trip to fl

Vacations always go by too fast...especially trips to Florida! I put together a little video of some highlights, but also took a million pictures too so I had to have them all in one spot (I completely forgot to pack my camera though so we had to make our phone cameras work!).

 
We started and ended our trip in Orlando. The day after we flew in, I attended a POP Pilates certification- something I've been wanting to do for a while but wasn't able to attend the one in Salt Lake a few months back! So I figured the Orlando training was the next best thing, plus we're always up for a trip back home. 
After that we headed for a few days in my favorite city in Florida- St. Augustine. From the moment we stepped off the plane Olivia asked me nearly every hour when we were going to the beach, so once we finally got there a few days later she was elated!

I was also pretty happy because Charlotte didn't show much of an interest in eating the sand like I thought she would- hallelujah! (And she definitely did not keep her hat on- pretty much just long enough for me to take a picture of it).

Crescent beach in the morning hours was just gorgeous. It was low tide, so the shore line stretched on forever and gave Charlotte plenty of room to crawl in the shallow water. It also wasn't crowded in the least- for a while we were the only ones in our little spot of what felt like heaven!

  We also had a beach day with my parents and cousins- throwing the Frisbee, playing in the sand, and ended it with Publix fried chicken (which no trip to the beach is complete without if you ask me).

Olivia and my Dad's birthday are one day apart at the end of April, so of course we celebrated! Not that I ever need an excuse to bake, but birthdays are an especially good reason. My Dad wanted something super chocolate-y and Olivia didn't care as long as it was pink with sprinkles (naturally).

 After our time at the beach and exploring some of St. Augustine (read: eating our way through St. Augustine), we headed back to Orlando and stayed at SUCH a cool hotel- the Holiday Inn Resort Orlando Suites water park. If you have kids I definitely recommend it! It had such a fun pool and water park along with a 4D movie theater and arcade- the girls loved it! Well, everything except the 4D movie. Once the seats started rumbling and water squirting they were both hysterically crying and we left after 5 minutes. :-D

Since we didn't fly out until evening time, our last morning there we did breakfast with Minnie and the gang at Disney's Beach Club Resort- another thing I'd totally recommend! The breakfast buffet was delicious and all of the characters come by your table to say hello. Charlotte (as you can see) wasn't sure what to think of them all.

  We actually thought Jillian would be too shy to say hello and Olivia would love them (from all of our life experiences together)- but as soon as we got there and Olivia saw them in person, they completely flipped- Olivia clammed up and wanted nothing to do with them and Jillian ran right up to them and gave them hugs! James and I were both shocked. 

It was another one for the books, that's for sure! We packed SO much into the week we were there- three different cities and a lot of activities, but ton of memories! Utah may be home right now, but Florida will always have my heart!