We went to Florida for the kids’ winter break, 2/20-2/27.  We hadn’t been on a real vacation since our Hawaii trip in the winter of 2015, and the kids hadn’t been on a plane since we moved, so we were all pretty excited.

We stayed at a resort called the Pink Shell in Ft Myers Beach.  We didn’t love the town (and the traffic!) but the resort was fantastic for kids.  The sand was soft and white and the chairs and umbrellas were plentiful.

They would even serve you frosty beverages on the beach.  This might have been my favorite moment of the whole vacation — Blaine playing peacefully while I sipped my pina colada.

The pools were also perfect for little kids.  They all had the gradual entry (no steps) and were heated.

Plus they had this cool splash area which kept the kids entertained for quite awhile.

We mostly had warm weather (80s) but one day it rained, so we spent the morning driving to the Sanibel lighthouse, and then going to the grocery store.  In the afternoon, Sarah napped and I took Blaine to a place called “Zoomers” amusement park, where we played endless video games and Blaine got to ride a train.

Then after Sarah’s nap we hung out by the pool and played giant connect four.

Breakfast was included so we ate at the resort restaurant every morning, and even had “breakfast with Sparky” one day.  Sarah screamed whenever he came near her.

We had a few tasty meals at the resort’s other restaurants (I especially enjoyed a shrimp and grits dish I had one night) but otherwise prepared our meals in our condo’s kitchen (and Daddy used the grill).  The condo had a screened in porch where we ate most of our lunches and several dinners.

Sunset and ice cream.

Also worth noting is that Sarah switched to a “big girl” bed on this trip.  We’d reserved a pack and play but decided that she was too big for it, and she opted to sleep in one of the two full beds in the second bedroom.  She did great, and moved right into the bottom bunk bed in her room when we got home.  We disassembled the crib a week later!

Back to FL… we had a wonderful time and were all sad to head back to the airport and fly back to the cold.

Sarah sings her ABCs:

Blaine had an appointment one Monday morning and would have been late for school anyway, so he joined us for the class at the Rye Nature Center, instead.

He was much more into participating than Sarah.  He even showed off his knowledge of nocturnal animals.

I bought some generic Paw Patrol valentines at the Dollar Tree, but then both kids wanted to make their own so we ended up with an elaborate multi-day art project involving watercolors, stamps, and lots of stickers.

Another snowstorm, and another “snow panda”, though this one looks very polar-bear-ish.

The kids loved opening their valentines from their grandparents!

Sadly, Sarah only barely made it through her school Valentine’s Day party before getting really sick for the next few days.  Here she is conked out on the couch.

We got a new dustbuster.