited about the idea...

The result.

After lunch (a delicious lunch with WAY too much food and yummy key lime pie), we went to Robbie's to feed the tarpon.  By then it was raining.  Good thing we go with the flow, because we didn't care that we were rained on.

This is what a drive through the keys looks like in the rain.

Tuesday
We took a tour on an airboat.  So.Much.Fun.  I think, honestly, that Chris and I liked it even more than the boys.  The ride was smooth...and fast.  We saw turtles, birds and alligators.  The gators were fast, so it was hard to get a picture, but it was also nice to just sit back and enjoy and not worry about the pictures.  We did get a few, though.

Airboat selfie with Captain Steve.

Noah in yellow, Seth in green.

Noah got to drive...

...Seth, too.

Airboat hair

After lunch, we went to Jaxson's for ice cream.

This is the menu for ice cream.  Everything on this was some sort of ice cream concoction!

The boys decided to be boring and get ice cream cones.  Chris and I split a sampler (that came with 3 toppings).  So good.  We had key lime pie, strawberry cheesecake and vanilla ice cream.

Then we had to return our super fun rental car.  So sad.

Wednesday
Our sweet friend, Kaleigha, is going to school near where we were staying, so we were able to spend some quality time with her.

We had lunch at Le Tub.  It's a little restaurant right on the Intercoastal Waterway tucked away among greenery.  It's a little strange to eat in a restaurant that decorates using toilets, toilet seats and bathtubs and other stuff that washed up, but the burgers were delicious!

Seth, Kaleigha and Noah

Oh, Noah...

Kaleigha took us to the boardwalk in Hollywood.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach and in the pool.

Chris was brave (or crazy) and took his phone into the pool to get some great videos of the boys and this cool picture of Seth.

Thursday
Our last day was spent swimming, taking a walk and getting a few more pictures.

The view from our balcony.

With my Noah

Daddy and Seth

Plane ride home selfie.

Now we are home and it's snowing.  Again.  Ugh.

A few Seth & Noahisms: Spring Break Edition

• Noah: 'I wouldn't want to be a pilot and drive the plane.'  I asked him why not and he said 'I'd rather play candy crush and other games'.  We flew on a big plane...I thought he was intimidated.  Nope.  He'd just rather play games.
• Seth surprised a woman on the plane who neglected to lock the lavatory door while she was in there. Seth opened the door and started to walk right in.  He was startled, embarrassed and thought he had done something wrong.  After Chris explained what happened, he just said 'She should have locked the door.  It wasn't my fault!'.  Exactly.  
• While standing in line to get on the boat at Theater of the Sea, the boys were trying to pass the time and I heard 'Hey!  Do you want to play bloody knuckles? Mommy, wanna play bloody knuckles??'.  I told them that my answer to that question will always be 'Never'.  

-Shelby