Ahhh, spring break! School has been stressful so getting a week to finally kick back was just what I needed.
My dad is a big time Baltimore Orioles fan so when March rolls around we travel to the Gulf Coast to attend a few of their Spring Training games. What made this trip so special was that it was my nephew’s first trip to the beach. I have never seen a baby so happy. Barron was squealing and clapping almost every hour of the day. I couldn’t be more blessed with such a fun nephew.
Here’s a recap of our fun in the sun…
Sunday: My parents, Asher and I left St. Augustine to meet Brandon, Izzy and Barron in Orlando for brunch. We ate at Slate. The modern decor was gorgeous and the food was great. We babbled on about how big Barron was getting and gazed over his first few teeth. We hopped in the car and eventually made it to our hotel in Siesta Key. When we got to our room, we put Barron down to eat on the couch. He propped his leg up on the pillows and drank away. It was too cute…he was ready to relax!
Tuesday: This was my favorite day of the trip. It was our designated beach day. I woke up, changed into my bathing suit and drank coffee on the balcony. We had a pretty amazing view and it was so relaxing. We got to cuddle Barron before we all headed down to the beach. He was waving his hands, clapping and giggling all morning. I got the cutest pictures with him. I’m going to frame them and hang them in my apartment. When we got down to the beach, we brought Barron down to the water. We dipped his little toes in, let him feel the sand and explore. He was focused on the waves the whole time. It was so lovely watching him experience a new place.
Wednesday: We headed down to the pool bright and early. After an hour in the sun, Asher and I took the car to go fly fishing. We blasted Moon Taxi with all the windows down and pulled up to the water. I walked through mangroves with him and enjoyed the peaceful scenery. After Asher was done fishing, we drove around town for a little. We looked at houses and explored. We loved the town so much we even mentioned moving down here one day.
When we got back from fishing, it was time to get ready for the baseball game. We decked out in our Orioles gear and headed to the stadium. My parents bought Barron a baseball hat that said “My First Spring Training” and an Orioles hoodie. It was cute seeing him cheer in his oversized hoodie and hat on. During the game, Brandon would hold him in the air so the cameramen would spot him. Luckily, they did and they showed him on the big screen TWICE. It was too cute seeing him pop up on the screen for the whole stadium to see. It was the perfect first baseball game for Barron.
Thursday: We tried to soak up most of the sun on our last full day of vacation. Asher headed off to fish most of the morning and the rest of us relaxed on the beach. Izzy and Brandon took out a kayak while my parents and I watched Barron for a little bit. We snuck in our last beach cuddles with him while they were kayaking. Later that day when Asher got back from fishing, we went out to paddle board. It was a fun way to burn off the Ben & Jerry’s I had indulged in all week…haha!
That night we had planned a birthday dinner for Izzy. Before heading out, we took a few goofy pictures on the balcony. Izzy picked this trendy, farm to table restaurant called Boca to spend the night at. We met with her side of the family to celebrate her birthday. The restaurant took a while to get us seated so when we finally sat down to eat we were greeted with champagne as an apology. This was a nice gesture and gave us the opportunity for the 12 of us to toast the night. We clinked our glasses and celebrated. It was the perfect ending to our vacation.
Spring Break 2017 will forever be a great memory to reminisce on. I can’t wait to show Barron pictures from his first beach trip when he is older. Hopefully he grows up to be a beach lover just like his auntie.
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